Psalm 139 prays, "For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well." There are many times in life when we ask ourselves, "Who am I?" We ask this when we...
Today is the feast day of St. Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus, the God-bearer who was chosen by the Father to carry God in her womb for 9 months and be the Mother of God. One of the best known passages concerning St. Mary is the annunciation, the time in which St. Gabriel the Archangel came...
The Gospel according to St. John says, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). When we look at man outside of Christ, he is not pure and righteous, but sinful and dark...
In 1st Samuel 8, Israel asked for a king because they wanted to be like all the other nations around them. Samuel of course was not pleased with this, so he went to God and prayed, and God said, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected...
In The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, we hear of the account of St. Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. This is a wonderful text that helps guide both pastors and layman alike in what the point of the ministry is all about. For St. Philip went up to the Eunuch and asked him, "Do you understand...
"A joyful heart is good medicine," so says Proverbs 17:22. What does it mean to have a joyful heart? Well, the rest of verse 22 says, "but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." A joyful heart is the opposite of a crushed spirit. A crushed spirit is a despairing soul, one who has no...
Jesus spoke to His apostles saying, " These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11). These are the concluding words that He spoke in His little sermon that begins by preaching, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the...
Jesus spoke to His apostles saying, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27). Now, when we hear the word peace we think of something like peace of mind, a calm...
In the Words of Institution, our Lord Jesus The Christ says, "And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). What does Jesus mean by this? Does He mean...
St. Paul said to the churches in Corinth, "For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written...