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Tags: jesus, liturgy, new testament, prayer, shema When Jesus Said The Shema So you’ve heard of the Shema, right? The most important prayer in Judaism? Traditionally recited twice a day, upon waking and going to sleep? Today, when we say “the Shema,” we’re talking about the verse Deuteronomy 6:4 as well as three other paragraphs (two from Deuteronomy and one from Numbers), but the prayer has been through a number of iterations. Several hundred years ago, the Shema contained the entire text of the Ten Commandments. At one point, early rabbis proposed that the Shema should contain the entirety of...

August 23, 2015   Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,summoning their elders, their leaders,their judges, and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God,Joshua addressed all the people:“If it does not please you to serve the LORD,decide today whom you will serve,the gods your fathers served beyond the Riveror the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” But the people answered,“Far be it from us to forsake the...

“‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth’” (Matthew 6:19). You cannot pursue both God and riches. Ours is a society consumed with material things. Status, success, and importance are all too often measured by a person’s financial worth. Those with wealth flaunt it; those without wealth fake it. People often rack up huge debts in their desperate and futile pursuit of happiness through accumulating material things. Sadly, that same materialistic mind-set permeates the church. Instead of offering an alternative, that of being distinct from the world, the church joins the world in its pursuit of riches. Most tragically...

"[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness" (1 Cor. 13:6). Love never justifies sin. To most Christians, the idea of rejoicing over unrighteousness is repulsive because it suggests enjoying deliberate, wanton sin. We've seen sin's tragic effects on mankind and know how it offends God, so how could we ever rejoice in such a thing? But rejoicing in unrighteousness includes any attempt to justify sin in your own life or the lives of others, so it can be a very subtle thing. There are many ways to rejoice in unrighteousness. One is to exchange right for wrong. That's what the prophet...

August 22, 2015   Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17 Naomi had a prominent kinsman named Boaz,of the clan of her husband Elimelech.Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,“Let me go and glean ears of grain in the fieldof anyone who will allow me that favor.”Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter,” and she went.The field she entered to glean after the harvestershappened to be the section belonging to Boazof the clan of Elimelech. Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter!Do not go to glean in anyone else’s field;you are not...

Having taken a six-week break from social media, the internet and writing, it was with a sense of trepidation that I emerged from my cocoon. What has been going on in the world? In seeking to catch up I read over newsfeeds, papers and websites, and found there is one issue that stands out – mainly because apart from in US Christian circles, the silence has been deafening. I am talking, of course, about the Planned Parenthood videos. I am sure that most readers on Christian Today will be aware of the basics of the story – how the Center...

Like a bottle of "fruit juice cocktail" that's mostly corn syrup and water with a bit of actual fruit juice mixed in, some "Christian" religions are based only loosely on Christ and His Word. As we see all around us various man-made codes, catechisms, creeds, councils, conventions, etc., it's worth our time to consider whether our religion is based on the God's revelation in the Bible, or on man's ideas. The Jewish religion of Jesus' day was ostensibly based on the Scriptures, yet piled so high with preachers' and authors' ideas, that the Word of God was not only obscured...

Last night, I was one of many who received the following email from Msgr. Charles Pope, well-known blogger and writer in the Archdiocese of Washington: Just a brief note to inform you that I have been blocked from Facebook. They claim that Msgr. Charles Pope is not my real name and are requiring me to submit government ID proving that Msgr. Charles Pope is my true identity. As of now, I have no intention of doing this since I consider it an unreasonable demand by them. They further indicate that even if I supply the IDs from at least two...

What really happened on the cross? Was the death of Jesus a human tragedy whereby a good man was brutally and unfairly slain? Was His death an example of faith, obedience, and self-sacrifice? Was it a ransom paid to the Devil? A victory over the Devil? A manifestation of moral influence? Was the cross an atonement? Did it involve expiation and propitiation for sin? Was it a supernatural act done to satisfy the wrath and justice of God? Each of these individually and several in combination have been set forth as the real meaning of Christ’s death. How we understand...

“Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for [the Lord] Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). God promises to provide for all your needs. In World War II the death of many adults left many orphans. At the close of the war, the Allies provided some camps to feed the orphans and to try and find a place to relocate them. The children began to develop and grow, receiving the finest food and care. But in one of the camps, the...

"[Love] does not take into account a wrong suffered" (1 Cor. 13:5). If you love someone, you won’t keep a record of their offenses. It is reported that when the Moravian missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they couldn't find a word in their language for forgiveness. They had to combine a series of shorter words into one compound word: Issumagijoujungnainermik. Although the word appears formidable, its meaning is beautiful, being translated: "Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore." You've probably noticed that unforgiving people usually have good memories. Some can hold a grudge for a lifetime. But love never keeps a record of wrongs committed...

August 21, 2015   Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope Reading 1 Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22 Once in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land;so a man from Bethlehem of Judahdeparted with his wife and two sonsto reside on the plateau of Moab.Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died,and she was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women,one named Orpah, the other Ruth.When they had lived there about ten years,both Mahlon and Chilion died also,and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.She then made ready to go...

In the second half of our discussion on “the Soul and Friendship’s Role”, my educator friend and co-producer Tom Pazdan and I will discuss meaningful friendships that become toxic. If you are an emotionally sensitive person, and you feel (or have felt) hurt, anger, disappointment, or what have you due either to a broken friendship, or one that is now full of animosity, this show will try to make some sense out of your feelings. Also on the program, we will discuss how Jesus Christ provides a template for friendships, as the perfect model for them, on this edition of...

“Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the Lord it will be provided’” (Genesis 22:13-14). When God provides for a believer, He’s being true to His name. The Old Testament gives God many names, but one of the most lovely is Jehovah-Jireh, translated in...

"[Love] is not provoked" (1 Cor. 13:5). Self-centered anger cannot coexist with love. The great eighteenth-century preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards had a daughter with an uncontrollable temper. When a young man asked Dr. Edwards for his daughter's hand in marriage, he said no. The young man was crushed. "But I love her and she loves me," he pleaded. "That makes no difference," Edwards replied, "she isn't worthy of you." "But she is a Christian, isn't she," the young man argued. "Yes," said Edwards, "but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could...

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be rasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on the cross!” (Phil. 2:4–8, NIV). Here the attribute of glory is ascribed to all three members of the Trinity. This glory...

August 20, 2015   Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Jgs 11:29-39a The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah.He passed through Gilead and Manasseh,and through Mizpah-Gilead as well,and from there he went on to the Ammonites.Jephthah made a vow to the LORD.“If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said,“whoever comes out of the doors of my houseto meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonitesshall belong to the LORD.I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.” Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them,and...

Jesus is becoming less and less a figure to whom people commit their lives. A Barna survey earlier this year found that while 65 percent of Boomers made a personal commitment to Jesus, only 46 percent of Millennials had. They are also 10 percent less likely to believe Jesus was divine, compared to Boomers. Jesus may be losing his luster in our culture of decreasing church attendance and religious beliefs. Still, I find there is a Jesus who everybody loves, the Jesus who modeled what it means to show compassion to the stranger, care for the widow, bind up the...

Daily Devotional For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 Bible Reading Philippians 1:12–26 Devotional What does it mean to live? If you say, “I want to live,” or, “I don’t want to live anymore” what are you saying? When Paul states, “For to me to live is Christ” he is saying that life means Christ. Everything that he does is influenced by Christ and is done for Him. Christ gives direction, purpose and meaning to his existence. That is the way it should be for us, too! Paul views his life as totally...

In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, He says: “And now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (v. 5). Here Jesus alludes to a position He held before creation. It is a tacit claim to His participation in the eternal glory of God. In the fourth century, the church faced a serious crisis with respect to the deity of Christ. The Arian heretics denied the deity of Christ, claiming that Jesus was a creature who was adopted into a special relationship with God. In their controversy with...