Category: Jesus of Nazareth

A Child Will Lead Them

December 15, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the

Leave a comment

United with Jesus

September 15, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

Suffering has no meaning – unless Jesus rose from the dead. The Son of God became man so that He could share in our humanity and raise us up to His divinity. In becoming man, while He did not sin, He accepted the wages of sin – suffering and death.

1 Comment

Build on rock

September 1, 2020 / Michael Haverkamp

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

1 Comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

“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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

1 Comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

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

3 Comments

Meaning of the Real Presence

October 29, 2019 / Michael Haverkamp

Our Lord Jesus, who with God the Father and through the Holy Spirit created the heavens and the earth, fashioned the universe of a billion trillion stars and breathed life into one hundred billion souls, comes down from Heaven daily, taking the appearance of bread and wine, so that he

1 Comment

Miracles of the Real Presence

October 15, 2019 / Michael Haverkamp

As we have seen from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, the Eucharist was celebrated from the Church’s earliest days, and it is clear from the writings of the Church Fathers that they believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I will give two examples (you can

Leave a comment