Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens — what can you do? They are deeper than the debts of the grave — what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
Job 11:7-9 NIV
A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.
To finish the Bible in one year, Read Proverbs 28-31 and John 11:45-57.
Verses for today – Listen here: For explanations
Reflection for Today.
Also read the verses, if you like.
Proverbs 28
1 The wicked flees when no one is pursuing, the upright is bold as a lion.
2 A country in revolt throws up many leaders: with one person wise and experienced, you have stability.
3 The wicked oppresses the weak: here is a devastating rain — and farewell, bread!
4 Those who forsake the law sing the praises of the wicked, those who observe the law are angered by them.
5 The wicked do not know what justice means, those who seek Yahweh understand everything.
6 Better someone poor living an honest life than someone of devious ways however rich.
7 An intelligent child is one who keeps the Law; an associate of profligates brings shame on his father.
8 Whoever increases wealth by usury and interest amasses it for someone else who will bestow it on the poor.
9 Whoever refuses to listen to the Law, such a one’s very prayer is an abomination.
10 Whoever seduces the honest to evil ways will fall into his own pit. The blameless are the heirs to happiness.
11 The rich may think himself wise, but the intelligent poor will unmask him.
12 When the upright triumph, there is great exultation: when the wicked are in the ascendant, people take cover.
13 No one who conceals his sins will prosper, whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
14 Blessed the person who is never without fear, whoever hardens his heart will fall into distress.
15 Like a roaring lion or a springing bear is a wicked ruler of a powerless people.
16 An unenlightened ruler is rich in rapacity, one who hates greed will lengthen his days.
17 A man guilty of murder will flee till he reaches his tomb: let no one halt him!
18 Whoever lives an honest life will be safe, whoever wavers between two ways falls down in one of them.
19 Whoever works his land shall have bread and to spare, but no one who chases fantasies has any sense.
20 A trustworthy person will be overwhelmed with blessings, but no one who tries to get rich quickly will go unpunished.
21 It is not good to show partiality, but people will do wrong for a mouthful of bread.
22 The person of greedy eye chases after wealth, not knowing that want will be the result.
23 Anyone who reproves another will enjoy more favour in the end than the flatterer.
24 Whoever robs father and mother saying, ‘Nothing wrong in that!’ is comrade for a brigand.
25 The covetous provokes disputes, whoever trusts in Yahweh will prosper.
26 Whoever trusts his own wit is a fool, anyone whose ways are wise will be safe.
27 No one who gives to the poor will ever go short, but whoever closes his eyes will have curses in plenty.
28 When the wicked are in the ascendant, people take cover, but when they perish, the upright multiply.
Proverbs 29
1 Whoever is stiff-necked under reproof will be suddenly and irremediably broken.
2 When the upright are on the increase, the people rejoice; when the wicked are in power, the people groan.
3 The lover of Wisdom makes his father glad, but the patron of prostitutes fritters his wealth away.
4 A king gives a country stability by justice, an extortioner brings it to ruin.
5 Whoever flatters his companion spreads a net for his feet.
6 In the sin of the wicked lies a snare, but the upright exults and rejoices.
7 The upright understands the cause of the weak, the wicked has not the wit to understand it.
8 Scoffers set a city in ferment, but the wise moderate anger.
9 Let someone wise argue with a fool, anger and good humour alike will be wasted.
10 The bloodthirsty hate the honest, but the upright seek them out.
11 The fool blurts out every angry feeling, but the wise subdues and restrains them.
12 When a ruler listens to false reports, all his ministers will be scoundrels.
13 Poor and oppressor are found together, Yahweh gives light to the eyes of both.
14 The king who judges the weak with equity sees his throne set firm for ever.
15 The stick and the reprimand bestow wisdom, a young man left to himself brings shame on his mother.
16 When the wicked are on the increase, sin multiplies, but the upright will witness their downfall.
17 Correct your child, and he will give you peace of mind; he will delight your soul.
18 Where there is no vision the people get out of hand; happy are they who keep the law.
19 Not by words is a slave corrected: even if he understands, he will take no notice.
20 You see someone too ready of speech? There is more to be hoped for from a fool!
21 If a slave is pampered from childhood, he will prove ungrateful in the end.
22 The hot-head provokes disputes, someone in a rage commits all sorts of sins.
23 Pride brings humiliation, whoever humbles himself will win honour.
24 To hear the curse and disclose nothing is to share with the thief and to hate oneself.
25 To be afraid of human beings is a snare, whoever trusts in Yahweh is secure.
26 Many people seek a ruler’s favour, but the rights of each come from Yahweh.
27 Abhorrent to the upright is the sinful, abhorrent to the wicked is one whose way is straight.
Proverbs 30
1 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh, of Massa. Prophecy of this man for Ithiel, for Ithiel and for Ucal.
2 I am myself the stupidest of people, bereft of human intelligence,
3 I have not learnt wisdom, and I lack the knowledge of the holy ones.
4 Who has mounted to the heavens, then come down again? Who has gathered the wind in the clasp of his hand? Who has wrapped the waters in his cloak? Who has set all the ends of the earth firm? What is his name? What is his child’s name? Do you know?
5 Every word of God is unalloyed, a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 To his words make no addition, lest he reprove you and account you a liar.
7 Two things I beg of you, do not grudge me them before I die:
8 keep falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of food,
9 for fear that, surrounded by plenty, I should fall away and say, ‘Yahweh-who is Yahweh?’ or else, in destitution, take to stealing and profane the name of my God.
10 Do not blacken a slave’s name to his master, lest he curse you, and you suffer for it.
11 There is a breed of person that curses his father and does not bless his mother;
12 a breed that, laying claim to purity, has not yet been cleansed of its filth;
13 a breed haughty of eye, with disdain in every glance;
14 a breed with swords for teeth, with knives for jaws, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from the land.
15 The leech has two daughters: ‘Give! Give!’ There are three insatiable things, four, indeed, that never say, ‘Enough!’
16 Sheol, the barren womb, earth which can never have its fill of water, fire which never says, ‘Enough!’
17 The eye which looks jeeringly on a father, and scorns the obedience due to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, and eaten by the vultures.
18 There are three things beyond my comprehension, four, indeed, that I do not understand:
19 the way of an eagle through the skies, the way of a snake over the rock, the way of a ship in mid-ocean, the way of a man with a girl.
20 This is how an adulteress behaves: she eats, then wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong!’
21 There are three things at which the earth trembles, four, indeed, which it cannot endure:
22 a slave become king, a brute gorged with food,
23 a hateful woman wed at last, a servant girl inheriting from her mistress.
24 There are four creatures little on the earth, though they are wisest of the wise:
25 ants, a race with no strength, yet in the summer they make sure of their food;
26 the coneys, a race without defences, yet they make their home in the rocks;
27 locusts, which have no king, yet they all march in good order;
28 lizards, which you can catch in your hand, yet they frequent the palaces of kings.
29 There are three things of stately tread, four, indeed, of stately walk:
30 the lion, bravest of beasts, he will draw back from nothing;
31 a vigorous cock, a he-goat, and the king when he harangues his people.
32 If you have been foolish enough to fly into a passion and now have second thoughts, lay your hand on your lips.
33 For by churning the milk you produce butter, by wringing the nose you produce blood, and by whipping up anger you produce strife.
Proverbs 31
1 The sayings of Lemuel king of Massa, taught him by his mother:
2 What, my son! What, son of my womb! What, son of my vows!
3 Do not expend your energy on women nor your wealth on those who ruin kings.
4 Not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings the drinking of wine, not for princes the love of liquor,
5 for fear that in liquor they forget what they have decreed and pervert the course of justice against all the poor.
6 Procure strong drink for someone about to die, wine for him whose heart is heavy:
7 let him drink and forget his misfortune, and remember his misery no more.
8 Make your views heard, on behalf of the dumb, on behalf of all the unwanted;
9 make your views heard, pronounce an upright verdict, defend the cause of the poor and the wretched.
10 The truly capable woman — who can find her? She is far beyond the price of pearls.
11 Her husband’s heart has confidence in her, from her he will derive no little profit.
12 Advantage and not hurt she brings him all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax, she does her work with eager hands.
14 She is like those merchant vessels, bringing her food from far away.
15 She gets up while it is still dark giving her household their food, giving orders to her serving girls.
16 She sets her mind on a field, then she buys it; with what her hands have earned she plants a vineyard.
17 She puts her back into her work and shows how strong her arms can be.
18 She knows that her affairs are going well; her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She sets her hands to the distaff, her fingers grasp the spindle.
20 She holds out her hands to the poor, she opens her arms to the needy.
21 Snow may come, she has no fears for her household, with all her servants warmly clothed.
22 She makes her own quilts, she is dressed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She weaves materials and sells them, she supplies the merchant with sashes.
25 She is clothed in strength and dignity, she can laugh at the day to come.
26 When she opens her mouth, she does so wisely; on her tongue is kindly instruction.
27 She keeps good watch on the conduct of her household, no bread of idleness for her.
28 Her children stand up and proclaim her blessed, her husband, too, sings her praises:
29 ‘Many women have done admirable things, but you surpass them all!’
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty; the woman who fears Yahweh is the one to praise.
31 Give her a share in what her hands have worked for, and let her works tell her praises at the city gates.
John 11:45-57
45 Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what he did, believed in him,
46 but some of them went to the Pharisees to tell them what Jesus had done.
47 Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. ‘Here is this man working all these signs,’ they said, ‘and what action are we taking?
48 If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and suppress the Holy Place and our nation.’
49 One of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said, ‘You do not seem to have grasped the situation at all;
50 you fail to see that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people, rather than that the whole nation should perish.’
51 He did not speak in his own person, but as high priest of that year he was prophesying that Jesus was to die for the nation-
52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather together into one the scattered children of God.
53 From that day onwards they were determined to kill him.
54 So Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but left the district for a town called Ephraim, in the country bordering on the desert, and stayed there with his disciples.
55 The Jewish Passover was drawing near, and many of the country people who had gone up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves
56 were looking out for Jesus, saying to one another as they stood about in the Temple, ‘What do you think? Will he come to the festival or not?’
57 The chief priests and Pharisees had by now given their orders: anyone who knew where he was must inform them so that they could arrest him.
Sermons by various teachers about these verses.
Catholic Daily Readings and Reflections
Reading 1, Wisdom 18:6-9
6 That night had been known in advance to our ancestors, so that, well knowing him in whom they had put their trust, they would be sure of his promises.
7 Your people thus were waiting both for the rescue of the upright and for the ruin of the enemy;
8 for by the very vengeance that you exacted on our adversaries, you glorified us by calling us to you.
9 So the holy children of the good offered sacrifice in secret and with one accord enacted this holy law: that the holy ones should share good things and dangers alike; and forthwith they chanted the hymns of the ancestors.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
1 Shout for joy, you upright; praise comes well from the honest.
12 How blessed the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he has chosen as his heritage.
18 But see how Yahweh watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his faithful love,
19 to rescue them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 We are waiting for Yahweh; he is our help and our shield,
21 for in him our heart rejoices, in his holy name we trust.
22 Yahweh, let your faithful love rest on us, as our hope has rested in you.
Gospel, Luke 12:32-48
32 ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.
33 ‘Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.
34 For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too.
35 ‘See that you have your belts done up and your lamps lit.
36 Be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks.
37 Blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them.
38 It may be in the second watch that he comes, or in the third, but blessed are those servants if he finds them ready.
39 You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house.
40 You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’
41 Peter said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’
42 The Lord replied, ‘Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy steward whom the master will place over his household to give them at the proper time their allowance of food?
43 Blessed that servant if his master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that.
44 I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of everything that he owns.
45 But if the servant says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming,” and sets about beating the menservants and the servant-girls, and eating and drinking and getting drunk,
46 his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.
47 ‘The servant who knows what his master wants, but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with those wishes, will be given a great many strokes of the lash.
48 The one who did not know, but has acted in such a way that he deserves a beating, will be given fewer strokes. When someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be expected.
Reading 2, Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
1 Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen.
2 It is for their faith that our ancestors are acknowledged.
8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he sojourned in the Promised Land as though it were not his, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 He looked forward to the well-founded city, designed and built by God.
11 It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise was faithful to it.
12 Because of this, there came from one man, and one who already had the mark of death on him, descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore which cannot be counted.
13 All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth.
14 People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of a homeland.
15 If they had meant the country they came from, they would have had the opportunity to return to it;
16 but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.
17 It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though he had yet to receive what had been promised,
18 and he had been told: Isaac is the one through whom your name will be carried on.
19 He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.
Audio Drama: Old Testament New Testament Each book is read in its entirety. You can listen to the bible, one book at a time in contemporary English.
Dr. Myles Munroe
I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights
Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers
Did Mary have other children? No, Listen here
Called to Communion
Pray the Rosary
Rosary Mysteries
The following 4 videos are the 4 Mysteries that we pray on certain days of the week. I like these videos, because I can pray it alone, with only the images, or go along with the sound. The images help me to focus on the particular mystery that I am contemplating as I say the Hail Mary on each bead.
Joyful Mysteries
Luminous Mysteries
Sorrowful Mysteries
Glorious Mysteries
Prayers of the Rosary
Links to “How to pray the rosary” Popular Catholic Prayers
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,
He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
(this prayer is optional and may be said after all Glory Be to the Fathers…..)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of thy mercy.
Console the souls in Purgatory, particularly those most abandoned. Amen
Hail Mary,
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Hail, Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
That we maybe made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Closing Prayer
O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation.
Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
that we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Fatima Prayer:)
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference’s whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
Prayer to St. Michael
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Thurzo Gizella Bible Study 
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