During these summer months, let’s continue to read and meditate on these Bible passages each day.
July 1: Matthew 9: 9-13
Like Matthew, let us pray to respond generously and without delay to the Lord’s call to follow his way each day.
July 2: Matthew 9: 14-17
Let us pray for renewal, for hearts that are meek, compassionate, trustful, and open to God and to others.
July 3: Luke 10: 1-12. 17-20
Jesus prepares his disciples for the challenges, obstacles, and dangers that they will encounter. They will succeed, however, because the power of God is working with them. They will return with joy! Do I experience that joy when I do what the Lord wants?
July 4: Matthew 9: 18-26
Jesus is open to the needs of a child, to the prayer of a humble woman. Help me to see as Jesus sees, and pay attention to what is really important.
July 5: Matthew 9: 32-38
Jesus had compassion and healed the demoniac, but the Pharisees were hard-hearted and did not respond with amazement as the crowds did.
July 6: Matthew 10: 1-7
Jesus trusted his disciples to share in his mission. He calls me, too, to join him. May I hear his call and respond!
July 7: Matthew 10: 7-15
I ask God to give me what I need so that I may give, not of my own resources, but of what I have freely received.
July 8: Matthew 10: 15-23
We need to become both wise and transparent. Jesus promises to be with us as we take the Gospel to this difficult world.
July 9: Matthew 10: 24-33
I pray that mine may be a living faith and that I may accept God’s direction for my life’s journey.
July 10: Luke 10: 25-37
As I spend time reflecting on Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan, I ask who in my life is my neighbor and to whom am I a good neighbor.
July 11: Matthew 10: 34-11:1
I ask for the grace of real interior freedom and for courage to be true to myself and to my calling.
July 12: Matthew 11: 20-24
Lord, open my eyes and my heart to the signs of your grace around me. Help me to hear your message, even if it upsets my habits.
July 13: Matthew 11: 25-27
Let us rejoice that we are called to be Jesus’ brothers and sisters, who learn from him what the Father is like!
July 14: Matthew 11: 28-30
Jesus is “gentle and humble in heart.” He understands our limitations and he offers us rest and reassurance.
July 15: Matthew 12: 1-8
God did not institute the Sabbath to add burdens to an already over-burdened humanity. The Sabbath is the time for God’s people to pause and take time out to come to know better the God whose delight is to be with them.
July 16: Matthew 12: 14-21
The Pharisees found Jesus’ integrity and powerful message of love a real threat to their power. So many good people are destroyed because they pose a threat to the corrupt and deceitful. I ask God to have mercy on us and on our world.
July 17: Luke 10: 38-42
Mary was attentive to Jesus’ teaching in this account. Each of us has to find the balance between service and moments of attentiveness to God. Both the active and the contemplative dimensions of Christian life are necessary.
July 18: Matthew 12: 38-42
Jesus compares himself to Jonah, the prophet who preached conversion. I ask to hear his call to change what I need to change.
July 19: Matthew 12: 46-50
Jesus wishes to extend his family, so that we are all members of the one family where God is our father. We are to love God and love our neighbor with the same love.
July 20: Matthew 13: 1-9
My heart contains all sorts of ground as described in this parable. I ask to see where the hardness and the insecurity lie and ask the Sower that my life may bear abundant fruit.
July 21: Matthew 13: 10-17
Am I one of those who look without seeing, or hear without understanding? How easy it is to be distracted!
July 22: John 20:1-2. 11-18
Through the resurrection of Jesus we celebrate the joy of his victory over sin and death. It is the basic tenet of the Christian faith. How does the grace of the resurrection affect me? I pray that I may welcome with joy the message of the risen Jesus, believing in the power of his presence in my life.
July 23: Matthew 13: 24-30
We are frustrated and baffled by the presence of evil in our world. But we can be sure that God will have the last word.
July 24: Luke 11: 1-13
Here we have Jesus’ teachings about prayer. “Give us each day our daily bread… and forgive us our sins…” I thank God of his generosity and his forgiveness and ask for a generous and forgiving heart toward others.
July 25: Matthew 20: 20-28
James and John misunderstood Jesus’ message and asked to be given positions of privilege. I ask for a deeper understanding of the Gospel and its radical message of service.
July 26: Matthew 13: 36-43
We must live in a world where good and evil are intertwined. Jesus warns that only at the end of time will all be resolved. We are not to despair in the face of evil, but trust that God will make all things right.
July 27: Matthew 13: 44-46
Seekers who pursue their search with sincerity, show by this very fact that God is with them. Their peace will be in the seeking, as it will eventually be in the finding.
July 28: Matthew 13: 47-53
In this dramatic story about the end of human history Jesus is trying to jolt us into awareness that the decisions we make day by day are important. His overall concern is that we should always love one another. We are meant always to be growing in love of others, rather than living for ourselves. That’s the drama of Christian life. Our joy at the end will be to see how we have helped others to become as God wants them to be.
July 29: John 11: 19-27
Faith in the resurrection helps us to live with an attitude of hope, sharing in the joy of the victory of the risen Christ over sin and death. It is because of the resurrection that Christ is with me on all of my journeys through life. Can I recognize his presence and open my heart to encounter him more fully?
July 30: Matthew 14: 1-12
John is an example to us of integrity. Like him, we have each one been called to be spokespersons for God’s way. It may not always be easy. Reflect on this in prayer.
July 31: Luke 12: 13-21
One’s life is not made secure by what he owns. I pray that our world may grow in wisdom and choose solidarity and respect for one another and for the earth, our common home.