Build on Rock - Sharing the faith in God's beloved Son, Jesus Christ

Saint Therese of Lisieux and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

May 20, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

In his final encyclical He Loved Us, Pope Francis devoted particular attention to the reflections of Saint Therese of Lisieux on the sacred heart of Jesus. In her inimitable, childlike love of Christ, Saint Therese embodied the sanctity of this devotion in a special way. Pope Francis wrote: “As we contemplate

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Reflections on the Love of Christ

April 29, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

In his recent encylical, He Loved Us, Pope Francis connects the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the Father and the Holy Spirit: “When the Son became man, all the hopes and aspirations of his human heart were directed towards the Father. If we consider the way Christ spoke of the Father,

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He Loved Us

April 22, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

Jesus loves every person deeply. He desires to spend all eternity with each of us. He wants us to share in His joy. So many people are unable or unwilling to see this. It is the great tragedy of our time. Pope Francis wrote his latest encyclical, He Loved Us, to

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Five Reasons to Believe

April 3, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

There are many good reasons to believe in God and more specifically in Jesus Christ. Individually these reasons are compelling; collectively, they make a powerful case for Christianity. I want to highlight in this post some of the top arguments for God. I have written about these individually before, so

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Aquinas’ Ways to God

March 12, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

Can we demonstrate with our reason that God exists? Saint Thomas Aquinas, following in the footsteps of Plato and Aristotle, thought so. In his Summa Theologica he gives five ways, five logical demonstrations, for believing that God exists. I’m going to look at three of those ways here, beginning first

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Faith and Science: A True Story

February 27, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

Once upon a time, a man came up with a new theory. His theory, if shown to be true, would change the way people understood the universe. Many people opposed his theory. The theory challenged not only their view of the universe but their view of God. They argued against

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Pascal’s wager

February 13, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

Rare is the individual who is a brilliant mathematician and a brilliant philosopher, but Blaise Pascal was such a man. Pascal was a pioneer in the development of probability theory (if you’re watching a sporting event and there’s a graphic on the screen of each’s team probability to win, you

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One hundred million years from now…

January 28, 2025 / Michael Haverkamp

In the early years of Peanuts (1955-56, to be precise), Charles Schultz had a recurring punch line that Linus would deliver. Lucy would call him inside for lunch, or tell him it’s time to go to bed, or inform that he should color giraffes yellow rather than green, or warn

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Jesus is the King (Luke 24)

December 12, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is our risen King. Our hope is in Him. Read chapter 24 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. The Resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Jesus conquered two enemies, sin and death. He conquered sin by facing

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Jesus loves you (Luke 23)

November 27, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He loves you. He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you. Read chapter 23 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity was plagued by sin.

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Jesus is a priest (Luke 22)

November 7, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is a priest. Read chapter 22 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. What is a priest? A priest offers sacrifice to God on behalf of the people. Why does God demand sacrifice? It’s not so much

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Jesus is a prophet (Luke 21)

October 23, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is a prophet. Read chapter 21 of the Gospel according to Saint Luke here. What is a prophet? While prophets are most famous for foretelling future events, at their core prophets are people who speak God’s truth. The

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Jesus Is (Luke 20)

October 2, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He Is. Read chapter 20 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. What is the nature of God? Do we have eternal souls? Will our bodies rise from the dead? The Jews of Jesus’ time wrestled with these

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Jesus sees us (Luke 19)

September 10, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He sees us. Read chapter 19 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. The encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus is a vivid illustration of Jesus’ saving power at work. Luke tells us that Zacchaeus was a tax collector

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Jesus loves children (Luke 18)

August 28, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He loves children. Read chapter 18 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. Jesus tell His disciples, “Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Why, or in

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Jesus is the kingdom of God in our midst (Luke 17)

August 13, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is the kingdom of God in our midst. Read chapter 17 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. What is the kingdom of God? Let’s start with what it’s not: an earthly kingdom, a worldly power. Most

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Jesus is Just (Luke 16)

July 30, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is just. Read chapter 16 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is in many ways a reverse image of the parable of the prodigal son and the parable

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Jesus is merciful (Luke 15)

July 9, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know His mercy. Read Chapter 15 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son to illustrate the great mercy of God. The story first illuminates the gravity of our sins. It might be

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Jesus is the center (Luke 14)

June 25, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He wants to be your center. Read chapter 14 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. Jesus is preparing a great banquet for us. He is preparing a place for us in Heaven, where every tear will be

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Jesus is patient (Luke 13)

June 10, 2024 / Michael Haverkamp

If you want to know Jesus, you need to know that He is patient with us. Read chapter 13 of the gospel according to Saint Luke here. The patience of Jesus is illustrated in the parable of the fig tree. For three years the fig tree has failed to produce

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