Build on Rock - Page 2 of 4 - Sharing the faith in God's beloved Son, Jesus Christ

As you judge

August 18, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you

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God and mammon

August 4, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. The lamp of

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Sharing in the happiness of God

July 21, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by establishing the values by which his disciples are to live. From there he addresses the Law of Moses, not with the intent to abolish, but to bring it to its fulfillment, to reveal the fullness of its meaning. Jesus is both calling

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Let your light shine

July 7, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine

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“What are you proud of?”

June 16, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“What are you proud of?” It was a question on one of my son’s school assignments, but it’s also a question that’s pervasive in our society. Children and adults alike are encouraged to take pride in themselves and their accomplishments. And that’s a good thing, right? Isn’t that how we

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Blessed are the Clean of Heart

May 26, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.” This beatitude (like the third) has a parallel in Psalms: Who may go up to the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place? “The clean of hand and pure of heart, who are not devoted

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“Blessed are the meek”

May 12, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land” Jesus quotes the Old Testament more often than I realized. This is Psalm 37: 8-11: Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret – it leads only to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who

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Blessed are the poor in spirit

April 28, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

When the Israelites wandered the desert, God called Moses up Mount Sinai, and there he gave him the Law and Commandments to lead his people. When Jesus began his ministry, he went up the mountain, and called his disciples to him. In his Sermon on the Mount, he called on

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Mercy and Justice

April 14, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

Saint John Paul II frequently discusses the relationship between justice and mercy in Dives in Misericordia. It can be difficult to understand how God can be perfectly just and rich in mercy at the same time. Justice and mercy appear to be exclusive concepts. But Saint John Paul says just

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Rich in Mercy

April 7, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Mercy is one of the main themes of the Sermon on the Mount, and it was one of the main themes of the papacy of Saint John Paul II. He was instrumental in promoting the message of Divine

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Psalm 22: “In You our fathers trusted”

March 31, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:2, Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46) No matter how many times we hear the accounts of Jesus’ Passion on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, there is something jarring, if not shocking, to hear the Lord cry out this lament from the

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Jesus, I trust in you

March 16, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away

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Can non-Christians be saved?

March 3, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

If our salvation hinges on our acceptance of Jesus, what about souls who never heard of Jesus? Here’s what the Church teaches: “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and

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The Abundance of God’s Mercy

February 18, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

It may seem too good to be true that a last minute appeal to God’s mercy could work. But God’s mercy is in fact so good and so true that it does work, and we see it work in the Gospel of Luke: Now one of the criminals hanging there

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Sin and mercy

February 4, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

In reflecting on salvation, I would be remiss if I didn’t speak about mortal sin. For just as we are saved by our faith in the Lord Jesus, we can lose our friendship with Jesus by committing a mortal sin and failing to repent. Any sin demonstrates a lack of

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Are you saved?

January 21, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

Are you saved? You may have been asked this question before. You may have thought about it. I hope you will. The consequences of our actions in this life resonate for eternity. For those who are Catholic like I am, you may be asking the related question, what does the

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Evidence for a Creator

January 7, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

A few years ago around Christmas time an editorial by Eric Metaxas appeared in The Wall Street Journal that caught my eye: “Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God.” The editorial garnered 600,000 Facebook shares, and brought to the general public an awareness of the intersection of science and faith

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Every perfect gift is from above

December 17, 2019 / Michael Haverkamp

“God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed – the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31) “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom

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What is not in Heaven

December 3, 2019 / Michael Haverkamp

In reflecting on the mystery of suffering, we have looked at the redemptive value of suffering, and the compassion of Jesus who suffers with us. This post will address why there is suffering. For while it is a mystery why particular misfortunes afflict particular people, we do know from Sacred

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Hope amidst suffering

November 12, 2019 / Michael Haverkamp

The problem of evil is one of the oldest in theology. Evil in this sense does not refer to sinfulness (at least not entirely), but to disease, natural disasters and the like which afflict the good and bad indifferently, with no apparent reason. The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, writing three

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