Category: Daily Reflections
“Be on guard, therefore. Do not forget that for three years, night and day, I never ceased warning you individually even to the point of tears.” —Acts 20:31 Paul warned the Ephesian Christians individually for three years, night and day. He warned them of “savage wolves” from their own number who would distort the truth and lead astray any who follow them (Acts 20:29-30). Guarding Christians against false teaching is a major emphasis in the New Testament. Jesus warns us against wolves in sheep’s clothing (Mt 7:15) and hireling shepherds who don’t protect the sheep (Jn 10:12-13). Paul told Timothy...
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“The Holy Spirit has been warning me.” —Acts 20:23 We are halfway through the Pentecost Novena. By this time in the novena, the Holy Spirit has been quite active. The Holy Spirit has been working on preparing our hearts for Pentecost. The Spirit has been consoling us, instructing us (Jn 14:26), leading us to the truth (Jn 16:13), and warning us about repentance and other changes we must make (Acts 20:23). As the novena continues, the Spirit will be helping us pray, for we know not how to pray as we ought (Rm 8:26). The Spirit will fight against our...
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“You will suffer in the world. But take courage! I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33 At the age of sixteen, after Christmas Mass, I found in the alcove of the Church a pamphlet called Through the Bible in One Year. It featured a daily checklist in which you could read several chapters of the Bible a day for an entire year. Each day, you checked the box when you finished the readings, and at the end of the year, you would have read the entire Bible. On the first day of 1973, I was excited to read several chapters...
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“He was lifted up before their eyes in a cloud which took Him from their sight.” —Acts 1:9 Because we can grow in love when we are in someone’s presence, we treasure the time we spend with those we love. A birth is such a wonderful event because the baby is present to the world and not only to the mother. A death is so difficult because we can no longer in the same way be in the presence of the one who has died. Therefore, Jesus’ Ascension would seem to have presented a major problem. Jesus could no longer...
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He was “instructed in the new way of the Lord. Apollos was a man full of spiritual fervor. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only of John’s baptism.” —Acts 18:25 Apollos was: “a man of eloquence” (Acts 18:24), “an authority on Scripture” (Acts 18:24), “instructed in the new way of the Lord” (Acts 18:25), teaching “accurately about Jesus” (Acts 18:25), and speaking “fearlessly in the synagogue” (Acts 18:26). Nevertheless, Apollos “knew only of John’s baptism.” Apollos did not have new life in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. Why wasn’t Apollos invited to give His life...
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