Good News ReflectionMonday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 31, 2009
Today's Readings:1 Thes 4:13-18Ps 96:1, 3-5, 11-13Luke 4:16-30http://www.usccb.org/nab/083109.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_31.mp3
Getting past rejection
The scripture from Isaiah that Jesus read in today's Gospel passage is very near and dear to my own heart. Back in 1989 at my first public speaking engagement, the parish leader who had invited me to evangelize his youth group gave me THIS scripture to read during the opening prayer. And he knew nothing about my lack of experience.
I felt humbled and honored that God our Father would choose to start my public ministry with the same scripture that he gave Jesus to read at the start of his ministry. Thankfully, my beginnings were much easier than Christ's: He was immediately rejected, I was appreciated. Maybe that's because I wasn't speaking at my own church – my Nazareth – and therefore nobody had pre-conceived notions about my abilities.
That came later.
If spiritual growth is important to us, we never stay the same. Yet, people judge us by the past. If today we do the works of the Lord that in the past we had been unready to do, it's "outside the box" of what others assume we can and cannot do. So they reject us or misunderstand us or try to handle us the way we no longer need to be handled.
What did Jesus do about this problem? He walked away from it. He never tried to force the Nazarenes to accept him as the Messiah. Certainly he was saddened by their rejection, but he moved on. He went to places where doors of opportunity opened for him, where he was free to share what he could give, where his gifts and talents could shine – in other words, where he could make a difference because hearts were responsive to him.
If it's the people in your home who are rejecting you, God's not going to ask you to shirk your responsibilities and leave them (unless they're dangerously abusing you), but it is necessary that you find a place, a community, a prayer group, or a new circle of friends where you are free to be whom the Lord knows you to be. There are others who believe the way you do, who share the same faith, and who appreciate the gifts and talents and wisdom you can offer.
We should not fear rejection; we should expect it and walk right through it, just like Jesus did. If we run away because it hurts, we go backwards or off in the wrong direction, away from God's plans. But if we take hold of Jesus' hand and walk confidently and quietly through the midst of our oppressors to the places where we're accepted, we find ourselves in places where God can work through us powerfully.
No one can thwart what God wants to do through you to make a difference in the world. What seems like a roadblock becomes merely a stepping stone to a new opportunity to serve the Lord with your unique and valuable gifts, talents and wisdom.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
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Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Good News ReflectionFOR NEXT SUNDAY: September 6, 200923rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Good News ReflectionFOR NEXT SUNDAY: September 6, 200923rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA: For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection, please go to Catholic Digital Resources:http://catholicdr.com/calendar/September/23rdB.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:Is 35:4-7aPs 146:7-10 (with 1b)James 2:1-5Mark 7:31-37http://www.usccb.org/nab/090609.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings: http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_09_06.mp3
The readings for next Sunday show us God's concern for the disabled.
We're all disabled, one way or another. We can have eyes that see and still be blind. In fact, the scripture from James shows us just how blind we can be!
If we see only how a person dresses, for example, without seeing into their hearts where we would recognize their gifts and talents and unique reflection of God, we are being judgmental. If we are more impressed by a person's wealth or education or standing in the community than we are by his/her spiritual energy or insights or willingness to serve, we are being judgmental.
Only God can see all the good that's in a person's spirit, and yet we make assumptions about them as if we were equal to God. Only God can hear the motives and longings behind a person's words, and yet we quickly judge what is being said as if we know exactly what is meant.
Judgmentalism shows us nothing more than how truly blind we are.
Jesus wants to say to each of us: "Ephphatha! May your eyes and ears and mind be opened to the truth!" However, so that we can receive this healing, we have to slow down and stop reacting to what's visible and audible. We cannot trust what we see and hear. We need to take time to prayerfully pause for wisdom and insight and discernment.
This is one of the reasons why Jesus gave us his Holy Spirit. When we let God's Spirit interpret everything for us, instead of reacting, we will act the way the Lord wants us to. Instead of reacting to partial information, we will respond with faith and compassion.
Questions for Personal Reflection:In what ways do you show partiality toward some people? What types of people do you tend to automatically prefer, based on outward appearances? And whom do you tend to dislike until you get to know them better? How will you begin to change this automatic reaction by relying on the Holy Spirit?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:In what ways have you been judged unfairly? How does it feel? Are you judging those who judged you, neglecting to look deeper inside of them? Next, take turns in your group naming a false accusation that's been personally experienced, followed by other members describing what their judges were too blind to see. (This last part is very important – it is Jesus providing healing!)
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org* To join and become a member, go to: http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA: For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection, please go to Catholic Digital Resources:http://catholicdr.com/calendar/September/23rdB.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:Is 35:4-7aPs 146:7-10 (with 1b)James 2:1-5Mark 7:31-37http://www.usccb.org/nab/090609.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings: http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_09_06.mp3
The readings for next Sunday show us God's concern for the disabled.
We're all disabled, one way or another. We can have eyes that see and still be blind. In fact, the scripture from James shows us just how blind we can be!
If we see only how a person dresses, for example, without seeing into their hearts where we would recognize their gifts and talents and unique reflection of God, we are being judgmental. If we are more impressed by a person's wealth or education or standing in the community than we are by his/her spiritual energy or insights or willingness to serve, we are being judgmental.
Only God can see all the good that's in a person's spirit, and yet we make assumptions about them as if we were equal to God. Only God can hear the motives and longings behind a person's words, and yet we quickly judge what is being said as if we know exactly what is meant.
Judgmentalism shows us nothing more than how truly blind we are.
Jesus wants to say to each of us: "Ephphatha! May your eyes and ears and mind be opened to the truth!" However, so that we can receive this healing, we have to slow down and stop reacting to what's visible and audible. We cannot trust what we see and hear. We need to take time to prayerfully pause for wisdom and insight and discernment.
This is one of the reasons why Jesus gave us his Holy Spirit. When we let God's Spirit interpret everything for us, instead of reacting, we will act the way the Lord wants us to. Instead of reacting to partial information, we will respond with faith and compassion.
Questions for Personal Reflection:In what ways do you show partiality toward some people? What types of people do you tend to automatically prefer, based on outward appearances? And whom do you tend to dislike until you get to know them better? How will you begin to change this automatic reaction by relying on the Holy Spirit?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:In what ways have you been judged unfairly? How does it feel? Are you judging those who judged you, neglecting to look deeper inside of them? Next, take turns in your group naming a false accusation that's been personally experienced, followed by other members describing what their judges were too blind to see. (This last part is very important – it is Jesus providing healing!)
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org* To join and become a member, go to: http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Friday, August 28, 2009
Carrying a torch for Jesus
Good News ReflectionFriday of the 21st Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 28, 2009
Today's Memorial: Saint AugustinePray for those who are stubborn in their rejection of Christ:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Augustine.htm
Today's Readings:1 Thes 4:1-8Ps 97:1, 2b, 5-6, 10-12Matt 25:1-13http://www.usccb.org/nab/082809.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_28.mp3
Carrying a torch for Jesus
Are you carrying a torch for Jesus? Today's Gospel reading reminds me of the modern-day metaphor for a special love relationship. To carry a torch for a friend means that we've got a warm spot in our heart for him or her, and we won't let it dim. It's like the Olympic torch that's carried by runners around the world until it's used to light up the opening ceremonies of the games; we'll run anywhere and for as long as necessary for the one we love.
Do you have this kind of love for Jesus? If you do, then what's the fuel that lights your torch? And what keeps your torch from running out of this fuel?
Perhaps your torch is lit by your prayer life and you keep it lit by taking time every day to quietly connect with God. Or maybe it's the suffering you've endured for the sake of unconditionally loving someone who doesn't love you back, and you've offered your heart-breaks to Jesus as a sacrifice that unites you to his cross. Or it's the joy of using your gifts and talents in the Church. Or it's all of the above and more.
We're like the foolish bridesmaids if we do little more than pick up our torch and run without taking into consideration that a seemingly short sprint might become a long marathon. We need to stock up.
What fuels your love for Jesus when you get tired? Or when you get discouraged and feel hurt and disappointed? Or when your patience burns out? We can't make it through one single day without losing at least some of our holiness and spiritual strength! What makes us think that we don't need to start each day in prayer asking for supernatural help?
We cannot endure a problem or a challenging task very long if we neglect to charge up our spirits with the hope and guidance that's available in God's Word. We can't win the daily struggles against temptation if we're not fortifying our resolve by studying the teachings of the Church with the insight-providing help of the Holy Spirit.
As Jesus points out in the parable, the Master cannot recognize us (i.e., we don't look like we belong to him) if we're claiming to be Christian but we're buzzing through life doing whatever feels good and looks good. True Christian living requires major effort – and sometimes it's unpleasant! When we're not forcing ourselves to move ahead in holiness, we slip into sin. There's no such thing as standing still. Either we're pushing ourselves forward in spiritual growth or we're swept backward by the winds of the world and we're pushed backward by demons who take advantage of our laziness.
Reading this reflection has given you some fuel. What else will you do today to add fuel to the fire of your love for Jesus?
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Memorial: Saint AugustinePray for those who are stubborn in their rejection of Christ:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Augustine.htm
Today's Readings:1 Thes 4:1-8Ps 97:1, 2b, 5-6, 10-12Matt 25:1-13http://www.usccb.org/nab/082809.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_28.mp3
Carrying a torch for Jesus
Are you carrying a torch for Jesus? Today's Gospel reading reminds me of the modern-day metaphor for a special love relationship. To carry a torch for a friend means that we've got a warm spot in our heart for him or her, and we won't let it dim. It's like the Olympic torch that's carried by runners around the world until it's used to light up the opening ceremonies of the games; we'll run anywhere and for as long as necessary for the one we love.
Do you have this kind of love for Jesus? If you do, then what's the fuel that lights your torch? And what keeps your torch from running out of this fuel?
Perhaps your torch is lit by your prayer life and you keep it lit by taking time every day to quietly connect with God. Or maybe it's the suffering you've endured for the sake of unconditionally loving someone who doesn't love you back, and you've offered your heart-breaks to Jesus as a sacrifice that unites you to his cross. Or it's the joy of using your gifts and talents in the Church. Or it's all of the above and more.
We're like the foolish bridesmaids if we do little more than pick up our torch and run without taking into consideration that a seemingly short sprint might become a long marathon. We need to stock up.
What fuels your love for Jesus when you get tired? Or when you get discouraged and feel hurt and disappointed? Or when your patience burns out? We can't make it through one single day without losing at least some of our holiness and spiritual strength! What makes us think that we don't need to start each day in prayer asking for supernatural help?
We cannot endure a problem or a challenging task very long if we neglect to charge up our spirits with the hope and guidance that's available in God's Word. We can't win the daily struggles against temptation if we're not fortifying our resolve by studying the teachings of the Church with the insight-providing help of the Holy Spirit.
As Jesus points out in the parable, the Master cannot recognize us (i.e., we don't look like we belong to him) if we're claiming to be Christian but we're buzzing through life doing whatever feels good and looks good. True Christian living requires major effort – and sometimes it's unpleasant! When we're not forcing ourselves to move ahead in holiness, we slip into sin. There's no such thing as standing still. Either we're pushing ourselves forward in spiritual growth or we're swept backward by the winds of the world and we're pushed backward by demons who take advantage of our laziness.
Reading this reflection has given you some fuel. What else will you do today to add fuel to the fire of your love for Jesus?
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Stay awake!
Good News ReflectionThursday of the 21st Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 27, 2009
Today's Memorial: Saint MonicaPray for alcoholics and disappointing children.Use this Novena of Saint Monica:http://gnm.org/prayers/forparents/StMonicaLitany.htm
Today's Readings:1 Thes 3:7-13Ps 90:3-5a, 12-14, 17Matt 24:42-51http://www.usccb.org/nab/082709.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_27.mp3
Stay awake!
"Stay awake!" says Jesus in today's Gospel reading. Awake and alert: This has to be our mode of everyday operation, our lifestyle, if we're to be the Lord's good and faithful followers.
Zzzzzzzz.......... many Christians are sleep-walking. How does that happen? How do we zone out and fall asleep?
Being awake and alert requires paying attention to how well our behaviors match what we profess to believe. For example, in every Sunday Mass we recite that we believe in "ONE ... church", but if we're divisive in our dealings with others in the parish community, or if we're building turfdoms (my turf versus your turf) in parish ministries instead of helpful collaboration (including between priests and laity), we're not really awake to the truth that we are all united as "one".
Saint Paul prays in the first reading: "May the Lord help you to overflow with love for one another and for all." This is what keeps us awake. The moment we replace love with something else (apathy, control freakness, disrespect, prejudice, verbal or any other kind of abuse, unforgiveness, self-righteousness, etc.), we start zoning out. The alpha waves take over our spiritual brain. We dream that our way is the right way and, as in any nighttime dream, we think it's real – until we awaken.
What happens when the alarm clock rings while we're dreaming? We're startled and we don't feel happy about i. We punch the "off" button and try to go back to sleep.
What happens when we're deep asleep in the darkness of the night and someone turns on a light and says, "Wake up!" We groan and growl: "Turn off that light!" At the moment, this person is our least favorite person in the whole world.
If you're turning the light on people who don't want to wake up, you're being scolded and growled at. Continue to love them patiently. Keep the light on, and quietly, faithfully continue to invite them to wake up. Show them by your own joy how to enjoy the reality of daylight. But don't get in their face to bonk them on the head with an alarm clock, because they will bonk you back and make you dizzy with sleepiness.
As their grogginess wears off, they will either realize that you're showing them the truth and they'll embrace it, or they will roll over and bury themselves in the blankets again. Remember, you are not responsible for their sleepiness; you are only responsible for revealing the light.
Meanwhile, do whatever is necessary to keep yourself awake and alert, a faithful, far-sighted servant of the Lord. May our Lord Jesus strengthen your heart, making you blameless and holy before our God and Father!
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Memorial: Saint MonicaPray for alcoholics and disappointing children.Use this Novena of Saint Monica:http://gnm.org/prayers/forparents/StMonicaLitany.htm
Today's Readings:1 Thes 3:7-13Ps 90:3-5a, 12-14, 17Matt 24:42-51http://www.usccb.org/nab/082709.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_27.mp3
Stay awake!
"Stay awake!" says Jesus in today's Gospel reading. Awake and alert: This has to be our mode of everyday operation, our lifestyle, if we're to be the Lord's good and faithful followers.
Zzzzzzzz.......... many Christians are sleep-walking. How does that happen? How do we zone out and fall asleep?
Being awake and alert requires paying attention to how well our behaviors match what we profess to believe. For example, in every Sunday Mass we recite that we believe in "ONE ... church", but if we're divisive in our dealings with others in the parish community, or if we're building turfdoms (my turf versus your turf) in parish ministries instead of helpful collaboration (including between priests and laity), we're not really awake to the truth that we are all united as "one".
Saint Paul prays in the first reading: "May the Lord help you to overflow with love for one another and for all." This is what keeps us awake. The moment we replace love with something else (apathy, control freakness, disrespect, prejudice, verbal or any other kind of abuse, unforgiveness, self-righteousness, etc.), we start zoning out. The alpha waves take over our spiritual brain. We dream that our way is the right way and, as in any nighttime dream, we think it's real – until we awaken.
What happens when the alarm clock rings while we're dreaming? We're startled and we don't feel happy about i. We punch the "off" button and try to go back to sleep.
What happens when we're deep asleep in the darkness of the night and someone turns on a light and says, "Wake up!" We groan and growl: "Turn off that light!" At the moment, this person is our least favorite person in the whole world.
If you're turning the light on people who don't want to wake up, you're being scolded and growled at. Continue to love them patiently. Keep the light on, and quietly, faithfully continue to invite them to wake up. Show them by your own joy how to enjoy the reality of daylight. But don't get in their face to bonk them on the head with an alarm clock, because they will bonk you back and make you dizzy with sleepiness.
As their grogginess wears off, they will either realize that you're showing them the truth and they'll embrace it, or they will roll over and bury themselves in the blankets again. Remember, you are not responsible for their sleepiness; you are only responsible for revealing the light.
Meanwhile, do whatever is necessary to keep yourself awake and alert, a faithful, far-sighted servant of the Lord. May our Lord Jesus strengthen your heart, making you blameless and holy before our God and Father!
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
True Christian leadership
Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 26, 2009
Today's Readings:1 Thes 2:9-13Ps 139: (1) 7-12Matt 23:27-32http://www.usccb.org/nab/082609.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_26.mp3
True Christian leadership
Today's first reading shows us what true Christian leadership is like. It means working "day and night" (i.e., endlessly and tirelessly) to serve, not burden, the Body of Christ. True Christian leaders serve devoutly, justly and blamelessly. The preaching of Christ is made real by living what we exhort others to do.
Putting this into context with the bigger picture of the full Gospel, we know that Saint Paul was not implying that we must work every day and night, without rest. We become a burden to others when we work too fast and too long and become too tired to remain devout, just, and blameless. Even Jesus took time off to have his energy restored.
Today's Gospel reading shows us what false (or tired) Christian leadership is like. What appears to be holy on the outside is merely a whitewashed wickedness. The light of Christ, which might actually be there, is blocked by wrong motives, pride, a desire to be superior and control others, and other vocation abuses. False Christian leaders mask the darkness within by painting themselves in white. It's an attempt to fake the light of Christ. Their own efforts will bear witness against them.
We are all called to be Christian leaders in one place or another, with vocations of serving the kingdom of God in our homes, our workplaces, our community, and anyplace else where we have the opportunity to set a good example. In everything, we are all called to be Christ's hands and feet and voice in this world, making a difference devoutly, justly and blamelessly, preaching not so much by what we say but more by the way we live the faith.
This is true whether we are a priest or layperson, the boss of a large corporation or the secretary who handles the needs of both employer and client, the head of a parish ministry or the person who cleans up after an event. And let's not forget that the vocation of marriage is to lead the world in understanding what true commitment is like; both spouses are commissioned by the Sacrament of Matrimony to be role models of God's relationship with his people.
As St. Paul said, the word of God must be at work in us if we're true believers in Christ. Do we really believe in HIS way of living out the message of salvation? None of us are perfect. Although we desire to be holy, we sometimes fail because of wrong motives, pride, and other abuses of our vocations. If we are not changed daily by the truth in the scriptures, if we are not transformed by the Eucharist, if we are not examining our consciences continually and seeking new ways to grow in holiness, then we slip into hypocrisy.
What will you do today to help others experience the forgiving love of Jesus? We won't be effective until we first humbly recognize our own need for forgiveness and experience this merciful love for ourselves.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Readings:1 Thes 2:9-13Ps 139: (1) 7-12Matt 23:27-32http://www.usccb.org/nab/082609.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_26.mp3
True Christian leadership
Today's first reading shows us what true Christian leadership is like. It means working "day and night" (i.e., endlessly and tirelessly) to serve, not burden, the Body of Christ. True Christian leaders serve devoutly, justly and blamelessly. The preaching of Christ is made real by living what we exhort others to do.
Putting this into context with the bigger picture of the full Gospel, we know that Saint Paul was not implying that we must work every day and night, without rest. We become a burden to others when we work too fast and too long and become too tired to remain devout, just, and blameless. Even Jesus took time off to have his energy restored.
Today's Gospel reading shows us what false (or tired) Christian leadership is like. What appears to be holy on the outside is merely a whitewashed wickedness. The light of Christ, which might actually be there, is blocked by wrong motives, pride, a desire to be superior and control others, and other vocation abuses. False Christian leaders mask the darkness within by painting themselves in white. It's an attempt to fake the light of Christ. Their own efforts will bear witness against them.
We are all called to be Christian leaders in one place or another, with vocations of serving the kingdom of God in our homes, our workplaces, our community, and anyplace else where we have the opportunity to set a good example. In everything, we are all called to be Christ's hands and feet and voice in this world, making a difference devoutly, justly and blamelessly, preaching not so much by what we say but more by the way we live the faith.
This is true whether we are a priest or layperson, the boss of a large corporation or the secretary who handles the needs of both employer and client, the head of a parish ministry or the person who cleans up after an event. And let's not forget that the vocation of marriage is to lead the world in understanding what true commitment is like; both spouses are commissioned by the Sacrament of Matrimony to be role models of God's relationship with his people.
As St. Paul said, the word of God must be at work in us if we're true believers in Christ. Do we really believe in HIS way of living out the message of salvation? None of us are perfect. Although we desire to be holy, we sometimes fail because of wrong motives, pride, and other abuses of our vocations. If we are not changed daily by the truth in the scriptures, if we are not transformed by the Eucharist, if we are not examining our consciences continually and seeking new ways to grow in holiness, then we slip into hypocrisy.
What will you do today to help others experience the forgiving love of Jesus? We won't be effective until we first humbly recognize our own need for forgiveness and experience this merciful love for ourselves.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Being Christian means being in community
Good News ReflectionTuesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 25, 2009
Today's Readings:1 Thes 2:1-8Ps 139:1-6Matt 23:23-26http://www.usccb.org/nab/082509.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_25.mp3
Being Christian means being in community
We cannot be true Christians – truly Christ-like – if we are not in community with other believers. This means more than going to Mass (although worshiping God with others is an important aspect of it). It means being in active relationships with other believers. Community means journeying together on the path to heaven.
In today's first reading, look at how St. Paul preached the Good News to the Thessalonians. "We were determined to share with you ... our very selves." While Paul and his evangelism team visited Thessalonica, they entered into relationships with the people. As I tell groups when I travel to parishes for missions, "A stranger is only a friend I haven't met yet. We are friends because we belong to the same community of believers. Come, let us journey together!" I consider every interaction to be an actual relationship.
Paul lists what community is not (i.e., what's contrary to Christian relationships). In holy relationships, there's no deceit or impure motives or trickery, no ear-tickling with polite or flattering words, no greed of any kind, no glory-seeking.
In contrast, the Pharisees whom Jesus scolded in today's Gospel reading did not understand community life. As blind guides, they missed the inter-personal faith-building experience. They fulfilled their religious obligations, but their hearts were filled with "loot and lust" or "plunder and self-indulgence".
What's our loot? It's anything that we steal from others: their dignity, their value, their time, their respect when we're not respectable. How are we self-indulgent? By forcing anything upon others for our own sake: our agendas, or our warped, lustful, codependent ideas of love.
Jesus names the glue that bonds people into community: justice and mercy and fidelity. Since to be Christ-like means treating everyone with justice and mercy, instead of limiting it to those whom we like most, our community is far larger than our little circle of friends.
How much of the community are you ignoring? How much farther can you extend your reach? In Good News Ministries, we circle the world with two online communities of faith-sharing and love: See http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/.
What are you doing with the community you see face-to-face at Mass?
Whatever is lacking in our lives, whatever we've been asking God to provide that seems too slow in coming, whatever unmet needs we have – God gives it to us THROUGH and IN community. Community is SO important to God that he created us with a need for the experience. Faith practiced only by ourselves is very lonely, and very exclusive.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Readings:1 Thes 2:1-8Ps 139:1-6Matt 23:23-26http://www.usccb.org/nab/082509.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_25.mp3
Being Christian means being in community
We cannot be true Christians – truly Christ-like – if we are not in community with other believers. This means more than going to Mass (although worshiping God with others is an important aspect of it). It means being in active relationships with other believers. Community means journeying together on the path to heaven.
In today's first reading, look at how St. Paul preached the Good News to the Thessalonians. "We were determined to share with you ... our very selves." While Paul and his evangelism team visited Thessalonica, they entered into relationships with the people. As I tell groups when I travel to parishes for missions, "A stranger is only a friend I haven't met yet. We are friends because we belong to the same community of believers. Come, let us journey together!" I consider every interaction to be an actual relationship.
Paul lists what community is not (i.e., what's contrary to Christian relationships). In holy relationships, there's no deceit or impure motives or trickery, no ear-tickling with polite or flattering words, no greed of any kind, no glory-seeking.
In contrast, the Pharisees whom Jesus scolded in today's Gospel reading did not understand community life. As blind guides, they missed the inter-personal faith-building experience. They fulfilled their religious obligations, but their hearts were filled with "loot and lust" or "plunder and self-indulgence".
What's our loot? It's anything that we steal from others: their dignity, their value, their time, their respect when we're not respectable. How are we self-indulgent? By forcing anything upon others for our own sake: our agendas, or our warped, lustful, codependent ideas of love.
Jesus names the glue that bonds people into community: justice and mercy and fidelity. Since to be Christ-like means treating everyone with justice and mercy, instead of limiting it to those whom we like most, our community is far larger than our little circle of friends.
How much of the community are you ignoring? How much farther can you extend your reach? In Good News Ministries, we circle the world with two online communities of faith-sharing and love: See http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/.
What are you doing with the community you see face-to-face at Mass?
Whatever is lacking in our lives, whatever we've been asking God to provide that seems too slow in coming, whatever unmet needs we have – God gives it to us THROUGH and IN community. Community is SO important to God that he created us with a need for the experience. Faith practiced only by ourselves is very lonely, and very exclusive.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Don't underestimate your value
Good News Reflection
Monday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
August 24, 2009
Today's Feast: Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Bartholomew.htm
Today's Readings:
Rev 21:9b-14
Ps 145:10-13, 17-18
John 1:45-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082409.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_24.mp3
Don't underestimate your value
You are the bride of Christ, because you have wedded yourself to his love and have committed your life to him. Today's first reading contains what God showed John in a vision about you. You gleam with the splendor of God. Your radiance is like that of a precious stone. This is how God sees you!
Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves this way? Most people don't have a problem with pride, i.e., the prideful self-glorifying belief that "I am wonderful!" but a problem with low self esteem, which triggers prideful, self-centered attempts to seem better than we are. And we don't need to!
Sure, God knows our every short-coming and flaw and sin, but he also sees our radiant preciousness. If we could see that too, we wouldn't be afraid to face our flaws. But instead of listening to God tell us who we are, we believe the negative, short-sighted, limited perceptions that others have held about us. Intellectually, we may have disagreed with their assessments, but deep inside, the child we once were still blindly seeks their approval.
If you were to make two lists, one naming your faults and the other naming your good points, the fault category would be longer, wouldn't it? As a follower of Christ, it should be the opposite. You have Christ's Spirit within you!
How much time have you spent examining what is good in you? Let God teach you about how much he values you!
Like Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) said to Jesus in today's Gospel passage, "How do you know me?" God knows us exactly and intimately. We don't. He sees everything that's good in us, not just our sinfulness. He knows the good we're capable of doing if only we'd trust in our own goodness – because this goodness comes from his Holy Spirit.
How much do we radiate the splendor of God? We need to ask him to remove the blinders of low self esteem.
Low self esteem says that we are far from being who we're supposed to be. It also says that we will never get there. God, though, esteems us highly. The moment we chose to believe in the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, God esteemed us so highly that he called us saints! This is why both the Old and New Testaments refer to the people of God as saints. Do you think of yourself as a saint? Accept the fact that this is how God sees you.
To continue to live with low self esteem is like telling God, "You're wrong about me." How dare we contradict God? He says we gleam with his splendor!
© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
For PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?
Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?
To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?
Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue...
Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________
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MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
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Monday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
August 24, 2009
Today's Feast: Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Bartholomew.htm
Today's Readings:
Rev 21:9b-14
Ps 145:10-13, 17-18
John 1:45-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082409.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_24.mp3
Don't underestimate your value
You are the bride of Christ, because you have wedded yourself to his love and have committed your life to him. Today's first reading contains what God showed John in a vision about you. You gleam with the splendor of God. Your radiance is like that of a precious stone. This is how God sees you!
Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves this way? Most people don't have a problem with pride, i.e., the prideful self-glorifying belief that "I am wonderful!" but a problem with low self esteem, which triggers prideful, self-centered attempts to seem better than we are. And we don't need to!
Sure, God knows our every short-coming and flaw and sin, but he also sees our radiant preciousness. If we could see that too, we wouldn't be afraid to face our flaws. But instead of listening to God tell us who we are, we believe the negative, short-sighted, limited perceptions that others have held about us. Intellectually, we may have disagreed with their assessments, but deep inside, the child we once were still blindly seeks their approval.
If you were to make two lists, one naming your faults and the other naming your good points, the fault category would be longer, wouldn't it? As a follower of Christ, it should be the opposite. You have Christ's Spirit within you!
How much time have you spent examining what is good in you? Let God teach you about how much he values you!
Like Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) said to Jesus in today's Gospel passage, "How do you know me?" God knows us exactly and intimately. We don't. He sees everything that's good in us, not just our sinfulness. He knows the good we're capable of doing if only we'd trust in our own goodness – because this goodness comes from his Holy Spirit.
How much do we radiate the splendor of God? We need to ask him to remove the blinders of low self esteem.
Low self esteem says that we are far from being who we're supposed to be. It also says that we will never get there. God, though, esteems us highly. The moment we chose to believe in the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, God esteemed us so highly that he called us saints! This is why both the Old and New Testaments refer to the people of God as saints. Do you think of yourself as a saint? Accept the fact that this is how God sees you.
To continue to live with low self esteem is like telling God, "You're wrong about me." How dare we contradict God? He says we gleam with his splendor!
© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
For PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?
Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?
To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?
Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue...
Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________
This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.
MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
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Saturday, August 22, 2009
Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: August 30, 2009
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: August 30, 2009
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/22ndB.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Deut 4:1-2, 6-8
Ps 15:2-5
James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
http://www.usccb.org/nab/083009.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_30.mp3
In the Gospel reading next Sunday, Jesus chastises the Pharisees for honoring God only with their lips while their hearts were far from him; love was missing from their analysis of whether or not Jesus and his disciples had sinned by disobeying a Jewish rule about cleanliness.
The rule was more important to them then the person. They had the self-righteous attitude of: "I know better than you, and I am better than you, proven by the fact that I obey the laws that you're breaking."
Obedience, when motivated by a love for rules and regulations, is hypocrisy. It's full of self-righteous arrogance that uses the law to make us feel superior to others. We witness this today, for example, when someone clubs a priest with the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which prescribes the norms for Mass) because he makes adaptations based on guidelines that an untrained lay person might interpret as inflexible rules.
When this happens, "in vain do they worship me," Jesus says. The meaning of the Mass has been lost.
There is a hierarchy of rules and laws. Some rules change with the needs of the times. Of greatest importance are the Commandments of God, the Moral Laws, which never change. All of them are supposed to help us on our journey to heaven.
It is right to speak up when we witness disobedience, and we should do it, but only because we care about the sinner's spiritual growth and only when we can handle it without ignoring or overlooking the reasons behind the disobedience. We are most successful in guiding others into greater holiness when we take the time to first understand the roots of their disobedience and then address those concerns with love.
This is how we become, as the second reading says, "doers of the word and not hearers only", because, as James adds, "pure" religion is caring for others. The Pharisees in the Gospel story didn't care about the hunger of the disciples.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
How do you know when you're being hypocritical in your faith? How do you handle the discovery that you've done something uncaring?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Give an example of a Moral Law and an example of a regulation that was instituted by the Church to address a specific need for a specific time. How do they differ in importance? Name one of the 10 Commandments or a teaching of the Church and explain how it became an opportunity for you to become more like Christ.
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org
* To join and become a member, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
For PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?
Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?
To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?
Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue...
Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________
This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.
MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
Change your address
Unsubscribe
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: August 30, 2009
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/22ndB.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Deut 4:1-2, 6-8
Ps 15:2-5
James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
http://www.usccb.org/nab/083009.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_30.mp3
In the Gospel reading next Sunday, Jesus chastises the Pharisees for honoring God only with their lips while their hearts were far from him; love was missing from their analysis of whether or not Jesus and his disciples had sinned by disobeying a Jewish rule about cleanliness.
The rule was more important to them then the person. They had the self-righteous attitude of: "I know better than you, and I am better than you, proven by the fact that I obey the laws that you're breaking."
Obedience, when motivated by a love for rules and regulations, is hypocrisy. It's full of self-righteous arrogance that uses the law to make us feel superior to others. We witness this today, for example, when someone clubs a priest with the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which prescribes the norms for Mass) because he makes adaptations based on guidelines that an untrained lay person might interpret as inflexible rules.
When this happens, "in vain do they worship me," Jesus says. The meaning of the Mass has been lost.
There is a hierarchy of rules and laws. Some rules change with the needs of the times. Of greatest importance are the Commandments of God, the Moral Laws, which never change. All of them are supposed to help us on our journey to heaven.
It is right to speak up when we witness disobedience, and we should do it, but only because we care about the sinner's spiritual growth and only when we can handle it without ignoring or overlooking the reasons behind the disobedience. We are most successful in guiding others into greater holiness when we take the time to first understand the roots of their disobedience and then address those concerns with love.
This is how we become, as the second reading says, "doers of the word and not hearers only", because, as James adds, "pure" religion is caring for others. The Pharisees in the Gospel story didn't care about the hunger of the disciples.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
How do you know when you're being hypocritical in your faith? How do you handle the discovery that you've done something uncaring?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
Give an example of a Moral Law and an example of a regulation that was instituted by the Church to address a specific need for a specific time. How do they differ in importance? Name one of the 10 Commandments or a teaching of the Church and explain how it became an opportunity for you to become more like Christ.
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org
* To join and become a member, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
For PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?
Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?
To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?
Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue...
Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
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Thursday, August 20, 2009
Inviting others to the banquet
Good News ReflectionThursday of the 20th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 20, 2009
Today's Memorial: Saint BernardPray that your talents, resources, time, experiences, spiritual growth, and even your hurts will be useful to God, so that nothing is wasted:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Bernard.htm
Today's Readings:Judges 11:29-39aPs 40:5, 7-10Matt 22:1-14http://www.usccb.org/nab/082009.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_20.mp3
Inviting others to the banquet
When Jesus told the parable of today's Gospel reading, he was addressing those who stubbornly refuse to enter into a right relationship with their Messiah. Through the voice of the king who gave a wedding feast for his son, God the Father speaks: "You have been invited to the Eucharistic banquet of the Savior, but you're saying no and therefore you're going to face terrible consequences. Some of you think you're religious enough and don't need to change. There are terrible consequences for you, too."
Have you ever experienced that sort of person? Perhaps you've invited someone into a healthy, Godly friendship with you, but he's rejected you or she's tried to be your friend under the terms of her own unhealthiness and immorality.
As Christians, we're called to bring Christ into the world by being invitational, open to new relationships so that we can reveal God's love to more people and help them discover Jesus in the banquet of the Church. But what if the people you invite say no? What if they say yes for the wrong reasons, unwilling to be transformed by the holiness of your love?
Jesus shows us in this parable that God does not drag the unwilling into his celebrations (not even to Mass). Sure, he gives people unlimited (until they die) opportunities to repent and join the party, but his banquet is meant for true friends. Only the true friends of Christ want to be changed by the transforming power of the Eucharistic feast. When people say no to this wonderful opportunity, he lets them fall deeper into the pits they're digging. He lets them meet up with the terrible consequences they're creating so that they eventually become desperate enough and humble enough to want to change.
God deals similarly with those who are faking it, i.e., those who want God's love, kindness, patience, eternal life, etc. and who claim to be Christian but really don't want to be Christ-like. These are the people who come to Mass without any desire to be transformed by it. He tells them, "ENOUGH! You don't belong here and you can't trick me into thinking that you do. Get out of here until your terrible consequences awaken you to the truth and humble you!"
Because we are true friends of Christ, we care about those who are not yet enjoying the banquet of his love, and so we invite them to join us, but we must not force them as if we're responsible for their decisions. Sometimes all we can do is be living examples of the blessings that come from friendship with Christ and involvement in parish life. Sometimes the best invitation is the joy we experience from celebrating his Eucharistic banquet. (Ahhh, DO you experience this joy? Is it obvious?)
As this parable shows, we must not waste our time mourning the rejection and fakery of those who are unfit to join us in the banquet. If we follow God's example, we will go out again and again to seek those who really do want to be holy. We will go out of our way to make new friends, inviting both the good and the bad while letting the stubborn ones reap what they sow, so that we can enjoy the fellowship of those who take seriously the call to celebrate the Eucharist-centered life.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Memorial: Saint BernardPray that your talents, resources, time, experiences, spiritual growth, and even your hurts will be useful to God, so that nothing is wasted:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Bernard.htm
Today's Readings:Judges 11:29-39aPs 40:5, 7-10Matt 22:1-14http://www.usccb.org/nab/082009.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_20.mp3
Inviting others to the banquet
When Jesus told the parable of today's Gospel reading, he was addressing those who stubbornly refuse to enter into a right relationship with their Messiah. Through the voice of the king who gave a wedding feast for his son, God the Father speaks: "You have been invited to the Eucharistic banquet of the Savior, but you're saying no and therefore you're going to face terrible consequences. Some of you think you're religious enough and don't need to change. There are terrible consequences for you, too."
Have you ever experienced that sort of person? Perhaps you've invited someone into a healthy, Godly friendship with you, but he's rejected you or she's tried to be your friend under the terms of her own unhealthiness and immorality.
As Christians, we're called to bring Christ into the world by being invitational, open to new relationships so that we can reveal God's love to more people and help them discover Jesus in the banquet of the Church. But what if the people you invite say no? What if they say yes for the wrong reasons, unwilling to be transformed by the holiness of your love?
Jesus shows us in this parable that God does not drag the unwilling into his celebrations (not even to Mass). Sure, he gives people unlimited (until they die) opportunities to repent and join the party, but his banquet is meant for true friends. Only the true friends of Christ want to be changed by the transforming power of the Eucharistic feast. When people say no to this wonderful opportunity, he lets them fall deeper into the pits they're digging. He lets them meet up with the terrible consequences they're creating so that they eventually become desperate enough and humble enough to want to change.
God deals similarly with those who are faking it, i.e., those who want God's love, kindness, patience, eternal life, etc. and who claim to be Christian but really don't want to be Christ-like. These are the people who come to Mass without any desire to be transformed by it. He tells them, "ENOUGH! You don't belong here and you can't trick me into thinking that you do. Get out of here until your terrible consequences awaken you to the truth and humble you!"
Because we are true friends of Christ, we care about those who are not yet enjoying the banquet of his love, and so we invite them to join us, but we must not force them as if we're responsible for their decisions. Sometimes all we can do is be living examples of the blessings that come from friendship with Christ and involvement in parish life. Sometimes the best invitation is the joy we experience from celebrating his Eucharistic banquet. (Ahhh, DO you experience this joy? Is it obvious?)
As this parable shows, we must not waste our time mourning the rejection and fakery of those who are unfit to join us in the banquet. If we follow God's example, we will go out again and again to seek those who really do want to be holy. We will go out of our way to make new friends, inviting both the good and the bad while letting the stubborn ones reap what they sow, so that we can enjoy the fellowship of those who take seriously the call to celebrate the Eucharist-centered life.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Whole-hearted love
Good News ReflectionFriday of the 20th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 21, 2009
Today's Memorial: Saint Pius XPray for God's strength:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/PiusX.htm
Today's Readings:Ruth 1:1, 3-6,14b-16, 22Ps 146:(1b)5-10Matt 22:34-40http://www.usccb.org/nab/082109.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_21.mp3
Whole-hearted love
Today's Gospel reading reminds us that half-hearted, mediocre attempts to love God and serve him are quite unsatisfactory. It's not only because God dearly misses us when we're not fully present to him. It's also because mediocre faith is not enough faith to get us through the hard times.
Whole-hearted faith is what enables us to love others when they are difficult to love, AS we love ourselves. The word "as" is essential. We cannot love others any better than we love ourselves, and we cannot love God any more than we love others, for what we do to others we are doing to God. AND what we do to ourselves we are doing to God.
How well do you take care of yourself? If you're not good to yourself, being good to others stirs up resentment within you, and now your kindness becomes a sin. Likewise, if we cater more to our own needs than the needs of others, selfishness separates us from God just as truly as it separates us from the people we're neglecting.
To break out of the cycle of half-hearted love, we need to let God's love for us consume us. This is the first step in loving ourselves in a righteous, healthy way. What is he doing right now to take care of you? What would he LIKE to do that you're not letting him do because you're too busy or you're too afraid of being selfish or you think you're too undeserving?
We need to start every day in quiet time alone with God so that we can get in touch with his love for us and our love for him. We must do this before anything happens that might challenge our willingness to love others, ourselves or God whole-heartedly. Reading this reflection isn't enough! Have you meditated on his love in a peaceful setting yet?
The second step, while we're still in morning prayer, is to let God's love for other people consume us. If there's someone in your life today who's likely to cause trouble, spend time getting in touch with Christ's love for that person. He died for our troublemakers. He cries for them. He longs to embrace them and heal them and lead them to the joys of holy living.
The third step is to say yes to giving others more than we get from them. We say yes to allowing our love to be consumed by the people who need us or who trouble us. This doesn't mean forgetting about our own needs. It does, however, mean going to the cross for others, as Jesus did. It means that instead of demanding that we get as much goodness from others as we give to them, we're willing to give them more. That's when we become aware of God's whole-hearted love for us. If we ask God to live in the gaping holes left by others, we have more room for his in-dwelling presence.
God loves you with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his mind! In the Eucharist, we consume this whole-God love, this unending, infinite love. And in doing so, we consume his love for others. We then become Eucharist for others as we give this love to all those around us. By becoming what we receive, we have much more to give than we can imagine.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Memorial: Saint Pius XPray for God's strength:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/PiusX.htm
Today's Readings:Ruth 1:1, 3-6,14b-16, 22Ps 146:(1b)5-10Matt 22:34-40http://www.usccb.org/nab/082109.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_21.mp3
Whole-hearted love
Today's Gospel reading reminds us that half-hearted, mediocre attempts to love God and serve him are quite unsatisfactory. It's not only because God dearly misses us when we're not fully present to him. It's also because mediocre faith is not enough faith to get us through the hard times.
Whole-hearted faith is what enables us to love others when they are difficult to love, AS we love ourselves. The word "as" is essential. We cannot love others any better than we love ourselves, and we cannot love God any more than we love others, for what we do to others we are doing to God. AND what we do to ourselves we are doing to God.
How well do you take care of yourself? If you're not good to yourself, being good to others stirs up resentment within you, and now your kindness becomes a sin. Likewise, if we cater more to our own needs than the needs of others, selfishness separates us from God just as truly as it separates us from the people we're neglecting.
To break out of the cycle of half-hearted love, we need to let God's love for us consume us. This is the first step in loving ourselves in a righteous, healthy way. What is he doing right now to take care of you? What would he LIKE to do that you're not letting him do because you're too busy or you're too afraid of being selfish or you think you're too undeserving?
We need to start every day in quiet time alone with God so that we can get in touch with his love for us and our love for him. We must do this before anything happens that might challenge our willingness to love others, ourselves or God whole-heartedly. Reading this reflection isn't enough! Have you meditated on his love in a peaceful setting yet?
The second step, while we're still in morning prayer, is to let God's love for other people consume us. If there's someone in your life today who's likely to cause trouble, spend time getting in touch with Christ's love for that person. He died for our troublemakers. He cries for them. He longs to embrace them and heal them and lead them to the joys of holy living.
The third step is to say yes to giving others more than we get from them. We say yes to allowing our love to be consumed by the people who need us or who trouble us. This doesn't mean forgetting about our own needs. It does, however, mean going to the cross for others, as Jesus did. It means that instead of demanding that we get as much goodness from others as we give to them, we're willing to give them more. That's when we become aware of God's whole-hearted love for us. If we ask God to live in the gaping holes left by others, we have more room for his in-dwelling presence.
God loves you with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his mind! In the Eucharist, we consume this whole-God love, this unending, infinite love. And in doing so, we consume his love for others. We then become Eucharist for others as we give this love to all those around us. By becoming what we receive, we have much more to give than we can imagine.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The joy of being last instead of first
Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 19, 2009
Today's Saint: John EudesPray for the spiritual formation of priests:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnEudes.htm
Today's Readings:Judges 9:6-15Ps 21:2-7Matt 20:1-16http://www.usccb.org/nab/081909.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_19.mp3
The joy of being last instead of first
The landowner that Jesus describes in today's Gospel reading seems as unfair to us today as he seemed to the Jews who first heard this parable. We can better understand the point Jesus is making if we think of it in terms of parenthood. A loving mother cares about each of her children equally. Although she gives more attention to those who need it more, she loves the last born no less then the first born, even if she has a large household.
God the Father is like a vineyard owner who gives equally to all, regardless of how long anyone has worked in his service. Since we cannot earn our way into heaven, equal benefits are not an injustice to those who labored for his kingdom all of their lives.
Rather, God's been giving us complete and perfect love since the moment of our conception in our mother's womb. Although we've become aware of his goodness a lot sooner than those who only discover a relationship with him at the last minute, he has been loving them since the moment of their conception, too. He can do no less.
Early in life, we learned that we can get more approval from Mom or Dad if we get more A's on the report card or more trophies in sports than our siblings. Such competition affects us after we grow up. When God blesses us, we think: "I earned it!"
And when we feel unblessed because bad things happen to us, we think: "I'm not sure God loves me as much as he loves others. Why? Because I have to earn God's approval and no matter how hard I try, I'm just not good enough." And: "My prayer hasn't been answered yet because I haven't said enough Rosaries."But none of that is necessary with God. God is so generous in his love for us that we don't have to do anything to receive blessings from him. Well, actually, there is one thing we do have to do: We have to approach the vineyard owner with our hands open.
In God's vineyard, the last is put first, because the one who is last is the one who's not competing with others to earn first position. This is the person who knows that God's love is always available simply because God IS love. We don't have to climb any ladder of heavenly success; we're instantly on the top rung the moment we discover that God already loves us fully. The only reason we serve him and work hard for him, giving him our best, unwilling to be mediocre, is simply because we love him so very much.
What happens next is so awesome, it's saintly. We lose the selfishness that has kept us from putting others first. We find joy in helping our brothers and sisters receive the Father's assistance ahead of us, happily praying for them more than we pray for ourselves. And we get excited when the "lazy bums" in the family, the ones who've been rebelling against God all their lives, finally join the Christian workforce and benefit from God's love as much as we do.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Saint: John EudesPray for the spiritual formation of priests:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnEudes.htm
Today's Readings:Judges 9:6-15Ps 21:2-7Matt 20:1-16http://www.usccb.org/nab/081909.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_19.mp3
The joy of being last instead of first
The landowner that Jesus describes in today's Gospel reading seems as unfair to us today as he seemed to the Jews who first heard this parable. We can better understand the point Jesus is making if we think of it in terms of parenthood. A loving mother cares about each of her children equally. Although she gives more attention to those who need it more, she loves the last born no less then the first born, even if she has a large household.
God the Father is like a vineyard owner who gives equally to all, regardless of how long anyone has worked in his service. Since we cannot earn our way into heaven, equal benefits are not an injustice to those who labored for his kingdom all of their lives.
Rather, God's been giving us complete and perfect love since the moment of our conception in our mother's womb. Although we've become aware of his goodness a lot sooner than those who only discover a relationship with him at the last minute, he has been loving them since the moment of their conception, too. He can do no less.
Early in life, we learned that we can get more approval from Mom or Dad if we get more A's on the report card or more trophies in sports than our siblings. Such competition affects us after we grow up. When God blesses us, we think: "I earned it!"
And when we feel unblessed because bad things happen to us, we think: "I'm not sure God loves me as much as he loves others. Why? Because I have to earn God's approval and no matter how hard I try, I'm just not good enough." And: "My prayer hasn't been answered yet because I haven't said enough Rosaries."But none of that is necessary with God. God is so generous in his love for us that we don't have to do anything to receive blessings from him. Well, actually, there is one thing we do have to do: We have to approach the vineyard owner with our hands open.
In God's vineyard, the last is put first, because the one who is last is the one who's not competing with others to earn first position. This is the person who knows that God's love is always available simply because God IS love. We don't have to climb any ladder of heavenly success; we're instantly on the top rung the moment we discover that God already loves us fully. The only reason we serve him and work hard for him, giving him our best, unwilling to be mediocre, is simply because we love him so very much.
What happens next is so awesome, it's saintly. We lose the selfishness that has kept us from putting others first. We find joy in helping our brothers and sisters receive the Father's assistance ahead of us, happily praying for them more than we pray for ourselves. And we get excited when the "lazy bums" in the family, the ones who've been rebelling against God all their lives, finally join the Christian workforce and benefit from God's love as much as we do.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Where's the peace?
Good News ReflectionTuesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 18, 2009
Today's Readings:Judges 6:11-24aPs 85:9, 11-14Matt 19:23-30http://www.usccb.org/nab/081809.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_18.mp3
Where's the peace?
In today's responsorial Psalm, God is speaking his peace to you. And when God utters a word, it is so. Of course it is so! He is God! Well, DO you see kindness and truth "meeting" in your life? Is justice and peace "kissing" you? If your hope is in God, as the psalmist says of God's faithful ones, then the answer is yes. Even while injustices are being committed against you, God's justice is with you. BUT the Lord's peace might be lost in the crowdedness of everything else that's going on.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus mentions two significant ways we lose this peace: by accumulating material goods only for our own sake and by depending upon family relationships (including friends who are like family) to get all that we need emotionally and spiritually. We can't have peace when we expect money and possessions to satisfy us, because it's never enough. We can't have peace when we expect others to make us happy, because they repeatedly disappoint us.
The cure, Jesus says, is to keep our eyes on him. Giving up everything to follow Jesus does not mean kicking our possessions out the door. Rather, it means making them available to Jesus for him to do with as he wants, for his holy purposes. We share what we have because we care, recognizing that God has given us everything we own so that we can benefit from it AND we can distribute it to others. Not only is there great peace in having the freedom to do this, but great satisfaction as well.
Giving up relationships to follow Jesus means depending on him, instead of family and friends, to satisfy all of our needs. Although these people are called to be good to us, their imperfect love creates holes in our lives, holes that hurt. God wants to live in these holes so that he can comfort us, but if we stuff the holes with anger or addictions, there's no room for him. By depending on Jesus, recognizing that he suffered for our sake, we can endure the pain while he works on the hearts of the people who should be filling those holes. And if this takes the rest of their lives? Well, there will be an eternity for enjoying their love.
Sometimes God closes a hole so that it no longer exists, enabling us to give up a relationship entirely. Then, we feel no pain or sorrow. Maybe that's how it happens when a loved one goes to hell and we have to spend eternity without them. We feel sad for someone who dies rejecting Christ, but it's not a painful kind of sorrow.
When praying for an end to a problem, we have to wait, in full trust, for God's often-unusual solutions. And when praying for a change in the hearts of the people who hurt us, we should ask Jesus to give us his patience and his supernatural love for them. True peace is found only when we lean on him and make him the most important person in our lives.
By depending on God and placing our hope in his love, hope becomes trust. And trust becomes peace.
If you need help finding this peace in the midst of painful relationships, download my e-book "The Path to Healing in Difficult Relationships", published by Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/relationships.htm
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
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Today's Readings:Judges 6:11-24aPs 85:9, 11-14Matt 19:23-30http://www.usccb.org/nab/081809.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_18.mp3
Where's the peace?
In today's responsorial Psalm, God is speaking his peace to you. And when God utters a word, it is so. Of course it is so! He is God! Well, DO you see kindness and truth "meeting" in your life? Is justice and peace "kissing" you? If your hope is in God, as the psalmist says of God's faithful ones, then the answer is yes. Even while injustices are being committed against you, God's justice is with you. BUT the Lord's peace might be lost in the crowdedness of everything else that's going on.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus mentions two significant ways we lose this peace: by accumulating material goods only for our own sake and by depending upon family relationships (including friends who are like family) to get all that we need emotionally and spiritually. We can't have peace when we expect money and possessions to satisfy us, because it's never enough. We can't have peace when we expect others to make us happy, because they repeatedly disappoint us.
The cure, Jesus says, is to keep our eyes on him. Giving up everything to follow Jesus does not mean kicking our possessions out the door. Rather, it means making them available to Jesus for him to do with as he wants, for his holy purposes. We share what we have because we care, recognizing that God has given us everything we own so that we can benefit from it AND we can distribute it to others. Not only is there great peace in having the freedom to do this, but great satisfaction as well.
Giving up relationships to follow Jesus means depending on him, instead of family and friends, to satisfy all of our needs. Although these people are called to be good to us, their imperfect love creates holes in our lives, holes that hurt. God wants to live in these holes so that he can comfort us, but if we stuff the holes with anger or addictions, there's no room for him. By depending on Jesus, recognizing that he suffered for our sake, we can endure the pain while he works on the hearts of the people who should be filling those holes. And if this takes the rest of their lives? Well, there will be an eternity for enjoying their love.
Sometimes God closes a hole so that it no longer exists, enabling us to give up a relationship entirely. Then, we feel no pain or sorrow. Maybe that's how it happens when a loved one goes to hell and we have to spend eternity without them. We feel sad for someone who dies rejecting Christ, but it's not a painful kind of sorrow.
When praying for an end to a problem, we have to wait, in full trust, for God's often-unusual solutions. And when praying for a change in the hearts of the people who hurt us, we should ask Jesus to give us his patience and his supernatural love for them. True peace is found only when we lean on him and make him the most important person in our lives.
By depending on God and placing our hope in his love, hope becomes trust. And trust becomes peace.
If you need help finding this peace in the midst of painful relationships, download my e-book "The Path to Healing in Difficult Relationships", published by Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/relationships.htm
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
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Monday, August 17, 2009
How to reach heaven
Good News ReflectionMonday of the 20th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 17, 2009
Today's Readings:Judges 2:11-19Ps 106:34-37, 39-40, 43ab, 44 (with 4a)Matt 19:16-22http://www.usccb.org/nab/081709.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_17.mp3
How to reach heaven
The young man in today's Gospel reading thought he was doing everything right, yet something made him feel uncertain about it. Something made him ask Jesus how to gain eternal life.
When I pose the question to Catholics, "Do you know if you're going to heaven?" many say no, they hope so, but they're not sure. These are good Christian Catholics, not pew-sitters who show up at church only out of the fear of hell, unaffected by the transforming power of the Eucharist, doing little during the week to grow closer to God. These are people who dearly love the Lord, confess their sins, and happily serve the Church with their gifts and talents.
When I ask if they mean they'll probably stop in purgatory first, they usually reply that they just don't know. Purgatory is not the problem. What if – this is what they ask me – what if, before they die, they turn away from Jesus?
Notice that Jesus didn't tell his young questioner that he wasn't going to reach heaven unless he became perfect. Keeping the commandments was enough, but to add treasures to his home in heaven, he would need to detach himself from earthly possessions. Jesus wasn't concerned about the guy having too much. He was concerned about his priorities. Here was a good lad who dutifully obeyed all the laws. Why? To gain something (everlasting life). It was all about Self: What do I get out of it?
The real treasures of life are what we share with others. Notice which commandments Jesus quoted. He left out the ones that focus on our relationship with God. He listed only those that deal with how we treat people. Jesus gave him a challenge that, if he worked on it and wrestled with it and accepted it, would help him outgrow his selfishness.
As long as we love others, we can be sure that we are not turning away from Jesus. And if we love Jesus and understand that he died because he loves us, there's no doubt about it, we WILL get into heaven, for God IS love, and if we have love, we have God, and if we have God, we have eternal life with him.
If our fears are true about someday turning our backs on the Lord, then it's because we're already doing it by turning our backs on the people who need our love. Lawful obedience to God's commandments produces loving actions toward others unless we're obeying merely for "What do I get out of it?"
Our heaven-bound holiness shows up in the way we treat others, what we share with them, and the mercy that we give to those who are difficult to love. This is the treasure we will never want to give up, for it means we have truly embraced Jesus and the reasons why he died. Eternal life in heaven is a sure thing.
To learn more about life after death, study the Catechism of the Catholic Church in my easy-to-understand web course:http://catholicdr.com/e-Classroom/Catechism/index.html
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Readings:Judges 2:11-19Ps 106:34-37, 39-40, 43ab, 44 (with 4a)Matt 19:16-22http://www.usccb.org/nab/081709.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_17.mp3
How to reach heaven
The young man in today's Gospel reading thought he was doing everything right, yet something made him feel uncertain about it. Something made him ask Jesus how to gain eternal life.
When I pose the question to Catholics, "Do you know if you're going to heaven?" many say no, they hope so, but they're not sure. These are good Christian Catholics, not pew-sitters who show up at church only out of the fear of hell, unaffected by the transforming power of the Eucharist, doing little during the week to grow closer to God. These are people who dearly love the Lord, confess their sins, and happily serve the Church with their gifts and talents.
When I ask if they mean they'll probably stop in purgatory first, they usually reply that they just don't know. Purgatory is not the problem. What if – this is what they ask me – what if, before they die, they turn away from Jesus?
Notice that Jesus didn't tell his young questioner that he wasn't going to reach heaven unless he became perfect. Keeping the commandments was enough, but to add treasures to his home in heaven, he would need to detach himself from earthly possessions. Jesus wasn't concerned about the guy having too much. He was concerned about his priorities. Here was a good lad who dutifully obeyed all the laws. Why? To gain something (everlasting life). It was all about Self: What do I get out of it?
The real treasures of life are what we share with others. Notice which commandments Jesus quoted. He left out the ones that focus on our relationship with God. He listed only those that deal with how we treat people. Jesus gave him a challenge that, if he worked on it and wrestled with it and accepted it, would help him outgrow his selfishness.
As long as we love others, we can be sure that we are not turning away from Jesus. And if we love Jesus and understand that he died because he loves us, there's no doubt about it, we WILL get into heaven, for God IS love, and if we have love, we have God, and if we have God, we have eternal life with him.
If our fears are true about someday turning our backs on the Lord, then it's because we're already doing it by turning our backs on the people who need our love. Lawful obedience to God's commandments produces loving actions toward others unless we're obeying merely for "What do I get out of it?"
Our heaven-bound holiness shows up in the way we treat others, what we share with them, and the mercy that we give to those who are difficult to love. This is the treasure we will never want to give up, for it means we have truly embraced Jesus and the reasons why he died. Eternal life in heaven is a sure thing.
To learn more about life after death, study the Catechism of the Catholic Church in my easy-to-understand web course:http://catholicdr.com/e-Classroom/Catechism/index.html
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: August 23, 2009
Good News ReflectionFOR NEXT SUNDAY: August 23, 200921st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA: For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection, please go to Catholic Digital Resources:http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/21stB.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:Josh 24:1-2a, 15-18bPs 34:2-3, 16-21 (with 9a)Eph 5:21-32John 6:60-69http://www.usccb.org/nab/082309.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings: http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_23.mp3
In next Sunday's Gospel reading, we see the tragic rejection of Christ's true mission by many who had been listening to him and watching him. How could they miss the message that he taught? "The words I have spoken are Spirit and life," he said. But they only heard his words on the surface level, in their flesh-nature. And thus they missed the life that he was offering: the healed life, the joyful life, the victorious life, the eternal life.
They weren't looking at Jesus spiritually. They saw him as a man, not a messiah, as a healer of bodies, not of souls, as a deliverer from the Romans instead of from their own sins.
Thus, the idea of eating his flesh and drinking his blood (which he had spoken of in the previous verses, in last Sunday's readings) truly was gross and unthinkable. They couldn't grasp the Spirit and life behind those words. It seemed that Jesus had become too bizarre to follow.
The true disciples – those who remained to learn more from him – also didn't understand what he meant, not yet, but they recognized the presence of the Holy Spirit in his words.
How many times has Jesus come to you in another person and you didn't recognize him, because what you saw was the human individual and what you focused on was the un-Christ-like behaviors of that person?
Everyone has been created in the image of God. They would not be alive if the Holy Spirit hadn't given them life. Even non-Christians have the presence of Christ in them. To live a more victorious life, we have to look beneath the surface to find the Jesus who is somewhere inside everyone we meet.
Do you have any difficulty recognizing the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass? Practice recognizing Jesus when he comes to you in others, and you will see the Eucharist in new ways.
Questions for Personal Reflection:Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." How has the Father gifted you with the ability to recognize Jesus? What has happened in your life that opened your eyes to who Jesus really is?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:What blocks our view of Jesus when he comes to us through others? What expectations get in the way? What disappointments? What prejudices? Share with your group a time when you learned to see past the flesh to discover Jesus in someone you didn't like. What led to this discovery?
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org* To join and become a member, go to: http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA: For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection, please go to Catholic Digital Resources:http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/21stB.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:Josh 24:1-2a, 15-18bPs 34:2-3, 16-21 (with 9a)Eph 5:21-32John 6:60-69http://www.usccb.org/nab/082309.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings: http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_23.mp3
In next Sunday's Gospel reading, we see the tragic rejection of Christ's true mission by many who had been listening to him and watching him. How could they miss the message that he taught? "The words I have spoken are Spirit and life," he said. But they only heard his words on the surface level, in their flesh-nature. And thus they missed the life that he was offering: the healed life, the joyful life, the victorious life, the eternal life.
They weren't looking at Jesus spiritually. They saw him as a man, not a messiah, as a healer of bodies, not of souls, as a deliverer from the Romans instead of from their own sins.
Thus, the idea of eating his flesh and drinking his blood (which he had spoken of in the previous verses, in last Sunday's readings) truly was gross and unthinkable. They couldn't grasp the Spirit and life behind those words. It seemed that Jesus had become too bizarre to follow.
The true disciples – those who remained to learn more from him – also didn't understand what he meant, not yet, but they recognized the presence of the Holy Spirit in his words.
How many times has Jesus come to you in another person and you didn't recognize him, because what you saw was the human individual and what you focused on was the un-Christ-like behaviors of that person?
Everyone has been created in the image of God. They would not be alive if the Holy Spirit hadn't given them life. Even non-Christians have the presence of Christ in them. To live a more victorious life, we have to look beneath the surface to find the Jesus who is somewhere inside everyone we meet.
Do you have any difficulty recognizing the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass? Practice recognizing Jesus when he comes to you in others, and you will see the Eucharist in new ways.
Questions for Personal Reflection:Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." How has the Father gifted you with the ability to recognize Jesus? What has happened in your life that opened your eyes to who Jesus really is?
Questions for Community Faith Sharing:What blocks our view of Jesus when he comes to us through others? What expectations get in the way? What disappointments? What prejudices? Share with your group a time when you learned to see past the flesh to discover Jesus in someone you didn't like. What led to this discovery?
STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org* To join and become a member, go to: http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A marriage made in heaven
Good News ReflectionFriday of the 19th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 14, 2009
Today's Memorial: Saint Maximilian Mary KolbePray for the imprisoned and addicted:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/MaxKolbe.htm
Today's Readings:Joshua 24:1-13Ps 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24Matt 19:3-12http://www.usccb.org/nab/081409.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_14.mp3
A marriage made in heaven
Jesus' tough stand against divorce in today's Gospel reading can be hard to accept when a (valid) marriage is subjected to divisive troubles. So is what he says about celibacy. It's hard to believe that the Pope is right about priests not getting married. Is celibacy really better than marital relations? "Not everyone can grasp this teaching", Jesus said, and he explained why: We have to be GIVEN the understanding of it by the Holy Spirit. This is true of everything that we don't agree with in the teachings of the Church.
The Holy Spirit is the authority behind Church teachings. To hear the Spirit's voice, we have to be willing to sacrifice our own views.
In his comments about divorce, Jesus says that unlawful marriages are not real marriages and therefore no adultery is committed when divorce and remarriage occurs. When a spouse's conduct is abusive and disrespectful from the beginning, and there was no ability or intention to love as Jesus loves, the marriage was never valid.
A true marriage unites the husband and wife – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – as representatives of God's love for the Church. Christian marriage is supposed to prove to the unbelieving and confused world that God's love and faithfulness are real.
A marriage with unholy conduct falsely witnesses against God. A marriage that truly represents God's relationship with his people exhibits committed, unconditional, permanent love, and spouses who love God work hard to stay in love and serve each other even in the midst of trials and other sources of division.
The entire story in the Bible is the story of marriage, from Adam and Eve's union and then the sin that damaged their unity with God, to the Israelites' repeated unfaithfulness and recommitments to Yahweh, to Jesus' birth as one with us and his sacrificial death to rescue us, to the successes and failures and reforms of the Church.
Human marriages go through the same struggles. Only by the grace of God, which is available to all who want it, can marriages survive the many temptations of division. This is why having a sacramental marriage is so very important. When a union is merely a civil, legal contract, or when unmarried couples cohabitate, they miss out on the extra graces that are available through the Sacrament of Matrimony.
God has gifted marriage with a physical desire that binds the couple's unity: "The two become one flesh." At every Catholic Mass, we the Bride of Christ are unified with God as we become "one flesh" with Jesus in the Eucharist. This is why receiving the Eucharist during a non-valid marriage is a terrible insult to him. We should all work hard to become fully united to our Eternal Spouse and show the world what a loving union really means.
Note: Saturday will be the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since there are no e-mailings of the Good News Reflections on Saturdays (so that I can take a little time off), for a reflection on Mary's Assumption, which is printer-ready and can be copied for distribution (it's great for RCIA!), please visit Catholic Digital Resources™ at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Memorial: Saint Maximilian Mary KolbePray for the imprisoned and addicted:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/MaxKolbe.htm
Today's Readings:Joshua 24:1-13Ps 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24Matt 19:3-12http://www.usccb.org/nab/081409.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_14.mp3
A marriage made in heaven
Jesus' tough stand against divorce in today's Gospel reading can be hard to accept when a (valid) marriage is subjected to divisive troubles. So is what he says about celibacy. It's hard to believe that the Pope is right about priests not getting married. Is celibacy really better than marital relations? "Not everyone can grasp this teaching", Jesus said, and he explained why: We have to be GIVEN the understanding of it by the Holy Spirit. This is true of everything that we don't agree with in the teachings of the Church.
The Holy Spirit is the authority behind Church teachings. To hear the Spirit's voice, we have to be willing to sacrifice our own views.
In his comments about divorce, Jesus says that unlawful marriages are not real marriages and therefore no adultery is committed when divorce and remarriage occurs. When a spouse's conduct is abusive and disrespectful from the beginning, and there was no ability or intention to love as Jesus loves, the marriage was never valid.
A true marriage unites the husband and wife – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – as representatives of God's love for the Church. Christian marriage is supposed to prove to the unbelieving and confused world that God's love and faithfulness are real.
A marriage with unholy conduct falsely witnesses against God. A marriage that truly represents God's relationship with his people exhibits committed, unconditional, permanent love, and spouses who love God work hard to stay in love and serve each other even in the midst of trials and other sources of division.
The entire story in the Bible is the story of marriage, from Adam and Eve's union and then the sin that damaged their unity with God, to the Israelites' repeated unfaithfulness and recommitments to Yahweh, to Jesus' birth as one with us and his sacrificial death to rescue us, to the successes and failures and reforms of the Church.
Human marriages go through the same struggles. Only by the grace of God, which is available to all who want it, can marriages survive the many temptations of division. This is why having a sacramental marriage is so very important. When a union is merely a civil, legal contract, or when unmarried couples cohabitate, they miss out on the extra graces that are available through the Sacrament of Matrimony.
God has gifted marriage with a physical desire that binds the couple's unity: "The two become one flesh." At every Catholic Mass, we the Bride of Christ are unified with God as we become "one flesh" with Jesus in the Eucharist. This is why receiving the Eucharist during a non-valid marriage is a terrible insult to him. We should all work hard to become fully united to our Eternal Spouse and show the world what a loving union really means.
Note: Saturday will be the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since there are no e-mailings of the Good News Reflections on Saturdays (so that I can take a little time off), for a reflection on Mary's Assumption, which is printer-ready and can be copied for distribution (it's great for RCIA!), please visit Catholic Digital Resources™ at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Again?
Good News ReflectionThursday of the 19th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 13, 2009
Today's Readings:Joshua 3:7-11, 13-17Ps 114:1-6Matt 18:21--19:1http://www.usccb.org/nab/081309.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_13.mp3
Again?
If people weren't so frustrating, Peter wouldn't have asked the question that he raised in today's Gospel reading, and we would have no need to forgive others over and over AND over AGAIN. Once should be enough, don't you think? After being hurt and then generously choosing to forgive anyway, we should be rewarded with the pleasure of seeing our enemy become nice to us, right?
The problem is that people don't change as quickly as we want them to, and some people don't change at all, at least not that we can see. For us to obey Jesus and forgive them seventy times seven times, we have to make the conscious decision to respect and love people the way they are right now, even while disapproving of and disliking what they do. If they never improve, can we love them anyway? What if their lack of improvement causes us more problems?
Forgiveness is not based on what others do, but on what we need. Forgiveness releases us from the hold that their sins have on us. It's a decision to protect our joy rather than allow others to control our feelings. And for this to happen, our forgiveness must be sincere. We can say with our lips that we've forgiven others, but if our happiness depends on others changing, we remain frustrated and angry. On-going anger is a sign that our forgiveness is only lip-deep.
Joy through forgiveness is dependent upon God, not on what others do or don't do. We choose to forgive based on the love that God has for sinners, not on whether they deserve it. And then because we've given them mercy, we receive God's mercy and we're released from the emotional chains that have bound us to the damaging affects of their sins.
If we don't forgive, we're like the wicked servant in Jesus' parable. He begged for and received forgiveness, but then he treated others the way he himself did not want to be treated. Any on-going feelings of frustration we have is evidence that our love for others – our kindness, our patience, our mercy – is conditional, based upon how nicely they treat us. God's not there.
To protect ourselves from the return of frustration, we have to examine why we feel hurt: Our needs are not being met. As long as we keep wanting others to meet those needs, we feel hurt over and over again. However, NOBODY except God can meet all of our needs. Unless we look to God for our joy, our frustrations are in danger of controlling us until the day we die!
Keep your eyes on Jesus. Others cannot or will not give you everything you need. Jesus is the only one who can love you completely. Although it takes a lifetime to open ourselves fully to his love, whenever someone lets us down, we should see it as a gift, a new opportunity to let Jesus hold us and take care of us. When we let Jesus meet our needs, it's much, much easier to forgive others – AGAIN.
Note: Saturday will be the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since there are no emailings of the Good News Reflections on Saturdays (so that I can take a little time off), for a reflection on Mary's Assumption, which is printer-ready and can be copied for distribution (it's great for RCIA!), please visit Catholic Digital Resources™ at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Readings:Joshua 3:7-11, 13-17Ps 114:1-6Matt 18:21--19:1http://www.usccb.org/nab/081309.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_13.mp3
Again?
If people weren't so frustrating, Peter wouldn't have asked the question that he raised in today's Gospel reading, and we would have no need to forgive others over and over AND over AGAIN. Once should be enough, don't you think? After being hurt and then generously choosing to forgive anyway, we should be rewarded with the pleasure of seeing our enemy become nice to us, right?
The problem is that people don't change as quickly as we want them to, and some people don't change at all, at least not that we can see. For us to obey Jesus and forgive them seventy times seven times, we have to make the conscious decision to respect and love people the way they are right now, even while disapproving of and disliking what they do. If they never improve, can we love them anyway? What if their lack of improvement causes us more problems?
Forgiveness is not based on what others do, but on what we need. Forgiveness releases us from the hold that their sins have on us. It's a decision to protect our joy rather than allow others to control our feelings. And for this to happen, our forgiveness must be sincere. We can say with our lips that we've forgiven others, but if our happiness depends on others changing, we remain frustrated and angry. On-going anger is a sign that our forgiveness is only lip-deep.
Joy through forgiveness is dependent upon God, not on what others do or don't do. We choose to forgive based on the love that God has for sinners, not on whether they deserve it. And then because we've given them mercy, we receive God's mercy and we're released from the emotional chains that have bound us to the damaging affects of their sins.
If we don't forgive, we're like the wicked servant in Jesus' parable. He begged for and received forgiveness, but then he treated others the way he himself did not want to be treated. Any on-going feelings of frustration we have is evidence that our love for others – our kindness, our patience, our mercy – is conditional, based upon how nicely they treat us. God's not there.
To protect ourselves from the return of frustration, we have to examine why we feel hurt: Our needs are not being met. As long as we keep wanting others to meet those needs, we feel hurt over and over again. However, NOBODY except God can meet all of our needs. Unless we look to God for our joy, our frustrations are in danger of controlling us until the day we die!
Keep your eyes on Jesus. Others cannot or will not give you everything you need. Jesus is the only one who can love you completely. Although it takes a lifetime to open ourselves fully to his love, whenever someone lets us down, we should see it as a gift, a new opportunity to let Jesus hold us and take care of us. When we let Jesus meet our needs, it's much, much easier to forgive others – AGAIN.
Note: Saturday will be the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since there are no emailings of the Good News Reflections on Saturdays (so that I can take a little time off), for a reflection on Mary's Assumption, which is printer-ready and can be copied for distribution (it's great for RCIA!), please visit Catholic Digital Resources™ at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The justice side of love
Good News ReflectionWednesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary TimeAugust 12, 2009
Today's Readings:Deut 34:1-12Ps 66:1-3a,5,8,16-17Matt 18:15-20http://www.usccb.org/nab/081209.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_12.mp3
The justice side of love
Sometimes we try so hard to be good Christians that we focus on the mercy side of love and neglect the other side of love: justice. As followers of Christ, we must love our enemies, but we must also let them reap what they sow, for this too is God's way of helping people discover his love.
We must continually forgive those who sin against us repeatedly, but we must also speak up and ask them to go and sin no more.
God sets up boundaries in love for everyone who's involved in any difficulty. Justice is the consequence of violating a boundary. In today's first reading, we see this in action. Earlier, Moses had crossed the line when he failed to be a good example to the people who observed and learned from him. Now, God would not let him lead the people all the way into the Promised Land.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes how to protect boundaries:
1. The word no: When someone sins against you, tell him gently but firmly that it isn't right. In mercy, we forgive and we give people another chance. But if that doesn't stop the sin, we must speak a louder "no!" by bringing in support from those who can verify that the sinner is behaving harmfully and must stop. Again, we mercifully let go of the past and hope for the best. And if that too fails, we must back up our "no!" with the help of the larger Church community.
Then, if the abuse continues, we must protect the victims by treating the sinner like "a Gentile or a tax collector", i.e., a non-member of the Church, which means it's time to bring in the civil authorities (if the sin is an illegal activity) and to end the sinner's access to us. We never end the love, but we must treat that person as an outsider. It's the boundary of: "No, you must face the consequences of being separated from me until you've sincerely repented."
2. Binding and loosing: Tie up whatever needs to be tied up, and let go of whatever needs to go. In other words, the "Serenity Prayer": God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (i.e., let loose the grip that the sin has had on you by letting go of your desire to change the sinner), the courage to change the things I can (i.e., bind the situation to God's power and to your own willingness to work hard to help), and the wisdom to know the difference.
3. Support: Don't endure it alone. In wanting to avoid the sin of gossip, we tend to share too little with others. Jesus, however, tells us that we experience his nearness and the Father's power when we're in the prayer support of friends. We're to find two or three Christian companions who understand the issues and who will love the sinner while praying for him or her to repent. Their help affirms that we're doing what's right and necessary; without them we become vulnerable and succumb to doubt about ourselves and our mission to help the sinner reach conversion.
God has already set up protective boundaries against evil through his commandments. You and I are called to stand with him on the holy side of the line and make it plainly visible to those who don't see it or don't want to see it. This is very vital to bringing God's love more fully into the world.
Note: Saturday will be the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since there are no emailings of the Good News Reflections on Saturdays (so that I can take a little time off), for a reflection on Mary's Assumption, which is printer-ready and can be copied for distribution (it's great for RCIA!), please visit Catholic Digital Resources™ at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
Today's Readings:Deut 34:1-12Ps 66:1-3a,5,8,16-17Matt 18:15-20http://www.usccb.org/nab/081209.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_08_12.mp3
The justice side of love
Sometimes we try so hard to be good Christians that we focus on the mercy side of love and neglect the other side of love: justice. As followers of Christ, we must love our enemies, but we must also let them reap what they sow, for this too is God's way of helping people discover his love.
We must continually forgive those who sin against us repeatedly, but we must also speak up and ask them to go and sin no more.
God sets up boundaries in love for everyone who's involved in any difficulty. Justice is the consequence of violating a boundary. In today's first reading, we see this in action. Earlier, Moses had crossed the line when he failed to be a good example to the people who observed and learned from him. Now, God would not let him lead the people all the way into the Promised Land.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes how to protect boundaries:
1. The word no: When someone sins against you, tell him gently but firmly that it isn't right. In mercy, we forgive and we give people another chance. But if that doesn't stop the sin, we must speak a louder "no!" by bringing in support from those who can verify that the sinner is behaving harmfully and must stop. Again, we mercifully let go of the past and hope for the best. And if that too fails, we must back up our "no!" with the help of the larger Church community.
Then, if the abuse continues, we must protect the victims by treating the sinner like "a Gentile or a tax collector", i.e., a non-member of the Church, which means it's time to bring in the civil authorities (if the sin is an illegal activity) and to end the sinner's access to us. We never end the love, but we must treat that person as an outsider. It's the boundary of: "No, you must face the consequences of being separated from me until you've sincerely repented."
2. Binding and loosing: Tie up whatever needs to be tied up, and let go of whatever needs to go. In other words, the "Serenity Prayer": God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (i.e., let loose the grip that the sin has had on you by letting go of your desire to change the sinner), the courage to change the things I can (i.e., bind the situation to God's power and to your own willingness to work hard to help), and the wisdom to know the difference.
3. Support: Don't endure it alone. In wanting to avoid the sin of gossip, we tend to share too little with others. Jesus, however, tells us that we experience his nearness and the Father's power when we're in the prayer support of friends. We're to find two or three Christian companions who understand the issues and who will love the sinner while praying for him or her to repent. Their help affirms that we're doing what's right and necessary; without them we become vulnerable and succumb to doubt about ourselves and our mission to help the sinner reach conversion.
God has already set up protective boundaries against evil through his commandments. You and I are called to stand with him on the holy side of the line and make it plainly visible to those who don't see it or don't want to see it. This is very vital to bringing God's love more fully into the world.
Note: Saturday will be the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since there are no emailings of the Good News Reflections on Saturdays (so that I can take a little time off), for a reflection on Mary's Assumption, which is printer-ready and can be copied for distribution (it's great for RCIA!), please visit Catholic Digital Resources™ at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm.
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue... Join the cause on facebook and help spread the message!
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is Terry Modica's publishing house providing professional writing services; the income from this will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe
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