I’LL NEVER BE THE SAME - One Bread, One Body, 02/07/2025

Friday, February 7, 2025,

Hebrews 13:1-8
Psalm 27:1, 3, 5, 8-9
Mark 6:14-29

View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

I'LL NEVER BE THE SAME
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." —Hebrews 13:8

It is obviously Good News that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” in that He continues to save, heal, free, and love us. He will always “save those who approach God through Him, since He forever lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). He “will never desert” us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). Jesus is the same.

It is not as obvious that it is Good News that Jesus Christ is the same in expecting us to be holy, judging us, and letting us suffer for Him. For example, Jesus did not prevent Herod from cutting off St. John the Baptizer’s head (Mk 6:16). Jesus, Who is the same today and forever as He was yesterday, will let us be persecuted and martyred for love of Him. Nonetheless, it is still Good News that Jesus is the same.

For us to receive the good news of Jesus being the same, we ourselves must not be the same today as when we were conceived with our fallen human nature. We must not live the same as we did before we gave our lives to Christ and decided to live our Baptisms. Even after giving our lives to Christ, we must not remain the same but must grow to the full maturity of Christ (Eph 4:15). Because Jesus is the same, we must convert, repent, and grow. We must not be the same.

Prayer: Father, may I never be the same. May I "grow rather in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pt 3:18).

Promise: "Let marriage be honored in every way and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers." —Heb 13:4

Praise: Jesus healed Elaine of crippling hip pain when she was prayed for at a healing service following Mass.

(For a related teaching on The Truth Will Set You Free, view, download or order our booklet on our website.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..

UNHINDERED - One Bread, One Body, 02/06/2025

Thursday, February 6, 2025, St. Paul Miki & Companions

Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24
Psalm 48:2-4, 9-11
Mark 6:7-13

View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

UNHINDERED
"He instructed them to take nothing on the journey." —Mark 6:8

Jesus sent the apostles out on mission with almost no material goods (Mk 6:8ff). He wanted them to be wholly occupied with the work of proclaiming His kingdom. It would be an unnecessary distraction to be concerned with what they were to eat or wear (Mk 6:8-9; see also Mt 6:31). So Jesus sent forth the apostles without food or extra clothes. If the apostles had brought money, they might have used valuable time spending it. So Jesus sent them on mission without a coin (Mk 6:8). Jesus did tell the apostles to take walking sticks and to wear sandals (Mk 6:8-9). These would enable them to cover more territory faster in proclaiming God’s kingdom. Jesus also commanded the apostles not to get bogged down proclaiming the Gospel to those who persisted in rejecting it. Jesus said: “If any place will not receive you or hear you, shake its dust from your feet” (Mk 6:11).

It is clear that Jesus wants us out on the streets, on the highways and byways (see Lk 14:21), in the marketplace, in public proclaiming His kingdom. There is no time to waste. We need a streamlined, uncluttered Christianity that “exists in order to evangelize” (On Evangelization, Pope St. Paul VI, 14). Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed: “I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission” to the nations (Mission of the Redeemer, 3). Go out now for Jesus.

Prayer: Father, as I proclaim the Gospel, make me well aware that it has eternal consequences.

Promise: "O God, we ponder Your kindness within Your temple." —Ps 48:10

Praise: St. Paul Miki, crucified in Japan in 1596, preached the Gospel from his cross to those gathered to watch his execution and that of his twenty-five companions.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..

A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW? - One Bread, One Body, 02/05/2025

Wednesday, February 5, 2025, St. Agatha

Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15
Psalm 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18
Mark 6:1-6

View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW?
"See to it that no man falls away from the grace of God; that no bitter root springs up through which many may become defiled." —Hebrews 12:15

There is bitterness, and then there is something worse than bitterness, that is, a “bitter root.” A bitter root springs up and produces such evils as hatred, racism, unforgiveness, resentment, deception, violence, and cruelty. Because a bitter root is so productive of things which are destructive, it defiles many (Heb 12:15). This in turn can contribute to people choosing to fall “away from the grace of God” (Heb 12:15).

Since a root of bitterness is so dangerous and potentially damning, we must avoid bitterness so that there is no chance of it ever becoming rooted. We can avoid bitterness by accepting God’s grace to forgive all those who have sinned against us in any way. Even if we have contaminated ourselves with bitterness, we can stop bitterness from being rooted by letting God work the miracle of forgiveness in our lives. If we have already allowed bitterness to take root in our lives, we must forgive so that we uproot bitterness before it produces even more evil. Where there is forgiveness, bitterness cannot exist.

Therefore, forgive everyone for every wrong committed against you. Then you will immediately be free from the cancer of bitterness.

Prayer: Father, may I avoid bitterness "like the plague."

Promise: "Strive for peace with all men, and for that holiness without which no one can see the Lord." —Heb 12:14

Praise: St. Agatha, a young adult, dedicated herself to Jesus as a consecrated virgin. Multiple times she endured brutal torture as punishments from the Roman judge, yet she remained faithful to Jesus and would not seek relief. She died a martyr, trusting fully in the love of Christ.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..

LIFT HIGH THE CROSS - One Bread, One Body, 02/04/2025

Tuesday, February 4, 2025,

Hebrews 12:1-4
Psalm 22:26-28, 30-32
Mark 5:21-43

View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

LIFT HIGH THE CROSS
Jesus "endured the cross, despising the shame…" —Hebrews 12:2, RSV-CE

Some translations of Hebrews 12:2 say that Jesus endured the cross, “heedless of its shame” (NAB). Others render it as “despising its shame” (RNAB) or “disregarding the shamefulness of it” (JB). The Greek word means “to think against” or “to think down upon.”

Jesus never operated out of “human respect” (see Lk 20:21; Jn 2:25). He gave no heed to the shame, ridicule, and calumny He endured in His Passion. He “disregarded the report” that a twelve-year-old girl was dead (Mk 5:36). He “thought against” a report that Herod wanted to kill Him (see Lk 13:31-33). Jesus “despised the shame” of the cross. His face was set like flint (Is 50:7), and He “firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem” and the cross of Calvary (Lk 9:51).

Can you act heedless of the shame of human contempt? Can you “despise the shame” of condemnation — in public shaming amid social media comments, ridicule in the workplace, in public, etc. Can you even disregard human praise, preferring instead the glory of God? (see Jn 12:43)

Jesus “thought against” the shame of the cross. His crucifixion was actually His hour to be glorified (Jn 12:23). His thoughts were focused on the glory to be given to His Father (Jn 12:28). In the liturgy of Holy Thursday, the Entrance Antiphon proclaims: “We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So give no heed to the shame of the cross. Instead, “look to [the crucified Christ] that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame” (Ps 34:6). Lift high the cross!

Prayer: Father, give me "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16).

Promise: "It is your faith that has cured you." —Mk 5:34

Praise: George put a Scripture quote on his business cards.

(This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..

HE’S BACK IN TOWN - One Bread, One Body, 02/03/2025

Monday, February 3, 2025, St. Blaise
St. Ansgar

Hebrews 11:32-40
Psalm 31:20-24
Mark 5:1-20

View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

HE'S BACK IN TOWN
"He pleaded hard with Jesus not to drive them away from that neighborhood." —Mark 5:10

Jesus threw the devil out of a Gerasene town (Mk 5:13). Then the devil got the townsfolk to throw Jesus out of town (Mk 5:17). Jesus, however, had the last word, for He remained in town incognito, in the heart of the man who was formerly the demoniac.

Jesus continues to get thrown out of town after town. Nations, schools, businesses, families, neighborhoods, and even churches often throw Jesus out. Nevertheless, Jesus returns to town in the hearts of believers and wherever two or three gather in His name (Mt 18:20).

If you let Jesus live in you, if you go where He tells you and make it clear what He “in His mercy has done for you” (Mk 5:19), then Jesus is back in town, and the devil better make a run for it. When Jesus is back in town, then life, love, freedom, peace, and purity are back in town.

Carry Jesus within you wherever He’s not wanted. If people won’t go to church, then become a walking tabernacle and bring Jesus to them. Bring the Light into the darkness, Peace into war, Hope into despair, Truth into falsehood, and Life into the living death of sin (1 Jn 3:14). Bring Jesus back into town.

Prayer: Father, through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, deliver us from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.

Promise: "God had made a better plan, a plan which included us."—Heb 11:40

Praise: St. Ansgar, the first Christian missionary to Scandinavia, made great personal sacrifices to tell the Danish and Swedish people of Jesus' sacrificial love for them.

(Give our Bible Telephone Line a try. Call 513-823-3111 for a brief Bible teaching on today's daily Mass readings.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..

“NOW I SEE” (Jn 9:25, RSV-CE) - One Bread, One Body, 02/02/2025

Sunday, February 2, 2025, Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Psalm 24:7-10
Luke 2:22-40
View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

"NOW I SEE" (Jn 9:25, RSV-CE)
"My eyes have witnessed Your saving deed displayed for all the peoples to see." —Luke 2:30-31

The Church Fathers pictured Adam and Eve as viewing through the persons of Simeon and Anna the undoing of their earlier rebellion. Adam and Eve could thus say with Simeon, “Now we can die in peace; we have seen God’s salvation” (see Lk 2:29ff). They finally saw the fulfillment of God’s promise of victory over evil in the Infant Jesus (see Gn 3:15). God let Simeon and Anna see the promise, just as He let Moses see the Promised Land and feast his eyes upon it (see Dt 34:4). They “did not obtain what had been promised but saw and saluted it from afar” (Heb 11:13).

God lets us glimpse the heavenly future in today’s feast of the Presentation of Jesus. We may not live to see all our hopes come to pass, but God in His mercy lets us “feast our eyes” upon the promise and get a glimpse. We are privileged to see Jesus in Word, Eucharist, and Sacrament. We too can see the Light to the Nations and the Glory of Israel (see Lk 2:32).

Moses, Simeon, Anna, and the holy heroes of faith were the best of faithful Israel. Likewise, God lets us see a Light of revelation, a sign that will be for our “rise,” the rise of many (Lk 2:34). In seeing the Eucharist, reading the New Testament, and living in the Church, the Body of Christ, we not only fulfill Simeon and Anna’s hope, but far exceed it. Let us rejoice in all the Lord allows us to see.

Prayer: Father, I will feast my eyes upon that which glorifies You, rather than upon worldly "enticements for the eye" (1 Jn 2:16).

Promise: "Since [Jesus] was Himself tested through what He suffered, He is able to help those who are tempted." —Heb 2:18

Praise: "O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Your name over all the earth!" (Ps 8:2)

(This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
(It's not too late to sign up for retreat How to Hear the Voice of God, Feb. 7-8. See our website for the location and more details.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..

“THE INSIDIOUS RISK” OF UNDERMINED FAITH - One Bread, One Body, 02/01/2025

Saturday, February 1, 2025,

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Luke 1:69-75
Mark 4:35-41

View Readings

Listen to Fr. Al Daily Bread Radio Program

"THE INSIDIOUS RISK" OF UNDERMINED FAITH
"Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see." —Hebrews 11:1

If the devil tried to bribe or intimidate you to give up your faith, many of you would not do it. The devil will sometimes then try something much more subtle. Satan knows that we will eventually lose our faith if we don’t make it a priority to grow in faith.

“Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150). It “is a lived knowledge of Christ” (Splendor of Truth, Pope St. John Paul II, 88). Faith is based on our relationship with Jesus. Because we are human beings, our relationships continually change for better or for worse, and so does our faith. Therefore, we must decide to try to grow in faith (see Jude 20). Otherwise, our faith will automatically erode and eventually be lost. Pope St. John Paul II taught that if prayer does not fill our whole life, we “run the insidious risk of seeing” our “faith progressively undermined” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, Pope St. John Paul II, 34). Our faith is growing or dying.

Jesus wants to say to each of us: “You have great faith!” (Mt 15:28) He does not want to ask the question: “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” (Mk 4:40) Therefore, let us cry out to Jesus: “I do have faith! Help the little faith I have!” (Mk 9:24, JB)

Prayer: Father, may I do anything to accept Your grace of deeper faith.

Promise: "But they were searching for a better, a heavenly home. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." —Heb 11:16

Praise: Ellen forgave the driver who recklessly caused an accident which killed her husband. Her forgiveness led the young man to surrender his life to Jesus.



-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rescript: In accord with the "Code of Canon Law", I hereby grant the "Nihil Obstat" ("Permission to Publish") for "One Bread, One Body."

"In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio May 22, 2024"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © Presentation Ministries

To add your e-mail address to this list go to https://www.presentationministries.com/subscribe/email

To remove your e-mail address from this list, click here..