July 31, 2023 Monday
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
Jesus is a Story Teller. Jesus knows that we are all children and that a parable or story will catch our attention and stay with us, giving us a chance to remember it and ponder it.
July 30, 2023 Sunday
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Jesus is a hidden treasure. You have to dig in the hard earth of your heart to find him. Jesus is the Pearl of greatest price. Without him, nothing has worth. Jesus is the net that has room for everyone. But will all be able to stay with him? Yes, if they have understanding of the instruction that is Jesus.
July 29, 2023 Saturday
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Jesus is the Resurrection. Therefore death can have no power over him. We are part of his body and so he shares this gift with us. Death does not have the last word. Jesus, who is life, is the first the last, and the only Word.
July 28, 2023 Friday
“But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
Jesus is the sower and also the seed. He is God and man, priest and victim, shepherd and gate. He is the One who guides us and the road on which we walk. He is all things to us. He plants his life in each one of us and waits for us to allow him to grow.
July 27, 2023 Thursday
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”
Jesus is our Greatest Blessing. All we could hope for or desire is contained in him. Our eyes are blessed when we see him, our ears are blessed when we hear him and our hearts are blessed when we love him.
July 26, 2023
“Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Jesus is the One who gave us our ears. That is why he knows what we should do with them. If we hear the word of God and ponder it and don’t let it be crushed by our hard hearts or choked by our anxiety, then it will bear the fruit that Jesus desires.
July 25, 2023
“What do you wish?”
Jesus is our Desire. We may think we want many things including success and power but everything is empty and meaningless without him.
July 24, 2023
“No sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.”
Jesus is greater than all. He himself by his life, death and Resurrection is the sign. He is the only sign we need.
July 23, 2023
“The Son of Man will send his angels”
Jesus is Lord also of the angels. He is Lord of all created things including angels, people, birds of the sky, plants, seeds, yeast and anything you could name. Imagine his love and car for all the things in Heaven and on earth.
July 22, 2023
But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
Jesus is our Brother. He has made us part of his family by sharing his Body and Blood with us. Just as all fatherhood should be modeled on our Heavenly Father, so all our family relationships should be based on Jesus: self-sacrifice, concern and loving guidance to Heaven.
July 21, 2023
“If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men.”
Jesus is the One who gives us our freedom. He gives us our freedom so that we can share in his desire to show mercy to all.
July 20, 2023
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus is Someone who calls. He calls to us over and over to come to him to let him make our burdens light.
July 19, 2023
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”
Jesus is childlike. He receives everything from his Father in simplicity and joy. He is full of trust and love for his Father and eagerness to obey all his commands.
July 18, 2023
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.
Jesus is Someone who rebukes evil. If evil is allowed to grow, it blocks true life from growing and flourishing. Jesus wants us to turn away from the things that destroy us.
July 17, 2023
“…one’s enemies will be those of his household.”
Jesus is a cause of division. Why is that? It is because he is the light but some people prefer darkness. If someone wants to fill the house with sunlight by opening up the curtains and another person wants the house to be dark, there will be division.
July 16, 2023
“A sower went out to sow.”
Jesus is the Gardener of Souls. He has the good seed of his word but it will not bear fruit in us if we don’t take time to understand it, if we don’t make a strong decision to remain with it and if we don’t put it first before all other concerns.
July 15, 2023
“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher”
Jesus is the Master and we are his servants. He is also the Master in the sense of being the perfect model that we need to try to imitate.
July 14, 2023
For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Jesus is the One who is sent and now he is also the One who sends. He sends us out to do the Father’s work and he assures us that the Holy Spirit will be there to help us.
July 13, 2023
“As you enter a house, wish it peace.”
Jesus sends out peace into the world. This is a great gift but it has to be received and lived. If we welcome Jesus and those who serve him, we will have peace.
July 12, 2023
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus has authority. Only Jesus truly has authority on earth. He shares this authority with his disciples and he expects them to use it wisely.
July 11, 2023
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
Jesus is something never seen before. A person who was God and also one of us is truly amazing. No one had seen or even imagined this before Jesus came down from Heaven to save us.
July 10, 2023
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
Jesus is turned towards us in our need. He listens to the official and even follows him, he turns towards the suffering woman and he comes to the little girl to bring her new life.
July 9, 2023
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Jesus is Someone with an easy yoke and a light burden. How can this be? Aren’t yokes hard to wear and burdens burdensome? This yoke is easy because it keeps you and Jesus together and this burden is light because it is not carried alone.
July 8, 2023
“People do not put new wine into old wineskins.”
Jesus is the New Wine. When the world had grown old and tired from sin, he came to bring new life and hope. We need to be like fresh wineskins ready to receive all that Jesus wants to pour into us.
July 7, 2023
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”
Jesus is the Good Physician of our bodies and our souls. There is nothing he can not heal. He knows that each person needs his healing touch in their life and he wants us to come to him.
July 6, 2023
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus sees your faith. Jesus sees everything about you and knows everything about you. He knows your sins and he knows what you need.
July 5, 2023
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
Jesus is the one who drives evil away from us—if we let him. But if we don’t want to be healed, then we try to drive him away from our district.
July 4, 2023
But he was asleep.
Jesus is someone who slept. What was it like when Jesus slept? Did he dream? We don’t know but we do know that every moment of his life was lived in the presence of his Father. Therefore whether awake or asleep, he lived in trust and obedience.
July 3, 2023
“Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Jesus is truly risen. Thomas could see and touch his wounds. Thomas doubted but his doubt has become a great aid to our faith.
July 2, 2023
“And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus is the one to love. When we give Jesus all of our love, he multiplies it and makes it flow out over everyone that we meet.
July 1, 2023
“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed”
Jesus is someone who can be amazed. Do you want to be a person who amazes him with your love and faith?