Tagged: verse for the day

“He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity.” —Isaiah 53:3 Pontius Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent (Jn 18:38; 19:4, 6) so he justly sought to release Jesus. Nevertheless, Pilate wanted the Jewish leaders to agree to Jesus’ release. Perhaps Pilate thought that people sometimes have a human tendency to respond to others’ sufferings by lessening or changing their hatred and opposition to them. So Pilate unjustly had Jesus brutally scourged and then “Pilate went out a second time and said to the crowd: ‘Observe what I do. I am going to bring Him...

“This is My body, which is for you.” —1 Corinthians 11:24 The Eucharist is the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. The Eucharist is not only a gift from God, but the Gift Who is God. Therefore, the Eucharist is the greatest of all gifts. How are we to respond when God gives us His Body and Blood? The right response to the greatest Gift is communion (see Ps 116:12ff), that is, the sharing of covenanted, unconditional love. Therefore, when Jesus gave us His Body and Blood, He presented us not only with the greatest Gift but also...

“Morning after morning He opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” —Isaiah 50:4-5 We become holy by God’s grace. To be holy as He is holy in every aspect of our conduct is a gift from God (1 Pt 1:15-16). However, we must decide to accept this gift. We choose the grace of holiness by obeying the Lord, especially by taking up our daily crosses (see Lk 9:23). If we accept the gift of holiness, we will see God (Heb 12:14) and forever proclaim: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God...

“You are my hope, O Lord.” —Psalm 71:5 Why does God permit abortions, racism, wars, natural catastrophes, and injustices? Why do some of the holiest people feel as if they have “toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent” their strength? (Is 49:4) Why is life the way it is? Although life is a mystery, we can understand it better by understanding that God, the Creator of all life, is a God is Love (1 Jn 4:8, 16). The purpose of life created by Him is love. We are created and re-created to love Him with all our hearts, to...

“Many Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him on account of Lazarus.” —John 12:11 On the first day of the Easter season, the Lord through His Church will question us publicly to determine whether we believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If each of us says “I do” to these questions, we will be making the greatest decision a human being can make. By this act of faith, we will completely submit our intellect and will to God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 143). “Faith is first of all a...