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‘Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.’ In this opening verse, the psalmist urgently calls upon God, imploring Him to come quickly to his aid and deliverance. The tone is one of immediate need and a deep reliance on divine assistance [ … ]
King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version King Herod There were several individuals named Herod who played significant roles in ancient history, particularly in the history of [ … ]
We are given different accounts of Jesus teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, in today’s verses from the Gospel of Luke, and also in the Gospel of Matthew, during the Sermon on the Mount. Here the situation is quite different from that of Matthew. Jesus has been praying, seemingly apart, to his Father, and so it is after this that the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. This is unusual: prayer, especially of the psalms, would have been an integral part of these Jewish people’s daily routine. We are alerted to the Lord’s Prayer being an additional offering, an innovation of grace, and a further initiation for the Christian. The prayer furthermore reflects John the Baptist’s teaching of his disciples [ … ]
In the serenity of the Garden of Gethsemane, we witness a profound and touching display of Jesus’ humanity. As Jesus led his disciples to this secluded place, the weight of the impending events pressed heavily upon him. Jesus’ heart was burdened with sorrow, and Jesus’ soul was deeply troubled. It is essential to recognize that, despite being the divine Son of God, Jesus fully embraced his humanity, experiencing the same emotions and struggles as any human being [ … ]
The people are astonished by Jesus, in whom they see the mighty power of God. Straight away, though, Jesus turns to his disciples to tell them of the truth of his Messianic mission. In veiled terms, Jesus announces his passion and death: the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. There is extreme contrast between the people’s, and the disciples’, understanding of how the Messiah shall be, and the reality of Christ’s true mission on Earth, to suffer, to be crucified, and so to ransom mankind, redeeming us from death and sin. There is secret, hidden truth, which only gradually becomes manifest through the course of the Gospels [ … ]
‘What is truth?’ So asks Pontius Pilate at the show-trial of Jesus. Pilate’s question dismisses and inherently rejects categorical truth as value. Pilate throws the truth to the masses – who cry for the blood of Jesus. As Christians, we hope – we pray, we ask – to adhere to truth. This is our truth: that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus died for our sins, and that through Jesus we can attain salvation. Yet, even as we seek to live in the truth, we are tested and tempted, just as Jesus was in the wilderness by Satan [ … ]
Jesus pays tribute to John as a great prophet, bringing the truth of God to the people, as a burning and a shining light. There is perhaps a veiled rebuke as Jesus reminds the people that they flocked to him for a period, as if theirs was a fickle and fleeting regard. Nonetheless, Jesus speaks of John now to help the people, because John witnessed Christ and that witness could help people to believe and so be saved [ … ]
Psalm 75 is a hymn of praise and reflection on the righteous judgment and sovereignty of God. It opens with an acknowledgment of gratitude and thanksgiving to God, whose name is near, and whose wondrous works are declared. This psalm contains themes of divine judgment, the importance of humility, and the contrast between the wicked and the righteous [ … ]
Psalm 143 is of the penitential psalms, attributed to David. Psalm 143 articulates a plea for divine intervention and guidance amidst adversity. The psalm opens with a direct appeal to the Lord, emphasizing the urgency and depth of the psalmist’s need for God’s attention and assistance. ‘Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.’ This verse not only serves as an invocation but also sets the tone for the entire psalm, expressing the psalmist’s reliance on God’s faithfulness and righteousness [ … ]
When he saw the young man who had died, and his mother, Jesus had compassion. Compassion means literally to suffer with. This is what Jesus experienced as he entered Nain: Jesus suffered with the young man who had died and with his mother. Then Jesus touched the bier and he restored the young man to life. Jesus said to the man who was dead: Arise [ … ]
In Matthew’s Gospel, this is Jesus’ second announcement of his Passion. This time, the reaction of the disciples has mellowed. It is less extreme, while they remain very sorry. The disciples begin to recognize the cross as a necessary step on Jesus’ journey. We may think of our own tears mingled with joy as we contemplate Christ’s sacrifice, for example as we give ourselves in prayer, in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We may also note that the sorrow of the disciples follows upon Jesus’ saying that he will be raised again. Our sorrow as we contemplate Jesus’ death includes the resurrection. We may weep for the necessity and the absolute love and self-giving of Jesus’ sacrifice [ … ]
Today’s Bible reading celebrates two complementary affirmations of Jesus’ true identity, of Jesus’ divinity. The first is of John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way toward Jesus, teaching people an initial baptism of repentance, with water, such that they might be initially prepared to receive the Lord. The second is of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the divine affirmation, that of heaven, the Father’s voice visiting Earth and the Spirit descending, as heaven bows to Earth, the Father to acknowledge His beloved Son as His Own [ … ]
Immediately following the feeding of the 5000, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus tells his disciples to get into a boat, so that they may get away from the multitude, while Jesus himself remains to disperse the multitude, and then to go alone into the hills, to a mountain, to pray [ … ]
Jesus teaches us to be bold and to have faith and confidence in the light of persecutions. His listeners are told that, when they are accused, the Spirit will be with them, guiding their words such that they become a living testimony to Jesus. The Christians’ accusers will be unable to answer their words then – the force of their witness will be irresistible [ … ]
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the presence of the angel becomes a symbol of divine comfort and support during Jesus’ moment of utmost agony. As Jesus withdrew a stone’s cast away from his disciples and fell on the ground to pray, sweating blood, the world’s sins and crucifixion-horror pressed heavily upon him [ … ]
The two parables make it clear that Christ intended the newly inaugurated phase of the history of our salvation to be the work of ages. His second coming was not to be an apocalyptic end of the world as we know it in weeks, months or just a few years after that first Easter. The world’s faith would grow with time. Christ’s Church would grow, to encompass the whole world. Christ intended the Gospel be preached to everyone the world over and through all subsequent history [ … ]
There are people who say: I forgive, but I do not forget. Why? we may ask. Of what use is this? It is as if we were to attach a condition to our forgiveness, saying, in effect, that we forgive up to a point, but that our forgiveness is not total. Our forgiveness comes with a threat: Your crime is noted. We are really saying: we don’t forgive you all [ … ]
In the clamour of people crowding to be near to Jesus, one man comes to Jesus with a problem which is entirely his own and has nothing to do with his or anyone’s spiritual life. He asks Jesus to use his influence to solve a family dispute about material possessions, the family inheritance, by telling his brother to divide the inheritance fairly [ … ]
The crowds gather to see and to hear Jesus. Among them, as Matthew relates in his Gospel (Matthew 12: 38-42), are the scribes and Pharisees, who ask for a sign from Jesus to prove his divinity. Jesus refuses to confirm his preaching with dramatic signs. It is his teaching Jesus wishes the people to hear. Through seeking to taunt Jesus, and through their unbelief, the scribes and the Pharisees express the hardness of their hearts. Christ is present to them and they refuse to see. Christ is speaking to them and they refuse to hear. Through the Gospel, we have witnessed Christ’s miracles. And we are called to hear his word. ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.’ [ … ]
The parables which comprise the eschatological discourse – following the Sermon in the Temple and, on the Mount of Olives, to Christ’s disciples privately – are completed with Christ’s announcement of a rigorous last judgement. The structure of time will be complete. Those who have been true to Christ and his teaching will be admitted to glory. Those who have failed, who have remained in sin, will be forever excluded. There will be justice. Just as we will have implicitly judged ourselves, so Christ will judge [ … ]
This is the Passion and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. For us all, this is a tremendously saddening and painful part of our Easter journey, as, in a sense, we die again with Jesus to be reborn on Easter Sunday. The church is dark. There is an emptiness to the building as Jesus rests. Through this time, we acknowledge our need for Jesus and pray that he may come again to be with us [ … ]
John speaks of the Last Supper in a different way from the Synoptic Gospels. He omits, for example, the institution of the Eucharist, because the other Gospels and Paul have already spoken of this in their accounts of the Last Supper. Through chapters thirteen to seventeen, John gives an extensive account of Jesus’ teaching at the Last Supper, in which Jesus builds on his teachings so far and leads his disciples to a greater understanding of the love that they must share and of the way ahead [ … ]
The Archangel Gabriel is prominently featured in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Gabriel’s first appearance is in the Gospel of Luke, where he appears to Zechariah to announce the birth of his son, John the Baptist. Zechariah questions the angel, and Gabriel responds with the famous words, ‘And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.’ (Luke 1:19) [ … ]
Today’s Gospel verses provide great insight into the political constitution of Jesus’ homeland during the lifetime of Jesus. Herod the tetrarch, Herod Antipas, is in charge, a client of the Roman Empire and son of Herod the Great. He governed Galilee and Perea. He was married, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, to a daughter of an Arabian king, but lived in concubinage with Herodias, his brother’s wife [ … ]
Psalm 87 expresses adoration and reverence for the city of Zion, as of its sacred foundation as the holy mountain. Attributed to the sons of Korah, this psalm begins by highlighting the exclusive and divine nature of Zion’s establishment [ … ]
Psalm 36 explores the stark contrast between human wickedness and the boundless lovingkindness of God. Attributed to King David, the psalm reflects upon the moral state of humanity and affirms divine attributes of mercy and righteousness [ … ]
Psalm 135 blends praise with remembrance, theological declaration with historical reflection. The psalm invites the community of faith to recognize and proclaim the greatness of God, to remember God’s acts in history, and to affirm their identity as God’s chosen people. The psalm serves as a bridge between past and present, human and divine, inviting its readers into a space where history, theology and worship intersect [ … ]
George Herbert’s poem explores humanity’s relentless pursuit of knowledge and mastery over the natural world, juxtaposing these achievements with the failure to recognize and embrace God’s immediate presence. The poem is structured around vivid images of human ingenuity, drawing on the astronomer, diver, and chemist (or ‘chymick’) as archetypes of humanity’s intellectual and physical endeavors. Yet, beneath these triumphs lies a critique: the neglect of the divine, who resides ‘at hand’ rather than in the distant realms humanity seeks to conquer [ … ]
The words of Jesus to the paralytic man on his bed might have seemed strange and even, at first, insensitive: the paralytic has been brought to Jesus seeking to be healed, and Jesus says to him: ‘Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.’ This could hardly be what the paralysed man might have been expecting [ … ]
George Herbert meditates on dual nature of human life, aligning life’s movements with the sun’s dual motion. This interplay of the physical and spiritual mirrors central theological concerns of the 17th century, particularly the relationship between earthly existence and pursuit of eternal salvation [ … ]
As Jesus died on the cross he would have looked like a leper. He had been scourged. Front and back, his skin would have been a bloody mess of welts, cuts and bruises. Being himself without sin, he died in the image of some of those most abject whom he came to save. Truly the self-sacrifice of our Lord was complete and extreme [ … ]
Through these verses, we see Jesus healing Simon’s mother in her home, immediately restoring her to wellbeing, so that she is able to serve life. Here Jesus heals in an intimate, domestic environment, within the home. The verses ask us to think of our families and our nearest and dearest ones [ … ]
Christ continues his work of healing and exorcism. He passes from the synagogue, a Jewish meeting place for prayer and for reading of the Scriptures, to enter into the home of Simon and Andrew. The Bible tells us that Jesus spends much of his time preaching in synagogues. Later, during his Passion, Jesus will tell Pilate that he has always taught openly in synagogues. There is indeed a great openness to Jesus’ teaching. Many are called, here in a space which would be at the spiritual heart of local Jewish communities. Similarly, we are called as followers of Christ to spread the good news. Our openness with our love of Christ reflects Christ’s openness to the people of Galilee and to us [ … ]
