Listen To the Bible! | King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version
After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus has gone into the hills alone to pray, while his disciples begin to cross over the Sea of Galilee ahead of him. Jesus has walked across the sea to join his disciples, who cannot comprehend what is happening and who Jesus truly is [ … ]
When Jesus returns to Nazareth, to his own country, he attends synagogue on the Saturday and teaches there, not as a leader of the synagogue but as a participant in the faith community. Nonetheless, Jesus’ teaching is different from other people’s. Jesus, we have been told, teaches with authority, and not as the scribes (Matthew 7: 29). Jesus does not merely interpret Scripture, according to scholarly tradition; rather, Jesus reworks Scripture, providing for the people a new Torah, which centres upon himself and which we may understand as Jesus himself. In this way, Jesus’ authority matches and exceeds that of Moses. Jesus is a new Moses, and then infinitely more [ … ]
The story of Joseph begins within a family already marked by division. Genesis has traced generations shaped by rivalry, favouritism, deception and estrangement. The conflict between Cain and Abel established early the destructive force of jealousy between brothers. Later narratives repeat similar patterns in different forms: Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Leah and Rachel. By the time Joseph appears, the family of Jacob already carries deep instability within itself [ … ]
The Epistle To The Romans combines the occasional character of an early Christian letter with extended theological argument concerning law, the Law, covenant, sin, salvation, and the relation between Jews and Gentiles. Written probably in the late 50s AD, and during Paul’s stay in Corinth, the letter was addressed to Christian communities in Rome which Paul had not himself founded. Unlike several of his other letters, Romans was not written primarily in response to a specific local crisis already familiar to him. Instead, it functions partly as an introduction to his teaching and partly as an attempt to address tensions emerging within mixed Jewish / Gentile communities in the imperial capital [ … ]
Saint John of the Cross reflects on the difference between the time before Jesus Christ and the time after Jesus’ coming. He begins by recalling that in the ancient law, prophets and priests needed revelations, visions, and signs. This was not a weakness but a necessity: the foundation of faith had not yet been laid, and the gospel had not yet been spoken in its fullness. God therefore met them in many ways—through images, symbols, and partial glimpses. Everything God revealed then pointed toward something greater that had not yet arrived [ … ]
Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church, reflects on the soul’s journey toward God, urging believers to set their hearts on God alone. Echoing Christ’s teaching—’Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’ (Matthew 6:21)—Ambrose emphasizes that God, who never refuses good gifts, calls us to seek God with our whole being. This recalls the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), which commands love for God with all our heart, soul, and strength [ … ]
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem sets out the function and authority of the Creed within Christian teaching. His concern is to ensure the integrity of the faith as it is received, memorised and lived by the baptised. The Creed, for Cyril, is not a private reflection or personal interpretation but the concentrated form of the Church’s collective witness, drawn from Scripture and confirmed by tradition [ … ]
Psalm 41 expresses blessings, pain of betrayal, and the reassurance of divine mercy. This psalm serves as both a heartfelt cry for help and a declaration of trust in the Lord’s sustaining grace [ … ]
When we bear false witness about ourselves, pretending to be faultless or righteous, we deceive not only others but also ourselves. Jesus calls us to be authentic, acknowledging our need for his grace and our dependence on his power to live according to his commandments [ … ]
Acts 7 is among the most profound and dramatic passages in the New Testament. Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, stands before the council and offers not merely a defence of himself, but a sweeping interpretation of the whole history of Israel. His speech traces the movement of God’s covenantal action through Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the tabernacle, and the prophets, culminating in a fierce indictment of those who resisted the Holy Spirit and betrayed Jesus [ … ]
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 69, attributed to King David, is a heartfelt and poignant expression of suffering and an earnest plea for deliverance. Unlike some of the more celebratory Psalms, this composition delves into the depths of despair and serves as a raw and unfiltered account of distress. The psalmist cries out for salvation in the face of adversity and persecution, making it a relatable and comforting text for those grappling with their own trials [ … ]
Psalm 35 is a plea for divine intervention and justice. This psalm, attributed to King David, encapsulates turmoil of a soul unjustly persecuted, seeking vindication and deliverance from those who harm him [ … ]
The paralyzed man would not have been able to come to Jesus without the help of his friends. It is his friends’ faith, and their initiative and bravery, as well as his own that work together to find a way to come to Jesus. Jesus is touched by their faith and their friendship. We may think now as well about the help we give others and the help which we receive from others, in matters of faith and as we confess our sins and seek spiritual healing. Our sins can be like a form of spiritual paralysis, in which condition we may rely a great deal on our friends to bring us back to Jesus [ … ]
Jesus has fed the multitude, the multiplication of loaves and fish prefiguring the Eucharist, through which all share, in community, the body and blood of Christ, becoming one. Now Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him, to cross the Sea of Galilee to the pagan regions on the other side, where the evangelizing mission will continue. There is symbolism here, as the early Christians are called upon by Matthew’s Gospel to make transition from the old observances to the new Law of Jesus’ love. Jesus meanwhile takes time alone to pray [ … ]
On the Sabbath, the day of rest and prayer, the Jews would gather in synagogues to recite the Shema and the eighteen blessings, which would be followed by readings from the Book of the Law, the Pentateuch, and from the Prophets. In today’s Gospel verses, Jesus has returned home to Nazareth, where, in the synagogue, he volunteers to read [ … ]
Jesus’ public ministry begins as John the Baptist’s concludes, John being imprisoned by Herod for speaking out against the immorality of Herod’s sexual relationship with his brother’s wife. Mission comes with danger, and John the Baptist was not afraid. Nor now is Jesus. Indeed, Jesus begins to preach with the very same words with which John had warned the people to beware of their sins: Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [ … ]
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 [ … ]
It may seem strange to the modern Christian that Christ should have so earnestly told his disciples to remain on high alert for his coming. Jesus does not speak of a repeat Nativity, of his coming once again being in the form of a vulnerable infant, humbled by the obscurity of the place of his birth. Nor does it seem that those of the elect who live to witness his coming might be easily deceived by the false claims of others to be the Messiah. Rather Jesus’ return is to be unmistakeable. He will come in ‘clouds of glory’. This will be an apocalypse. No one knows when this will be, but we feel it is imminent [ … ]
Jesus’ disciples have opened their hearts to Jesus. They have responded to Jesus by being receptive to the Christian truth he brings, and therefore they may be given to understand the parables. The disciples’ understanding of the presence of the Kingdom in their lives, of which the parables speak, follows upon their faith in Jesus [ … ]
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 [ … ]
Our prayer must be true to God. It is natural to petition God for what we need. It would indeed be arrogant to ‘go it alone’ and not humbly to share with God our needs and to ask Him for help, as if He were not our Father and we His children and creation. We are called by Jesus to acknowledge that all we have, we have through God. And we are called to develop our conversation with God through a life of prayer [ … ]
Jesus has come to break Satan’s hold – on the people of Jesus’ time and for all time. Accused by some of being a servant to Beelzebub, Jesus exposes the error and absurdity of what his accusers are saying. If Satan casts out Satan, then Satan is divided against himself and his house falls – he self-destructs [ … ]
Luke’s Gospel places the calling of the first disciples after the fame of Jesus has already spread across the region. Simon Peter listens to Jesus’ words, then he experiences the miraculous catch of fish, and then he throws himself down before Jesus, acknowledging his sins and placing his life in Jesus’ hands. This is Simon Peter’s call. He gives away everything he has to follow Jesus [ … ]
Saint Basil the Great’s reflection on baptism and the Holy Spirit is grounded in the rich theological and liturgical tradition of the fourth-century Church, when the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was under fierce debate. Writing against those who denied the divinity of the Spirit (notably the Pneumatomachians), Basil’s On the Holy Spirit defends the Spirit’s full equality with the Father and the Son. In this passage, he focuses on baptism as the sacrament by which the believer enters into new life, through the cooperation of both water and Spirit [ … ]
This remarkable 6th century reflection from an anonymous African author offers a rich theology of Pentecost, drawing together ecclesiology, pneumatology, and missiology with great pastoral clarity. Writing within the context of the post-Roman North African Church—one marked by persecution, doctrinal strife, and cultural transition—this author bears witness to a theology of hope, rooted in the enduring and unifying presence of the Holy Spirit [ … ]
This is the third day of Holy Week. Through these verses of John’s Gospel, Jesus experiences great emotion, great sorrow, as he prepares for his betrayal and passion. He has given everything to Judas. He has washed his feet along with those of the other disciples. He shares an intimate and important meal with him. Judas has been one of the closest with Jesus for three years. Even now he shows compassion and does not name his betrayer to the other disciples. Instead he says: ‘One of you shall betray me.’ [ … ]
In this deeply moving catechesis, St. John Chrysostom leads us into the mystery of Christ’s Passion, focusing our attention on the extraordinary power and significance of his blood. For Chrysostom, this blood is not just a historical detail or a symbol of suffering—it is life itself. It is protection, healing, rebirth, and nourishment. It is the very source from which the Church is born [ … ]
Saint Fulgentius sets the martyrdom of Stephen directly alongside the birth of Christ. The two events are linked, not by time, but by meaning. Christ enters the world in humility; Stephen leaves it in witness. What Christ gives in his incarnation is shown at work in Stephen’s death.
Mark’s Gospel, thought by many to be the earliest written, does not present an account of the birth of Christ. He begins with the proclamation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, leading into his baptism by John. Toward the end of the Gospel, when the crucified Christ dies, the centurion standing by him will affirm this, saying: ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’ Throughout this most fast paced of gospels, this is Mark’s message, to give his readers the knowledge that Christ is the Son of God [ … ]
Psalm 63 offers solace and inspiration to those who seek God’s presence, even in the midst of life’s trials. It serves as a reminder that our pursuit of the Divine should be unwavering, prioritizing our connection with God above all else. It acknowledges profound joy and spiritual fulfilment that come from seeking and experiencing God’s love and protection [ … ]
Psalm 2 explores interaction between human desires and the authority of a higher power, shedding light on the tensions that can arise. Imagine leaders and nations pursuing their own plans, seemingly detached from divine considerations. This psalm paints a portrait of their ambitions and the contrast between their aspirations and the greater divine scheme [ … ]
Psalm 53 reflects on faith and consequences of disbelief. The psalm echoes themes found in Psalm 14, offering a compelling exploration of the nature of human folly and the importance of seeking God [ … ]
The story of Joseph begins within a family already marked by division. Genesis has traced generations shaped by rivalry, favouritism, deception and estrangement. The conflict between Cain and Abel established early the destructive force of jealousy between brothers. Later narratives repeat similar patterns in different forms: Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Leah and Rachel. By the time Joseph appears, the family of Jacob already carries deep instability within itself [ … ]
The Book Of Exodus begins with a people who have become hidden beneath power. Descendants of Jacob remain in Egypt, yet the memory of Joseph has faded into distance. What once began in preservation has hardened into oppression. Pharaoh fears the increase of Israel because life itself appears threatening to a kingdom built upon control. Children of Israel are drawn into forced labour, their lives reduced to production and usefulness, their suffering absorbed into the order of empire [ … ]
The Mission: Bring Yourself To God is an invitation to rediscover the Bible as one unfolding story of God’s love for humanity. From the covenant with Abraham to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, from the call of Moses to the missionary journeys of Saint Paul, this richly illustrated volume traces the great drama of salvation history and reveals unity, which binds together Old and New Testaments [ … ]
The Epistle To The Romans combines the occasional character of an early Christian letter with extended theological argument concerning law, the Law, covenant, sin, salvation, and the relation between Jews and Gentiles. Written probably in the late 50s AD, and during Paul’s stay in Corinth, the letter was addressed to Christian communities in Rome which Paul had not himself founded. Unlike several of his other letters, Romans was not written primarily in response to a specific local crisis already familiar to him. Instead, it functions partly as an introduction to his teaching and partly as an attempt to address tensions emerging within mixed Jewish / Gentile communities in the imperial capital [ … ]
Unlike the Pauline letters, The Epistle To The Hebrews lacks a conventional opening associated with ancient correspondence and begins instead with sustained theological declaration. This resembles extended homily more than a letter, though concluding with epistolary features. Its author is unknown. There is remarkable confidence concerning the person of Christ, the meaning of Israel’s scriptures, and the nature of Christian faith [ … ]
Tomàs is in trouble. If truth is love and love is truth, then the Church is wrong. A time in seminary…
