Daily Bible Verses by Book

St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) began his community with a clear intention: “The Rule and the life of the Friars Minor is to simply live the gospel.” The first Rule (the guide for the community’s way of life) that he started writing around 1209 was little more than a collection of New Testament passages. When Francis sent it off to Rome, the pope looked at it and said, “This is no Rule. This is just the gospel.” You can just hear Francis saying, “Yes—that is the point! We don’t need any other Rule except the gospel!” To be a Franciscan...

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who do not possess adequate resources

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    ...

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5v3)

Who precisely are the “poor in spirit” whom Jesus blesses? Again and again in the Psalms ‘poor’ and ‘pious’ are synonymous for those who out of their need cast themselves wholly on God for their salvation (see Psalms 9.18; 33.18; 40.18). They are the poor of Isaiah 61.1, who are “oppressed” and “broken hearted” to whom the Servant of the Lord was anointed to preach good news. In the Judaism of...

3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    ...

“Blessed are the meek,” (Matthew 5:5) Jesus says in the Beatitudes. “Meekness” is the biblical word for nonviolence. Blessed are the meek, the gentle, the nonviolent—they will inherit the earth. A life of nonviolence leads to oneness with creation and her creatures. 

A life of violence, of course, leads to an abrupt discord with creation. In a time of permanent warfare, nuclear weapons, and catastrophic climate change, the message couldn’t be clearer. The God of peace, the nonviolent Jesus, and his Holy Spirit call us to practice nonviolence. In that way, we’ll renounce and stop...

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5v5)

Jesus calls to be God-controlled. The word for meek was used of animals brought under control. For instance, it could be used of a horse broken in. In being tamed, it is still powerful and strong, but now it is useable and brought under control. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and polymath (384-322 BC) said that a meek person is “neither too hasty nor too slow-tempered. He (or she) does not become angry with those he (or she) he ought not to, nor fail to become angry with who he (or she) ought”. In this...

6: Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for you shall be satisfied.  
9: Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall be called children of God. 
 

Elias Chacour is a Palestinian Arab-Israeli and a former archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic church in Palestine. At one point in his ministry, Chacour went against the orders of local authorities to build a secondary school to educate the youth in his community in Galilee. He drew on his understanding of the Beatitudes to strengthen him in...

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5v7)

• Mercy is the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever, despite our sinfulness. We see God’s mercy supremely in the life of Jesus. (Pope Francis)
• The gospel merciful are… those who put themselves under another to support them, to be sensitive to them, even to feel sad with them.  (Frederick Bruner)
• whereas grace is a loving response when love is undeserved; mercy is a loving response prompted by the misery and helplessness of the one in whom love...

Heavenly father
give us grace to be merciful and pure in heart today.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they shall obtain mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Imagine living with one purpose: to have a heart centred on the will and love of God, so that this determines all our actions each day. 

Being committed to something keeps life expanding for us, even when we think that there’s nowhere else for it to go. Purpose gives us a sense of importance, of wanting to do even more, even...