Sunday

*Scripture Excerpts this week

3 Kings 17:17-24
In those days, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elias, What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that you should kill my son? And Elias said to her, Give me your son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed, and he cried to the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, have You afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord and said, O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech You, return into his body. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias; and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her, Behold, your son lives. And the woman said to Elias, Now by this I knew that you are a man of God, and the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.

OBSERVATION:  prayer is powerful when asked by a righteous person.

 

Prayer:  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  (Matthew 7:21)

 

Monday

Isa 49:8-15
Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you, to restore the land and allot the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners: Come out! to those in darkness: Show yourselves! Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be. They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; for he who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. I will cut a road through all My mountains, and make My highways level. See, some shall come from afar, others from the north and the west, and some from the land of Syene. Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts His people and shows mercy to His afflicted. But Sion said, The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me. Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you, says the Lord almighty.

OBSERVATION:   even when things look dark with many trials remember God has not forgotten us IF we have not forgotten God in our lives.

Prayer:  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  (Phil 4:13)

 

 

Tuesday

John 8:12-20
At that time, Jesus spoke to the multitudes of the Jews, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me does not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said to Him, You bear witness to Yourself. Your witness is not true. Jesus answered and said to them, Even if I bear witness to Myself, My witness is true, because I know where I came from and where I go. But you do not know where I came from or where I go. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but with Me is He Who sent Me, the Father. And in your Law it is written that the witness of two persons is true. It is I Who bear witness to Myself, and He Who sent Me, the Father, bears witness to Me. They therefore said to Him, Where is your Father? Jesus answered, You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me, you would then know My Father also. Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, while teaching in the temple. And no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

OBSERVATION:  Jesus knew what the Father knew…we are able to know what Jesus knew through the supernatural revelation of the Catholic Church that He established.

Prayer:  Glory to Jesus Christ…glory forever!

 

Wednesday

Heb 9:11-15.
Brethren: When Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come, He entered once for all through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands – that is, not of this creation, – nor again by virtue of blood of goats and calves, but by virtue of His own blood, into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of a heifer sanctify the unclean unto the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the Blood of Christ, Who through the Holy Spirit offered Himself unblemished unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And this is why He is mediator of a new covenant, that whereas a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the former covenant, they who have been called may receive eternal inheritance according to the promise, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

OBSERVATION:  Christ is the ultimate priest….offering himself, a perfect offering, for our sins.

Prayer: Create in me a clean heart, O God;  and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence;  and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.  (Psalm 51:10-)

 

 

Thursday

John 8:46-59.
At that time, Jesus said to the crowds of the Jews: Which of you can convict Me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear is that you are not of God. The Jews therefore in answer said to Him, Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan, and have a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. Yet, I do not seek My own glory; there is One Who seeks and Who judges. Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keep My word, he will never see death. The Jews therefore said, Now we know that You have a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and You say, ‘If anyone keep My word he will never taste death.’ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself? Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father Who glorifies Me, of Whom you say that He is your God. And you do not know Him, but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I shall be like you, a liar. But I know Him, and I keep His word. Abraham your father rejoiced that he was to see My day. He saw it and was glad. The Jews therefore said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am. They therefore took up stones to cast at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out from the temple.

OBSERVATION:  one of the few times Jesus clearly revealed His divinity before the Passion and Death.

Prayer:    Christ is in our midst – He is and always shall be.

 

Friday

Jonas 3:1-10
In those days, the word of the Lord came to Jona a second time: Set out for the great city of Ninive, and announce to it the message that I will tell you. So Jona made ready and went to Ninive, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Ninive was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jona began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, Forty days more and Ninive shall be destroyed, when the people of Ninive believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the King of Ninive, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Ninive, by decree of the king and his nobles: Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold His blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish. And God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way; and the Lord, our God, had mercy upon His people.

OBSERVATION:  great things can be obtained from God when we listen to His Word.

Prayer:  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  *Romans 8:28

 

Saturday

John 7:32-39
At that time, the rulers and Pharisees sent attendants to seize Jesus. Jesus then said, Yet a little while I am with you, and then I go to Him Who sent Me. You will seek Me and will not find Me; and where I am you cannot come. The Jews therefore said among themselves, Where is He going that we shall not find Him? Will He go to those dispersed among the Gentiles , and teach the Gentiles? What is this statement that He has made, ‘You will seek Me and will not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’? Now on the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘From within him there shall flow rivers of living waters.’ He said this, however, of the Spirit Whom they who believed in Him were to receive.

OBSERVATION:   this is a foreshadowing of baptism…Christ is the living water of our salvation.

 

Prayer:   We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee for by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.