Category: Message of the Day

THE TWO FACES ARE ONE

“His face changed in appearance.” –Luke 9:29 Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah, the Suffering Servant: “Even as many were amazed at Him – so marred was His look beyond that of man, and His appearance beyond that of mortals” (Is 52:14). Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion and death. How could the severely altered face of the crucified Jesus be the face of God? Jesus “was transfigured before their eyes and His clothes became dazzlingly white – whiter than the work of any bleacher could make them” (Mk 9:2-3). At the Transfiguration, Jesus’ face was no longer emptied (see...

MARY MAJOR

“If a man wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in My footsteps.” –Matthew 16:24 To be disciples of Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up His cross daily (Lk 9:23). In effect, we must lose our lives (Mt 16:25). We no longer operate independently, but obediently. We don’t do our thing, but His thing. We have been crucified with Christ and the lives we live are no longer our own (Gal 2:19-20). Although the cost of discipleship is so high, deep down we sense that only...

THE VOICE OF GOD ON EARTH

“You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s.” –Matthew 16:23 As we write this, the Catholic Church, led by St. Peter’s successor Pope Francis, often seems like a lone voice crying out in the wilderness of the culture of death (see Mt 3:1ff). The Catholic Church has consistently spoken out against the use of contraception, defends marriage as occurring between one man and one woman, defends the poorest of the poor, condemns abortion as murder, and stands against capital punishment and for social justice. Many teachings of the Catholic Church are attacked by the world. In the USA,...

LOVE LOVES ME

“With age-old love I have loved you.” –Jeremiah 31:3 God the Father has loved us into being. There has never been a moment when we have not been loved perfectly by Him. He loves us so much that He has sent His eternally begotten Son to die for us (Jn 3:16). He has also given us the Holy Spirit, the eternal Fruit of the love of the Father and the Son. We are loved with a divine, constant, perfect, crucified, unconditional, and infinite love. Beloved, it is impossible for us to be loved more. Yet we can “grasp fully, with...

SINKER

“Lord, if it is really You, tell me to come to You across the water.” –Matthew 14:28 “Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water, moving toward Jesus” (Mt 14:29). Peter became afraid and began to sink. After pulling him up, Jesus exclaimed: “How little faith you have!…Why did you falter?” (Mt 14:31) If Jesus was disappointed in Peter’s little faith, what about the faith of those who were still in the boat? If Jesus is displeased with those sinking in the water, what about those who are working their way up to sinking? “When...