To the Ends of the Earth. Mark C. McCann

penetrate into our very souls, separating our flesh from our spirit, revealing what is at the core of who we are. Scripture is a surgical instrument in the hands of the Divine Physician who wants to cut out of our lives everything that destroys us from within. Only once the cancer of sin and selfishness is removed can the Spirit of God shape us into the men we are meant to be.

      How many of us are man enough to allow the Scriptures to pierce our souls and dig into the very depths of who we are? Can we allow the word of God to breach the boundaries of our inner thoughts, exposing our failings, our struggles, and the deepest longings of our searching souls? Let us commit today to yield to the penetrating power and surgical precision of God’s perfect word so that it can transform us from the insight out.

      Questions for Reflection

      What are some things you want the word of God to cut out of your life? What might be holding you back from letting God do this work in you?

      Are there any special verses that have been a true source of “surgical” healing for you? What are they?

      Do you have a brother in Christ who needs to allow God’s word to do some surgery in his life? How can you encourage and pray for him?

      Praying with Scripture

      “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17).

      Thursday

       God’s word is forever.

      The grass withers, the flower fades,

      but the word of our God will stand for ever.

      Isaiah 40:8

      Our world is constantly changing. Kingdoms rise and fall, political power changes hands, and cultures shift and change, for good or ill. Sadly, today our culture is sliding away from Christ. Truth is seen as relative, dictated by personal feelings, which shape most people’s moral choices. Scripture contains many passages warning us about this reality. Consider these two verses from Saint Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

      But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. (2 Tim 3:1–5)

      For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. (2 Tim 4:3–4)

      There is only one answer to such falsehood — God’s eternal, unchanging, perfect word. Evil will fade away, but God’s word — God’s truth — remains forever. We as Catholic men must take a stand for the truth. God’s holy word is our anchor in the stormy sea of uncertainty that is our world today. Being men of Christlike character demands that we honor our Savior by living out the spirit of strength that he has poured out into our lives.

      Questions for Reflection

      In the midst of constant change, not only in the world around you but in your own life, are there Scripture passages that give you comfort and hope in God’s abiding presence? What are they?