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 (...)
1 January
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Romans 1:1-7: Called to be holyPaul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And (...)
1 December 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 8:14-21Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.” The disciples discussed this among themselves, “He said this because we have no bread.” Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you grasp what has happened? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing? Don’t you (...)
1 November 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Jeremiah 23:23-24 An Ever Greater LoveAm I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.
“A God who is near”: this expression sums up Israel’s experience of God’s tenderness. God watches over his people, “shielded him, cared for him, guarded him as the apple of his eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10). But God’s people also experienced a “God who is far away,” and Jeremiah complains about this: “Why should you be like a stranger in the (...)
1 October 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)John 14:15-20 “I will never forsake you”Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day (...)
1 September 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 4:35-41 A hope stronger than fearThat day when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind (...)
1 August 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 16:15-23 Solidarity with all creation“But what about you?” Jesus asked the disciples. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and (...)
1 July 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Luke 14:15-23 A Love Offered to AllOne of the dinner guests said to Jesus, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try (...)