Page 4 - One Bread News Today

personal “For the Father loves the Son and everything the Father does He shows Him.” —John 5:20 At this moment, the will of our Father is to lead us into a deep personal relationship with Him through Jesus and in the Spirit. That is why He sent His only Son to die and rise, why He wrote the Scriptures, and why He called us into this Lenten time of fasting. That’s why in the Catholic community we began Monday reading the Gospel of John for ten weeks. Especially this Gospel leads us into ...

signs and wonders “He and his whole household thereupon became believers. This was the second sign that Jesus performed.” —John 4:53-54 Jesus promised signs and wonders would accompany those professing their faith (Mk 16:17). Notice signs and wonders do not create faith as much as faith creates signs and wonders. Jesus disapproves of faith as merely an effect and makes it primarily the cause. He rebukes the people: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you do not believe” (Jn 4:4...

out of their mind? “Coming to his senses at last…” —Luke 15:17 Jesus mentions that the prodigal son came “to his senses at last” when his situation reached its lowest point. Jesus also forgave His persecutors from the cross, saying “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). Through these two passages, Jesus is teaching us that it is quite possible that those who trespass against us might not be in their right mind.  Jesus pleads with His heavenly F...

in god we trust? “God put Abraham to the test.” —Genesis 22:1 Lent is a season of being put to the test (see Mt 4:1; Gn 22:1). God, “the Tester of our hearts” (1 Thes 2:4), brings us to obedience school this Lent. He is testing us to see if we trust His promises or if our hearts are far from Him and we’ve just been giving Him “lip service” (Mk 7:6). Three days ago, the Church proclaimed Jesus’ promise that God wants to provide our needs (Mt 7:7-11). Tomorrow Jesus promises u...

bent on lent “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life.” —Deuteronomy 30:19 On this second day of Lent, the Church challenges us to choose life, Lent, and salvation. If we don’t want Lent, we can easily ignore it. If we don’t want life and salvation, we can refuse them. We can either lose our life but gain everlasting life, or gain the whole world and lose our soul (Lk 9:24-25). The choice is ours, whether or not we want to choose. Many Christians ...

work force “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” —Genesis 2:15 Work was part of paradise. Man cultivated and cared for the garden of Eden before he sinned. We still experience glimpses of fulfillment and creativity in work. Yet, after the fall of man, work has been warped by sin, and our experience of work is often closer to Hell than Paradise. The good news is that when Jesus redeemed us, He saved every aspect of our lives, ...

“separate yourselves” (2 cor 6:17) “God then separated...” —Genesis 1:4 God’s original creation involved multiple acts of separation (Gn 1:4, 6, 7, 14, 18). God’s separations were “good” (Gn 1:12, 18). God’s new creation in Christ also involves multiple acts of separation. In His new creation, the Lord separates us from: • original sin and its loss of intimacy with God through the Sacrament of Baptism (Gn 3:23; Catechism, 1263), • our sins through the ministry of Jesus (...

urban developer “After sunset, as evening drew on, they brought Him all who were ill, and those possessed by demons. Before long the whole town was gathered outside the door.” —Mark 1:32-33 Job faced reality head on and declared: “Life on earth” is “a drudgery” (Jb 7:1). He described life as being “assigned months of misery” (Jb 7:3). Nights are long; days are short (Jb 7:4, 6) and, when we reach the end of them, we are without hope (Jb 7:6). The only Answer to the drudgery of...

lift up your leaders “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over you as men who must render an account. So act that they may fulfill their task with joy, not with sorrow, for that would be harmful to you.” —Hebrews 13:17 At this morning’s Mass, I am seated next to the Head Director of Presentation Ministries. When I heard the above passage proclaimed by the lector, my heart went out to my brother in Christ. He pours out his heart and his life to lead all of us. He an...

amazing faith “...so much did their lack of faith distress Him.” —Mark 6:6 Jesus was amazed at the Syro-Phoenician woman’s faith (Mt 15:28). He was amazed at the centurion’s faith (Mt 8:10).  He was amazed at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth (see Mk 6:6).How do we get amazing faith?  1) We must ask God for it. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).  2) We must accept the discipline of the Lord (Heb 12:5ff). That in itself gives evidence of our faith. By humbling ours...