Here is a portion of verse 27, from Matthew Chapter 23.
“You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”
This was perhaps the hardest chapter for me to deal with so far. I identify most strongly with the loving side of [...]
Here is the link to Matthew Chapter 22, and a portion of verse 37:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
As the father of three boys, I have spent some time coaching my sons and their teammates on the basketball court and the baseball [...]
Here is the link to Matthew Chapter 21, and a portion of verse 31.
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth……”
I actually started this contemplation with this fuller portion of the text.
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of [...]
Here is the link to Matthew Chapter 20, and the text from verses 20 to 28:
20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit [...]
Here is the link to Matthew Chapter 19, and the text from verse 27.
Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
Once again, the word everything makes its prominence felt.
When I last met with Sr. Agnes Marie, I told her I was having problems with Peter. She [...]
Here’s the link to Matthew Chapter 18.
Usually, I have a verse or two to focus on, but this time, even after two weeks, nothing really jumped out at me.
The chapter spends most of its time discussing sin. I don’t have a problem seeing myself as sinful, but when the topic turns to the amount of [...]
Last week I considered verse 5 from Matthew Chapter 17, and the voice from the cloud exhorting us to “Listen to him.”
This week, I want to spend a little time with verses 6 and 7:
“When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” [...]
Here is the link for Matthew Chapter 17. Verse five comes from Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration.
While He was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!“
Not long ago, I presented this passage [...]
The posts Matthew Chapter 16 and Matthew Chapter 16 Continued leave me with a strong desire to confront the major crosses in my life.
How, in practical terms, will I do that?
One thought goes back to my first spiritual adviser, Sr. Gertrude Anne, who helped me understand the role recollection plays in a productive prayer life.
By [...]
Continue reading about Embracing Crosses Through Recollection
Here again is the link for Matthew Chapter 16, and verse 24 from that chapter.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
In the last post on this chapter, I focused on crosses.
Now I wish to move to the idea [...]