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July 25, 2015   Feast of Saint James, Apostle Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15 Brothers and sisters:We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not abandoned;struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.For we who live are constantly being given up to deathfor the sake of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our...

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:28 Bible Reading 1 Corinthians 11:23–29 The Lord Jesus calls and invites His church to celebrate the Lord’s Supper until He returns. This invitation should not be taken lightly. The Lord’s Supper is holy and celebrates God’s undeserved favour to lost sinners. This is why the apostle Paul calls every church member to examine themselves to see whether they really understand the significance of this sacrament. An individual who approaches the table in a careless manner is guilty of...

“And in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance . . .” (2 Peter 1:6). Personal self-control demonstrates the certainty of your salvation. In Peter’s day, the word translated “self-control” was used to describe athletes. The successful ones abstained from sexual activity and an unhealthy diet for the sake of disciplined training exercises. You practice personal self-control when you control your desires and don’t allow them to control you. Let me share some practical tips that have helped me with self-control. 1. Start small. For example, begin by cleaning your bedroom or office, then extend that discipline to the...

"[God] caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pet. 1:3). Everyone receives an eternal inheritance—either Heaven or Hell. We have seen several aspects of the believer's inheritance, and will see more in future days. But realize that unbelievers also will receive an inheritance, for Jesus will say to them, "Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:41,...

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.” - Ecclesiastes 7:14 It is no sin to be joyful when we prosper. Though we should be aware of the temptations that are unique to prosperity, we should not therefore think that prosperity is something to be avoided or that we have necessarily done something wrong when we enjoy the good things of life. Jesus, after all, even though He was not a...

“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) The thought that the death of Jesus and His shed blood were somehow the ransom price paid to redeem lost sinners from an eternal prison in hell has been a stumbling block to many of those very sinners. Yet that is the teaching of Scripture, whether it appeals to their reasonings or not. “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold. . . . But with the precious...

July 24, 2015   Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ex 20:1-17 In those days:God delivered all these commandments: “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.You shall not have other gods besides me.You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their...

>There’s been a lot of attention this week to work that’s been undertaken at New York City’s celebrated Church of Our Saviour parish on Park Avenue—for many years, pastored by Fr. George Rutler. Icons that have decorated the church walls for years were mysteriously removed and some feared a “wreckovation” was about to take place.My blog neighbor Katrina Fernandez has written about this at some length and has been following the story closely.Here’s a photo of the sanctuary from a few years back:Late today, a post appeared on the parish’s Facebook page, offering the pastor’s explanation.  Note the image below, followed...

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:4 Bible Reading 1 Corinthians 1:4–9 Devotional Do you thank God for the manifestation of His grace in the life of other Christians? Expressing gratitude for God’s grace in others immunizes you against the deadly poison of hatred, resentment and bitterness that so easily gets into our blood. When you are able to thank the Lord for His grace in others you have an effective defence against envy, gossip and slander; it becomes extremely difficult to hold grudges...

“. . . in your moral excellence, knowledge” (2 Peter 1:5). Moral excellence cannot develop in an intellectual vacuum. It’s a frightening thing to realize the extent to which our culture downplays knowledge in favor of emotions. These days people are more likely to ask, “How will it make me feel?” instead of, “Is it true?” Sadly, the church has bought into the spirit of the age. Many people go to church, not to learn the truths of God’s Word, but to get an emotional high. The focus of theological discussion also reflects the contemporary hostility to knowledge. To a...

"According to His great mercy" (1 Pet. 1:3). Every dimension of life, whether physical or spiritual, is a testimony to God’s mercy. When God saved you and granted you an eternal inheritance, it wasn't because you were special or more deserving of His love and grace than others. It was because He sovereignly chose to love you and extend His great mercy to you. That's why Paul said, "God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you...

For the past few weeks, the Satanic Temple has been in the spotlight concerning the controversial unveiling of a satanic statue in downtown Detroit. The Temple, by its nature, is a reclusive and shadowy organization, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that even when given center stage it masks and skirts around the true intentions of its agenda: the destruction of the Catholic Church. In an interview that aired earlier this month on WJBK-TV, president of the Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple Jex Blackmore, in defending her beliefs, played the role of victim, claiming that there is a...

“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.” - Ecclesiastes 7:8–9 Bob was required to go online regularly to do research for the reports and other tasks his employer assigned him. One day, he knocked on the door of his company’s information technology department and explained that he was having a problem with his computer. His browser was taking too long to load the web pages he had to...

July 23, 2015   Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ex 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b In the third month after their departure from the land of Egypt,on its first day, the children of Israel came to the desert of Sinai.After the journey from Rephidim to the desert of Sinai,they pitched camp. While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain,the LORD told Moses,“I am coming to you in a dense cloud,so that when the people hear me speaking with you,they may always have faith in you also.”When Moses, then, had reported to the LORD the...

“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence” (2 Peter 1:5). God’s provision does not preclude our responsibility. There are some who believe that since God has provided everything needed for the Christian life, believers should expect Him to do everything for them. Their motto is, “Let go and let God!” If Peter had a motto for the Christian life, it would have been more along the lines of the popular World War II song, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” Peter knew the Christian life is a struggle in which believers...

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:3 Bible Reading 1 Corinthians 1:1–3 Devotional At the beginning of every worship service we rise and stand, as it were, at attention. We are in the presence of the King of kings; we are assembled together as God’s army. The first thing that we do is make a statement every other army would consider outlandish: we acknowledge that we are weak and need help. In this spiritual warfare we confess, “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and...

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:3). God has blessed you richly and is worthy of your praise. The source of your eternal inheritance is God, whom Peter described in several ways. First, He is our blessed God (1 Pet. 1:3). The Greek word translated "blessed" in that verse speaks of that which is worthy of blessing, adoration, praise, or worship. Peter's praise for God is an example for us to follow. Our God is especially worthy of our praise in light of the glorious inheritance He has granted us in His Son...

July 22, 2015 Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene Reading 1 Ex 16:1-5, 9-15 The children of Israel set out from Elim, and came into the desert of Sin,which is between Elim and Sinai,on the fifteenth day of the second monthafter their departure from the land of Egypt.Here in the desert the whole assembly of the children of Israelgrumbled against Moses and Aaron.The children of Israel said to them,“Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt,as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!But you had to lead us into this...

Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising and art acquainted with all my ways. I can inform Thee of nothing and it is vain to try to hide anything from Thee. In the light of Thy perfect knowledge I would be as artless as a little child. Help me to put away all care, for Thou knowest the way that I take and when Thou hast tried me I shall come forth as gold. Amen. To say that God is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to...

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH IN A FINE PASSAGE states his belief that there are many more poets in the world than we suppose, ". . .men endowed with highest gifts, The vision and the faculty divine," but who are unknown because they lacked or failed to cultivate the gift of versification. Then he sums up his belief in a sentence that suggests truth far beyond any that he had in mind at the time: "Strongest minds Are often those of whom the noisy world Hears least." Most of us in our soberer moments would admit the soundness of this observation, but the...