1 October
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 6:1-6,16-18 Giving, praying, fastingJesus said, “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing (...)
1 September
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 10:28-31 Leaving, following and receivingThen Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields —along with persecutions— and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Peter’s words are both the spoken realization that he (...)
1 August
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)1 Thessalonians 5: 13b-23a Live in peaceLive in peace with each other. We urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on (...)
1 July
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Micah 6:6-8 Walk humbly with your GodWith what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Sometimes it feels as if we live in a trembling world where every step is uncertain. The first chapter of the book of (...)
1 June
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 1:7-11 The Baptism of JesusJohn the Baptist announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I (...)
1 May
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Luke 10:1-11 Journeying togetherAfter this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your (...)
1 May
At the Wellspring of FaithMeditations and ReflectionsThese Bible meditations are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small group of 3 to 10 people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps for a time of (...)
1 April
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 2:21-22 The old and the newJesus said, “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
In our world, it’s easy to feel pressured to get the latest thing, whether it’s because it’s faster, has more features, or simply looks better. At the same time, there’s a strong sense of (...)
1 March
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Numbers 11:4b-10,14-17 "You are no longer alone"The Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. (...)
1 February
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Isaiah 11:1-11: a promise of peaceA shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod (...)