Theresa Doyle-Nelson

Some like to manipulate words in the Bible to make certain passages suit their personal desires. The reality is that we must strive to take a good look at ourselves and treat others as God wants us to.

It’s so frustrating when a difference of opinion mushrooms into an angry argument. St. Paul encouraged the Ephesians to avoid these situations, and instead look for and live in the light of the Lord.

Help us to remember to pray for our priests. Help us to remember too that your multitude of saints in heaven will also pray for our priests—to strengthen them, encourage them, be with them.

“Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus”—John 19:38a. The horror of the crucifixion was overwhelming. Joseph’s desire to properly bury Jesus overcame his desire for covertness.

“There were many women there . . . who had followed Jesus from Galilee”—Matthew 27:55. Try to imagine these holy Galilean women at various scenes. Try to conceptualize how they may have felt, how they reacted. They are not often depicted, but they were there!

Pontius Pilate had a sign put upon Jesus’ cross–written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek–that read “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19). Those who despised Jesus wanted this sign down! But Pilate refused. “What I have written, I have written” (John 19:22).