Good News Reflection
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 29, 2010
Today's Saint: Catherine of Siena
Pray for a Christian influence on society:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/CatherineSiena.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 13:13-25
Ps 89:2-3, 21-22, 25, 27
John 13:16-20
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_29.mp3
Blessed are the servants in frustrating situations
Think of people who frustrate you. Who has raised their heel against you? What is so frustrating about them? Do you know how to be a servant like Jesus in these situations?
Jesus says in today's Gospel reading that we can never be greater than he is. He is our Master; we understand this. What we don't understand is how we'll be blessed by serving the same ways that he served. He served Judas even when he knew how Judas would betray him.
Because Jesus lives in us, we can have the same servant's heart toward those who betray us or frustrate us with their on-going sins. Like Jesus, we can love them and do good for them without cooperating in their sins.
We betray Jesus when we give anger to others instead of God's love. We raise our heels against him when we refuse to imitate his self-sacrificing servanthood. Jesus showed, by his example, that going to the cross for others is a good thing! Okay, but how can it be good FOR US when we're nailed by someone's unloving behavior, or when we're crucified unjustly by false accusations? How are we to overcome feeling frustrated and hurt?
Jesus answered that in John 12:26: "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." There is no greater blessing than to be honored by God!
The alternative is to hang onto our hurts and act upon our feelings of frustration. But then we remain cursed by our woundedness. Healing only begins when we forgive others, whether they ask for it or not.
It's frustrating to insist that others treat us the way they should, because when they don't, our focus is on what's hurting us rather than on Jesus. We'll never find happiness this way. True happiness in troubling times comes from uniting ourselves to Christ. Our flesh-nature says, "I don't want to do this! Let this cup pass from me!" Our spirit-nature, connected to the Holy Spirit of Jesus, says: "If they can't or won't give me love, I will let them crucify my desire to receive love from them and I will rely on God to raise my life to new heights of joy."
St. Ignatius of Antioch explained it beautifully: "I am the wheat of Christ, ground by the teeth of beasts to become pure bread." By letting others grind up what we want from them, we become Eucharist for them (the Bread of Christ). We become a sign of the true Christ. What a tremendous gift we can give! If we only want to receive the gift, for example during the Eucharistic Liturgy of Mass, then we are selfishly sinning.
Being Eucharist does NOT mean keeping ourselves in harm's way. We follow Jesus to the cross AND the resurrection. Even if the other people don't change, we do. Their choices and behaviors no longer control our feelings. In this, we are greatly blessed!
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
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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, April 29, 2010
Sharing the light
Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 28, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 12:24 – 13:5a
Ps 67:2-6, 8
John 12:44-50
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_28.mp3
Sharing the light
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes himself as the light of the world and explains why he came: "to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark." In the first reading, we see Barnabas and Saul (the Jewish name for St. Paul) being called by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the community (the Church) to take the light of Christ into a dark world.
Today, the Holy Spirit still calls and the Church still commissions: You and I (yes, you too!) are being sent into the darkness to share the light of Christ. It's not just the ordained clergy who are commissioned; in the Vatican II document, the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity," the bishops wrote:
"The laity accomplish the Church's mission in the world principally by that blending of conduct and faith which makes them the light of the world..." (para. 13).
We spread the light of Jesus by conducting ourselves the way Jesus would – with love, forgiveness, patience, going the extra mile, etc. – and by speaking up to explain who it is we're imitating and why.
Jesus says elsewhere (see Matt. 5:14-16) that a light hidden under a basket is worthless. Faith becomes an occasion of sin if we limit it to a private experience. Faith is what forms us into the image of Christ who came to earth to bring others to the kingdom of God. If we have true faith, we are motivated to be like Jesus in our dealings with others so that they, too, experience God's love.
"The laity should, by the light of faith, try to find the higher motives that should govern their behavior in the home and in professional, cultural and social life; they should too, given the opportunity, let these motives be seen by others, conscious that by so doing they become cooperators with God the creator, redeemer and sanctifier, and give him glory" (para. 16).
We can change the world, starting in our homes but also in the workplace and in social settings, when the reason for our kind, good, and loving behavior is clearly and visibly tied to our faith in Jesus.
When problems arise, we are witnesses of the light of Christ if we, as this document points out, "learn ... to see all things in the light of faith, to judge and act always in its light, to improve and perfect oneself by working with others [loving them generously no matter how difficult], and in this manner to enter actively into the service of the Church. Inasmuch as the human person is continuously developing and new problems are forever arising, this education should be steadily perfected" (para. 29).
We are beacons of the light of Christ when we learn from our problems and grow from our trials.
How bright is your light? Whose darkness is it illuminating?
Here's a Multi-Media Meditation that will help you with this: "Let Your Candle Burn"
http://catholicdr.com/m-m-m/CandleBurn.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
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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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Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 28, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 12:24 – 13:5a
Ps 67:2-6, 8
John 12:44-50
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_28.mp3
Sharing the light
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes himself as the light of the world and explains why he came: "to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark." In the first reading, we see Barnabas and Saul (the Jewish name for St. Paul) being called by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the community (the Church) to take the light of Christ into a dark world.
Today, the Holy Spirit still calls and the Church still commissions: You and I (yes, you too!) are being sent into the darkness to share the light of Christ. It's not just the ordained clergy who are commissioned; in the Vatican II document, the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity," the bishops wrote:
"The laity accomplish the Church's mission in the world principally by that blending of conduct and faith which makes them the light of the world..." (para. 13).
We spread the light of Jesus by conducting ourselves the way Jesus would – with love, forgiveness, patience, going the extra mile, etc. – and by speaking up to explain who it is we're imitating and why.
Jesus says elsewhere (see Matt. 5:14-16) that a light hidden under a basket is worthless. Faith becomes an occasion of sin if we limit it to a private experience. Faith is what forms us into the image of Christ who came to earth to bring others to the kingdom of God. If we have true faith, we are motivated to be like Jesus in our dealings with others so that they, too, experience God's love.
"The laity should, by the light of faith, try to find the higher motives that should govern their behavior in the home and in professional, cultural and social life; they should too, given the opportunity, let these motives be seen by others, conscious that by so doing they become cooperators with God the creator, redeemer and sanctifier, and give him glory" (para. 16).
We can change the world, starting in our homes but also in the workplace and in social settings, when the reason for our kind, good, and loving behavior is clearly and visibly tied to our faith in Jesus.
When problems arise, we are witnesses of the light of Christ if we, as this document points out, "learn ... to see all things in the light of faith, to judge and act always in its light, to improve and perfect oneself by working with others [loving them generously no matter how difficult], and in this manner to enter actively into the service of the Church. Inasmuch as the human person is continuously developing and new problems are forever arising, this education should be steadily perfected" (para. 29).
We are beacons of the light of Christ when we learn from our problems and grow from our trials.
How bright is your light? Whose darkness is it illuminating?
Here's a Multi-Media Meditation that will help you with this: "Let Your Candle Burn"
http://catholicdr.com/m-m-m/CandleBurn.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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The sound of the Shepherd's voice
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 27, 2010
Today's Saint: Zita
Pray for homemakers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Zita.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 11:19-26
Ps 87:1b-7 (with Ps 117:1a)
John 10:22-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_27.mp3
The sound of the Shepherd's voice
In today's Gospel reading, there's a distinct difference between those who are the sheep of Christ and those who are not. By nature, we all want to follow the Good Shepherd. We were created in the image of God, and we instinctively want to be with the one whom we're most like. More than that, everyone wants a savior who will love them no matter what and who will rescue them from evil when no one else can. But many don't recognize his voice.
"If you are the Christ, tell us plainly," these people say.
Jesus answers, "I told you and you do not believe."
Why don't they believe? Well, why don't WE always believe? Our sins are evidence that sometimes we don't really believe that we should follow Jesus. If we always recognized his voice – and the love behind everything he says, teaches, and commands – we'd always follow him and never stray. But when we don't understand what Jesus tells us, we doubt it's really him. When we don't like a moral teaching of the Church, we doubt it's really Jesus speaking through the Church Magisterium. And then we listen to false shepherds who give us the words we want to hear, and we follow them.
However, we are the sheep of God's flock. We do know how to recognize the voice of Jesus. We know he is the Good Shepherd and we do want to follow him.
The problem is: We all have imperfect voice-recognition programs running in our ears. Unconsciously, we've been affected by the way humans have modeled (or rather, failed to model) Christ among us. No human person is perfect except Jesus; therefore, every person we've known has imperfectly loved us, imperfectly forgiven us, imperfectly shepherded us – and we project onto God what we've experienced from others.
The Jesus we think we know is very limited. Has a friend ever let you down? The result is that you probably see (unconsciously) Jesus as a shepherd who can mislead you. Did you grow up in a home where a parent was abusive or short-tempered or too quick to punish? Were you ever treated unfairly by a teacher or priest or policeman or other authority figure? To the extent that these representatives of God failed to convey to you what God is really like, that's the extent to which you believe in a god who is not God.
To discern the difference between false shepherds and the true Shepherd, we need to spend time consciously separating the imperfect image from the Divine Image.
Listen ... in your heart: Here's a Multi-Media Meditation that will help you with this: http://gnm.org/meditations/Listen.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 27, 2010
Today's Saint: Zita
Pray for homemakers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Zita.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 11:19-26
Ps 87:1b-7 (with Ps 117:1a)
John 10:22-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_27.mp3
The sound of the Shepherd's voice
In today's Gospel reading, there's a distinct difference between those who are the sheep of Christ and those who are not. By nature, we all want to follow the Good Shepherd. We were created in the image of God, and we instinctively want to be with the one whom we're most like. More than that, everyone wants a savior who will love them no matter what and who will rescue them from evil when no one else can. But many don't recognize his voice.
"If you are the Christ, tell us plainly," these people say.
Jesus answers, "I told you and you do not believe."
Why don't they believe? Well, why don't WE always believe? Our sins are evidence that sometimes we don't really believe that we should follow Jesus. If we always recognized his voice – and the love behind everything he says, teaches, and commands – we'd always follow him and never stray. But when we don't understand what Jesus tells us, we doubt it's really him. When we don't like a moral teaching of the Church, we doubt it's really Jesus speaking through the Church Magisterium. And then we listen to false shepherds who give us the words we want to hear, and we follow them.
However, we are the sheep of God's flock. We do know how to recognize the voice of Jesus. We know he is the Good Shepherd and we do want to follow him.
The problem is: We all have imperfect voice-recognition programs running in our ears. Unconsciously, we've been affected by the way humans have modeled (or rather, failed to model) Christ among us. No human person is perfect except Jesus; therefore, every person we've known has imperfectly loved us, imperfectly forgiven us, imperfectly shepherded us – and we project onto God what we've experienced from others.
The Jesus we think we know is very limited. Has a friend ever let you down? The result is that you probably see (unconsciously) Jesus as a shepherd who can mislead you. Did you grow up in a home where a parent was abusive or short-tempered or too quick to punish? Were you ever treated unfairly by a teacher or priest or policeman or other authority figure? To the extent that these representatives of God failed to convey to you what God is really like, that's the extent to which you believe in a god who is not God.
To discern the difference between false shepherds and the true Shepherd, we need to spend time consciously separating the imperfect image from the Divine Image.
Listen ... in your heart: Here's a Multi-Media Meditation that will help you with this: http://gnm.org/meditations/Listen.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Trusting in the Holy Spirit's plan
Good News Reflection
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 26, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 11:1-18
Ps 42:2-3; 43:3-4
John 10:1-10
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_26.mp3
Trusting in the Holy Spirit's plan
Today's first reading describes an important turning point for the early Church. Since Christianity was the fulfillment of Judaism, it seemed logical to the first Christians that Jewish laws should be obeyed. To eat with Gentiles was a sin, according to Jewish law, because they dined on food that was forbidden in the Torah.
The scene opens with Peter in trouble for breaking this law. He had also evangelized Gentiles without first converting them to Judaism. The resulting uproar sent him to Jerusalem to defend his actions. The council's disapproval created a major obstacle, not only to Peter's ministry, but to the whole idea of spreading Christianity beyond Jewish boundaries.
Peter went through Jesus to reach the hearts of the council members and open them to God's plan. The key that unlocked the solution was their trust in the Holy Spirit's power to give direction and guidance through supernatural gifts such as Peter's vision.
Similarly today, when we face the trials of being misjudged and dealing with the disapproved of fellow Christians, we can get through it with success by trusting Jesus and relying on the gifts of his Holy Spirit.
If people have shut a door on something that God wants you to do, Jesus wants to lead you to an opportunity elsewhere where you can proceed. If he's given you a passion for which there seems to be no outlet, look for an outlet that you hadn't planned.
For example, for many years, I felt inspired to give homilies, but I'm not an ordained priest and never will be. And I don't believe that this inspiration was God giving evidence that women should become clergy. Woman can have very dignified, very important roles as ministers in the Church. My lack of ordination was no obstacle for my gift. God had other plans. And since I never had the opportunity to give lay reflections during Mass, I waited on Jesus to show me what to do with this gift.
Eventually, a couple of friends and I began to send emails to each other about our thoughts on the daily Mass readings. As I wrote my reflections on the scriptures, I realized that others might also want to read them. That was during November of 1999. Today, I'm "homilizing" to more than 13,000 subscribers around the world daily, plus another 3500 in Spanish, plus 6 million listeners of Radio Maria in Central Africa, plus countless visitors to websites that have been authorized to post my reflections, plus RSS feeds and facebook and twitter postings and the "Good News Apostle Widgets" that anyone may put on their websites and blogs (http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/widget.htm)!
Only God knows the size of my daily Mass "congregation". Plus, some of my subscribers are priests who use these reflections in actual homilies!
Because I have allowed Jesus to lead me, I'm using the gifts of the Spirit in a way that's beyond anything I could have ever dreamed. God is awesome! Wait for him to give you an outlet for your passions. If he's calling you, he will lead you.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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 of the Fourth Week of Easter
April 26, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 11:1-18
Ps 42:2-3; 43:3-4
John 10:1-10
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_26.mp3
Trusting in the Holy Spirit's plan
Today's first reading describes an important turning point for the early Church. Since Christianity was the fulfillment of Judaism, it seemed logical to the first Christians that Jewish laws should be obeyed. To eat with Gentiles was a sin, according to Jewish law, because they dined on food that was forbidden in the Torah.
The scene opens with Peter in trouble for breaking this law. He had also evangelized Gentiles without first converting them to Judaism. The resulting uproar sent him to Jerusalem to defend his actions. The council's disapproval created a major obstacle, not only to Peter's ministry, but to the whole idea of spreading Christianity beyond Jewish boundaries.
Peter went through Jesus to reach the hearts of the council members and open them to God's plan. The key that unlocked the solution was their trust in the Holy Spirit's power to give direction and guidance through supernatural gifts such as Peter's vision.
Similarly today, when we face the trials of being misjudged and dealing with the disapproved of fellow Christians, we can get through it with success by trusting Jesus and relying on the gifts of his Holy Spirit.
If people have shut a door on something that God wants you to do, Jesus wants to lead you to an opportunity elsewhere where you can proceed. If he's given you a passion for which there seems to be no outlet, look for an outlet that you hadn't planned.
For example, for many years, I felt inspired to give homilies, but I'm not an ordained priest and never will be. And I don't believe that this inspiration was God giving evidence that women should become clergy. Woman can have very dignified, very important roles as ministers in the Church. My lack of ordination was no obstacle for my gift. God had other plans. And since I never had the opportunity to give lay reflections during Mass, I waited on Jesus to show me what to do with this gift.
Eventually, a couple of friends and I began to send emails to each other about our thoughts on the daily Mass readings. As I wrote my reflections on the scriptures, I realized that others might also want to read them. That was during November of 1999. Today, I'm "homilizing" to more than 13,000 subscribers around the world daily, plus another 3500 in Spanish, plus 6 million listeners of Radio Maria in Central Africa, plus countless visitors to websites that have been authorized to post my reflections, plus RSS feeds and facebook and twitter postings and the "Good News Apostle Widgets" that anyone may put on their websites and blogs (http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/widget.htm)!
Only God knows the size of my daily Mass "congregation". Plus, some of my subscribers are priests who use these reflections in actual homilies!
Because I have allowed Jesus to lead me, I'm using the gifts of the Spirit in a way that's beyond anything I could have ever dreamed. God is awesome! Wait for him to give you an outlet for your passions. If he's calling you, he will lead you.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: May 2, 2010 Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: May 2, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/May/Easter5.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 14:21-27
Ps 145:8-13
Rev 21:1-5a
John 13:31-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/050210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_05_02.mp3
If you knew you were about to die, what wisdom would you impart to your loved ones in your final moments? What's most important for them to learn from you?
In next Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus knows that his time is short. The first thing he says to his friends is words of praise for God (the Father) while equating himself with God. He even calls his friends "children" as if he himself is God the Father! In so doing, he makes it clear that he is one with the Father – so totally one that the lines between Father and Savior are blurred. And he does it humbly. He could have said, "Hey guys, in case you're not sure, I am divine. I am God. Worship me." But instead, he focuses on the glory of God.
Glory is the radiating light of God’s presence: his love, his joy, his holiness, his peace, his wisdom, his creativity, and everything else that he imparts on those who want to bathe in his glory. When we glorify God, we are reflecting back to him this same glory. How much of this glory is illuminating your life?
After describing the exchange of glory between Father and Son, Jesus imparts on his disciples the highest wisdom of the universe: The key to successfully joining Jesus in the glory of God is to love as he loves.
Love is not love unless it unselfishly gives itself to others. Jesus unselfishly gave himself to us completely, even in death. Followers of Jesus are not true followers, disciples are not true disciples, priests are not true priests, lay leaders are not true leaders, unless they serve with love, in love, and through love.
The glory of God is love that gives itself completely, even sacrificially. Why does the Gospel reading give us a scene from the Passion of Christ while we're celebrating the season of Easter? The other readings are full of Easter: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5a). And yet here is Jesus preparing for betrayal, torture, and death. Why?
This Gospel reading is Jesus imparting to us today the key to continuing the mission of sharing God's glory, which Jesus began and now calls us to do. By loving one another in a spirit of sacrifice, we are showing the world that Jesus is real, he is risen, and he is alive in us.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Whom do you not love? If you were able to give that person a gift of yourself as an act of love for the glory of God, what would that gift be?
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
How do sacrificial acts of love glorify God? Name a good deed you did recently. How was it self-giving (sacrificial)? How was it also a gift from Jesus, a sign that he was working through you?
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/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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FOR NEXT SUNDAY: May 2, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/May/Easter5.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 14:21-27
Ps 145:8-13
Rev 21:1-5a
John 13:31-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/050210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_05_02.mp3
If you knew you were about to die, what wisdom would you impart to your loved ones in your final moments? What's most important for them to learn from you?
In next Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus knows that his time is short. The first thing he says to his friends is words of praise for God (the Father) while equating himself with God. He even calls his friends "children" as if he himself is God the Father! In so doing, he makes it clear that he is one with the Father – so totally one that the lines between Father and Savior are blurred. And he does it humbly. He could have said, "Hey guys, in case you're not sure, I am divine. I am God. Worship me." But instead, he focuses on the glory of God.
Glory is the radiating light of God’s presence: his love, his joy, his holiness, his peace, his wisdom, his creativity, and everything else that he imparts on those who want to bathe in his glory. When we glorify God, we are reflecting back to him this same glory. How much of this glory is illuminating your life?
After describing the exchange of glory between Father and Son, Jesus imparts on his disciples the highest wisdom of the universe: The key to successfully joining Jesus in the glory of God is to love as he loves.
Love is not love unless it unselfishly gives itself to others. Jesus unselfishly gave himself to us completely, even in death. Followers of Jesus are not true followers, disciples are not true disciples, priests are not true priests, lay leaders are not true leaders, unless they serve with love, in love, and through love.
The glory of God is love that gives itself completely, even sacrificially. Why does the Gospel reading give us a scene from the Passion of Christ while we're celebrating the season of Easter? The other readings are full of Easter: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5a). And yet here is Jesus preparing for betrayal, torture, and death. Why?
This Gospel reading is Jesus imparting to us today the key to continuing the mission of sharing God's glory, which Jesus began and now calls us to do. By loving one another in a spirit of sacrifice, we are showing the world that Jesus is real, he is risen, and he is alive in us.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Whom do you not love? If you were able to give that person a gift of yourself as an act of love for the glory of God, what would that gift be?
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
How do sacrificial acts of love glorify God? Name a good deed you did recently. How was it self-giving (sacrificial)? How was it also a gift from Jesus, a sign that he was working through you?
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/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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Friday, April 23, 2010
Taking risks for the Lord
Good News Reflection
Friday of the Third Week of Easter
April 23, 2010
Today's Saint: George
Pray for victory:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/George.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 9:1-20
Ps 117:1bc-2 (with Mark 16:15)
John 6:52-59
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_23.mp3
Taking risks for the Lord
In today's first reading, Judas and Ananias take an extraordinary risk because of their love for the Lord and their ability to listen – really listen – to him. Against common sense, they helped a fanatically prejudiced, dangerous enemy. And thus they played a significant role in changing the world.
How would we respond if Jesus were to appear to us in a vision like he did for Ananias? Are our prayer lives so brief and weak that a vision is highly unlikely? And what if Jesus says to us, "I want you to go to the other side of town, to the house of another church member. He's got a visitor there and I want you to minister to him." This degree of communion with Christ was normal for Christians for many centuries. Then the Age of Enlightenment and scientific inquiry dictated that everything has to be proven by repeatable, empirical studies or else it cannot be true, thus making the supernatural natural seem superstitious.
And what if Jesus not only appears to us but says that he wants to use us to provide a miraculous healing? Is this when we assert the limitations of common sense and conclude that the whole vision is just our imagination? Or do we reply: "Jesus, if you want it, then he'll be healed as you say."
And what if Jesus then tells us that it's our ex-spouse we'll be visiting. Or the father who abused us. Or the employer who makes our job miserable. Or that other person who makes us angry or fearful. "Say what? You can't be serious!"
Jesus says, "Go!"
Ananias went despite any fears or logic. He and Judas were the first Christians to befriend and forgive Saul (renamed Paul). Because they trusted Jesus more than their own perspectives and ideas, they were Paul's first experience of true Christianity.
We must never underestimate the impact that we can make when we follow Christ into unknown, unpredictable, unreasonable and even scary circumstances. What has he been asking you to do that you've been resisting? Your act of faith might be the first step in a long, hugely important plan of God. We must never underestimate how essential we are.
Jesus says in today's Gospel passage that his Flesh is bread from heaven. By consuming his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist at Mass, we renew our participation in God's salvation plan for the world. Just as Jesus risked everything to heal our souls and lead us to heaven, so too are we sent forth from Mass to take risks with him, carrying his healing and salvation to others.
For more inspiration from the story of Judas and Ananias, please go to Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/calendar/January/Jan25.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Friday of the Third Week of Easter
April 23, 2010
Today's Saint: George
Pray for victory:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/George.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 9:1-20
Ps 117:1bc-2 (with Mark 16:15)
John 6:52-59
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_23.mp3
Taking risks for the Lord
In today's first reading, Judas and Ananias take an extraordinary risk because of their love for the Lord and their ability to listen – really listen – to him. Against common sense, they helped a fanatically prejudiced, dangerous enemy. And thus they played a significant role in changing the world.
How would we respond if Jesus were to appear to us in a vision like he did for Ananias? Are our prayer lives so brief and weak that a vision is highly unlikely? And what if Jesus says to us, "I want you to go to the other side of town, to the house of another church member. He's got a visitor there and I want you to minister to him." This degree of communion with Christ was normal for Christians for many centuries. Then the Age of Enlightenment and scientific inquiry dictated that everything has to be proven by repeatable, empirical studies or else it cannot be true, thus making the supernatural natural seem superstitious.
And what if Jesus not only appears to us but says that he wants to use us to provide a miraculous healing? Is this when we assert the limitations of common sense and conclude that the whole vision is just our imagination? Or do we reply: "Jesus, if you want it, then he'll be healed as you say."
And what if Jesus then tells us that it's our ex-spouse we'll be visiting. Or the father who abused us. Or the employer who makes our job miserable. Or that other person who makes us angry or fearful. "Say what? You can't be serious!"
Jesus says, "Go!"
Ananias went despite any fears or logic. He and Judas were the first Christians to befriend and forgive Saul (renamed Paul). Because they trusted Jesus more than their own perspectives and ideas, they were Paul's first experience of true Christianity.
We must never underestimate the impact that we can make when we follow Christ into unknown, unpredictable, unreasonable and even scary circumstances. What has he been asking you to do that you've been resisting? Your act of faith might be the first step in a long, hugely important plan of God. We must never underestimate how essential we are.
Jesus says in today's Gospel passage that his Flesh is bread from heaven. By consuming his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist at Mass, we renew our participation in God's salvation plan for the world. Just as Jesus risked everything to heal our souls and lead us to heaven, so too are we sent forth from Mass to take risks with him, carrying his healing and salvation to others.
For more inspiration from the story of Judas and Ananias, please go to Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/calendar/January/Jan25.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Dream bigger and reach your full potential!
Good News Reflection
Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
April 22, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 8:26-40
Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20 (with 1)
John 6:44-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_22.mp3
Dream bigger and reach your full potential!
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus says, "I am the living bread from heaven." Is he talking about the Eucharist? Yes, and –.
In the bread we use for sandwiches, the yeast that made the dough rise has been baked to death. The heat of the oven prevents the bread from growing any larger. Jesus, on the other hand, is living bread. He overcame death. His life is constantly rising, continually growing larger within us and then out from us to change the world. Or it should be.
God wants us reach our full potential. Most people today settle for a life of mediocrity. How hard do you push yourself to move beyond your comfort zones to discover how far your potential can really reach?
We under-estimate our worth. We under-work our talents. We under-eat the Bread of Life. Like the baker who kneads the dough, we have to put effort into becoming all that God designed us to be and to do all that Jesus desires to do through us. And we have to spend time dreaming to find out what God has dreamt up for us.
It's important to know our limits, but only so that we can turn to God and find new ways to grow past these limits. "Do you really grasp what you're reading?" That's the question that Philip asked the Ethiopian in today's first reading. The foreign official was on his way home from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He wanted to grow in his relationship with God, but he was limited until Philip taught him about Jesus.
What's the limit of your understanding of who Jesus is and what he can do for you and what you can do for him because of your faith? How can you expand beyond that?
How are the people around you limited in their understanding of Jesus? Will you let God stretch you so that you can help them experience more of him?
Jesus points out: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.... They shall be taught by God." Philip was able to lead the Ethiopian to Christ because the Father was already drawing him. Anyone who truly desires a full relationship with God is drawn by the Father to the Son. If we're willing to fulfill our own potential, God will have us jog along beside them, and the Holy Spirit will empower us to expand beyond our old limits, even beyond earthly limits, so that we can make a difference.
Daily, how much do we rely on God to take us to our full potential? We need to dare to dream HIS dreams for us. When we desire to grow beyond the mediocre, fascinated by the unimagined possibilities of our full potential, we find more self-esteem, more satisfaction, and more joy – and we change the world.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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 of the Third Week of Easter
April 22, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 8:26-40
Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20 (with 1)
John 6:44-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_22.mp3
Dream bigger and reach your full potential!
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus says, "I am the living bread from heaven." Is he talking about the Eucharist? Yes, and –.
In the bread we use for sandwiches, the yeast that made the dough rise has been baked to death. The heat of the oven prevents the bread from growing any larger. Jesus, on the other hand, is living bread. He overcame death. His life is constantly rising, continually growing larger within us and then out from us to change the world. Or it should be.
God wants us reach our full potential. Most people today settle for a life of mediocrity. How hard do you push yourself to move beyond your comfort zones to discover how far your potential can really reach?
We under-estimate our worth. We under-work our talents. We under-eat the Bread of Life. Like the baker who kneads the dough, we have to put effort into becoming all that God designed us to be and to do all that Jesus desires to do through us. And we have to spend time dreaming to find out what God has dreamt up for us.
It's important to know our limits, but only so that we can turn to God and find new ways to grow past these limits. "Do you really grasp what you're reading?" That's the question that Philip asked the Ethiopian in today's first reading. The foreign official was on his way home from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He wanted to grow in his relationship with God, but he was limited until Philip taught him about Jesus.
What's the limit of your understanding of who Jesus is and what he can do for you and what you can do for him because of your faith? How can you expand beyond that?
How are the people around you limited in their understanding of Jesus? Will you let God stretch you so that you can help them experience more of him?
Jesus points out: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.... They shall be taught by God." Philip was able to lead the Ethiopian to Christ because the Father was already drawing him. Anyone who truly desires a full relationship with God is drawn by the Father to the Son. If we're willing to fulfill our own potential, God will have us jog along beside them, and the Holy Spirit will empower us to expand beyond our old limits, even beyond earthly limits, so that we can make a difference.
Daily, how much do we rely on God to take us to our full potential? We need to dare to dream HIS dreams for us. When we desire to grow beyond the mediocre, fascinated by the unimagined possibilities of our full potential, we find more self-esteem, more satisfaction, and more joy – and we change the world.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Satisfying our hungers. What are you hungry for? What are your appetites?
Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
April 21, 2010
Today's Saint: Anselm of Canterbury
Pray for those who are enslaved:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Anselm.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 8:1b-8
Ps 66:1-7a
John 6:35-40
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_21.mp3
Satisfying our hungers
What are you hungry for? What are your appetites?
One day as I sat down at my computer to prepare one of these Good News Reflections, I brought with me a cup of yogurt, and it made my birds hungry. I had an old parakeet, who squatted wearily next to my keyboard, and a parrot that perched on top of his cage in the window keeping one eye on the beautiful outdoors and one eye on me. When they realized that I was eating, these well-fed pets suddenly thought they were very hungry. The little guy found energy and the big one turned on his charm by calling my name. Of course I gave them what they wanted.
This is how it is with Jesus. As he says in today's Gospel reading, when we realize we're hungry for the good things of the Lord, he gives them to us. Think of a hardship that you're enduring. How do you feel when you see others receive help from their faith? Don't you get hungry for the same benefits? This kind of hunger produces a surge of new energy that turns our hearts toward Jesus, and we ask him to give us what we need. Even if we've already done this a hundred times and we're still waiting for help, the faith of others inspires us to give our hunger to Jesus again.
He won't ever starve us! He cares about us. He cares about YOU! Much more than I care about my well-fed birds.
Hunger and thirst for Jesus are triggered by all sorts of experiences: lack of good health, lack of human companionship, lack of attention, lack of time to do everything we want to do, and so on. Jesus never rejects us when we call out to him in our hungers and our lacks. Read again what he says in this passage from John.
If we believe in Jesus but still feel dissatisfied or empty or hungry for more, it's because we don't fully believe that he is fully with us, fully caring for us. Any on-going hunger is an indication that we need to spend more time learning who Jesus really is and more time resting in a state of prayer meditating on his love.
Hungers that are not converted into energy that turns our hearts toward Jesus become addictions to alcohol or drugs or overeating or shopping or work or immoral relationships. Those who hunger to get their needs met without Jesus are never satisfied, so they continually seek more, more, more. Hopefully, when they become desperately hungry enough and all else has failed them, they will finally turn to Jesus with their whole heart and receive the nourishment that satisfies and heals.
What would it take for you to open up to the fullness of what Jesus wants to give you? Every hunger is another opportunity to experience him. Daily, we're invited to receive this Bread of Life. And daily we're called to let others see Jesus satisfying our hungers, so that they, too, will turn to him.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
April 21, 2010
Today's Saint: Anselm of Canterbury
Pray for those who are enslaved:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Anselm.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 8:1b-8
Ps 66:1-7a
John 6:35-40
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_21.mp3
Satisfying our hungers
What are you hungry for? What are your appetites?
One day as I sat down at my computer to prepare one of these Good News Reflections, I brought with me a cup of yogurt, and it made my birds hungry. I had an old parakeet, who squatted wearily next to my keyboard, and a parrot that perched on top of his cage in the window keeping one eye on the beautiful outdoors and one eye on me. When they realized that I was eating, these well-fed pets suddenly thought they were very hungry. The little guy found energy and the big one turned on his charm by calling my name. Of course I gave them what they wanted.
This is how it is with Jesus. As he says in today's Gospel reading, when we realize we're hungry for the good things of the Lord, he gives them to us. Think of a hardship that you're enduring. How do you feel when you see others receive help from their faith? Don't you get hungry for the same benefits? This kind of hunger produces a surge of new energy that turns our hearts toward Jesus, and we ask him to give us what we need. Even if we've already done this a hundred times and we're still waiting for help, the faith of others inspires us to give our hunger to Jesus again.
He won't ever starve us! He cares about us. He cares about YOU! Much more than I care about my well-fed birds.
Hunger and thirst for Jesus are triggered by all sorts of experiences: lack of good health, lack of human companionship, lack of attention, lack of time to do everything we want to do, and so on. Jesus never rejects us when we call out to him in our hungers and our lacks. Read again what he says in this passage from John.
If we believe in Jesus but still feel dissatisfied or empty or hungry for more, it's because we don't fully believe that he is fully with us, fully caring for us. Any on-going hunger is an indication that we need to spend more time learning who Jesus really is and more time resting in a state of prayer meditating on his love.
Hungers that are not converted into energy that turns our hearts toward Jesus become addictions to alcohol or drugs or overeating or shopping or work or immoral relationships. Those who hunger to get their needs met without Jesus are never satisfied, so they continually seek more, more, more. Hopefully, when they become desperately hungry enough and all else has failed them, they will finally turn to Jesus with their whole heart and receive the nourishment that satisfies and heals.
What would it take for you to open up to the fullness of what Jesus wants to give you? Every hunger is another opportunity to experience him. Daily, we're invited to receive this Bread of Life. And daily we're called to let others see Jesus satisfying our hungers, so that they, too, will turn to him.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
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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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The healing power of the Eucharist
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
April 20, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 7:51 – 8:1a
Ps 31:3cd-4, 6-8a, 17, 21ab
John 6:30-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_20.mp3
The healing power of the Eucharist
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus makes himself known as the "bread of life". What does it mean to be bread? And how does that affect life?
It's sad when the practicalities of providing communion to large congregations make it necessary to use little flat wafers of bread for the paschal meal, because it doesn't seem very bread-like. In the early years, Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper with bread that looked like bread and they broke off their own pieces after it became the Body of Christ. We've forgotten some of the rich meaning behind sharing the "breadness" of the Eucharist.
During the consecration prayers, Jesus comes to us fully, with all his humanity and divinity, in a form that we can touch. We can hold him. We can kiss him. We can consume him into our physical beings, and now thusly united to him, we are consumed by him and our lives become his life (assuming we don't reject that life the moment we walk out the door). Such an encounter with God should change us every time!
Why then doesn't every Catholic who receives Communion leave Mass transformed? Since we've received the fullness of Jesus himself, it seems that no matter how little we've paid attention, we should be holier than when they came in.
Before Jesus distributed the Passover bread to his disciples, he broke it. It was the BROKEN bread that he gave when he said, "Take and eat. This is my body, which will be given up for you." We are, in fact, transformed when we become aware that we are uniting ourselves to the brokenness of Christ.
It was in Christ's brokenness that he delivered us from evil. Therefore, it is in our brokenness that our humility unites us to Christ, it is in our brokenness that we become free from the power of evil. A broken spirit is ready to depend on God instead of self. A broken heart needs the love that no human, other than the divine Jesus, is perfect enough to give. A broken family is forever wounded unless Jesus becomes the center of each person's life, and when we want reconciliation but the other person refuses, we give our broken hearts to the perfect love of the only One who can heal us.
Recognizing our brokenness is what begins change within us. Accepting the blessing of our brokenness is what empowers the change. And offering our brokenness to the Lord – to be used in loving service for others, like Jesus – is what completes the transformation.
This is what it means to truly receive Jesus, the bread of our life, in the Eucharist.
For more on this or to teach this to others as a catechist, please visit Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/RCIA/catechumenate/sacraments/Mass
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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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Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
April 20, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 7:51 – 8:1a
Ps 31:3cd-4, 6-8a, 17, 21ab
John 6:30-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_20.mp3
The healing power of the Eucharist
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus makes himself known as the "bread of life". What does it mean to be bread? And how does that affect life?
It's sad when the practicalities of providing communion to large congregations make it necessary to use little flat wafers of bread for the paschal meal, because it doesn't seem very bread-like. In the early years, Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper with bread that looked like bread and they broke off their own pieces after it became the Body of Christ. We've forgotten some of the rich meaning behind sharing the "breadness" of the Eucharist.
During the consecration prayers, Jesus comes to us fully, with all his humanity and divinity, in a form that we can touch. We can hold him. We can kiss him. We can consume him into our physical beings, and now thusly united to him, we are consumed by him and our lives become his life (assuming we don't reject that life the moment we walk out the door). Such an encounter with God should change us every time!
Why then doesn't every Catholic who receives Communion leave Mass transformed? Since we've received the fullness of Jesus himself, it seems that no matter how little we've paid attention, we should be holier than when they came in.
Before Jesus distributed the Passover bread to his disciples, he broke it. It was the BROKEN bread that he gave when he said, "Take and eat. This is my body, which will be given up for you." We are, in fact, transformed when we become aware that we are uniting ourselves to the brokenness of Christ.
It was in Christ's brokenness that he delivered us from evil. Therefore, it is in our brokenness that our humility unites us to Christ, it is in our brokenness that we become free from the power of evil. A broken spirit is ready to depend on God instead of self. A broken heart needs the love that no human, other than the divine Jesus, is perfect enough to give. A broken family is forever wounded unless Jesus becomes the center of each person's life, and when we want reconciliation but the other person refuses, we give our broken hearts to the perfect love of the only One who can heal us.
Recognizing our brokenness is what begins change within us. Accepting the blessing of our brokenness is what empowers the change. And offering our brokenness to the Lord – to be used in loving service for others, like Jesus – is what completes the transformation.
This is what it means to truly receive Jesus, the bread of our life, in the Eucharist.
For more on this or to teach this to others as a catechist, please visit Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/RCIA/catechumenate/sacraments/Mass
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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.
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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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Signs or Wonders?
Good News Reflection
Monday of the Thir d Week of Easter
April 19, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 6:8-15
Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 (with 1ab)
John 6:22-29
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_19.mp3
Signs or Wonders?
In Acts 6:8-15, Stephen works "great wonders and signs". Is there a difference between a wonder and a sign? In John 6:22-29, Jesus challenges his followers because they had chased after him for the wonderful miracles he performed – wonders that only filled their temporal (earthly) needs and desires.
A wonder is a miracle. A sign points to God as we travel down the road of life toward our eternal destiny.
Why are there fewer miracles today than in the first Christian century? Is it because we have less faith? No, because faith comes from the Holy Spirit, as a gift, and we have no less of the Holy Spirit now than anyone ever did, for God's Spirit cannot be diminished. We might have less trust, but not less faith. The faith might be hidden, but it's already within us.
There are many factors that contribute to fewer wonder-full miracles today, but I'd like us to look at the what, not the why. Whether we receive the miracles we ask for or not, God wants the experience to help us rely upon him more fully, because this affects what is eternal within us. His highest priority is the purification of our souls. What good is a miracle if we are not somehow converted by it? Sometimes we receive more conversion if we don't get the miracle.
Miracles are a normal part of Christian living. Otherwise, Jesus would not have manifested both signs and wonders during his ministry, nor would he have continued doing so through Stephen and the other disciples. But miracles are like the bread that Jesus multiplied: "You should not be working for perishable food." When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus eventually died again. When Jesus walked on water, he got to the other side and the miracle ended. When he calmed the storm, another day came with another storm.
Miracles are a bonus, not the goal. Signs are what point us to the goal. Conversion is the goal. Deepening our intimacy with God is the goal. Greater holiness in daily life is the goal.
As we follow the signs, we become signs that point others to Christ. In your need for a miracle, is your attitude about suffering and endurance pointing others to Christ? When we're more interested in the wonders of temporal gifts than in the signs of eternal value, we get frustrated with God because he's not doing things our way. Are you a sign that tells others that God always loves us and knows what's best for us – or are you sign that says he doesn't care?
What kind of sign do you want to be?
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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.
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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 of the Thir d Week of Easter
April 19, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 6:8-15
Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30 (with 1ab)
John 6:22-29
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_19.mp3
Signs or Wonders?
In Acts 6:8-15, Stephen works "great wonders and signs". Is there a difference between a wonder and a sign? In John 6:22-29, Jesus challenges his followers because they had chased after him for the wonderful miracles he performed – wonders that only filled their temporal (earthly) needs and desires.
A wonder is a miracle. A sign points to God as we travel down the road of life toward our eternal destiny.
Why are there fewer miracles today than in the first Christian century? Is it because we have less faith? No, because faith comes from the Holy Spirit, as a gift, and we have no less of the Holy Spirit now than anyone ever did, for God's Spirit cannot be diminished. We might have less trust, but not less faith. The faith might be hidden, but it's already within us.
There are many factors that contribute to fewer wonder-full miracles today, but I'd like us to look at the what, not the why. Whether we receive the miracles we ask for or not, God wants the experience to help us rely upon him more fully, because this affects what is eternal within us. His highest priority is the purification of our souls. What good is a miracle if we are not somehow converted by it? Sometimes we receive more conversion if we don't get the miracle.
Miracles are a normal part of Christian living. Otherwise, Jesus would not have manifested both signs and wonders during his ministry, nor would he have continued doing so through Stephen and the other disciples. But miracles are like the bread that Jesus multiplied: "You should not be working for perishable food." When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus eventually died again. When Jesus walked on water, he got to the other side and the miracle ended. When he calmed the storm, another day came with another storm.
Miracles are a bonus, not the goal. Signs are what point us to the goal. Conversion is the goal. Deepening our intimacy with God is the goal. Greater holiness in daily life is the goal.
As we follow the signs, we become signs that point others to Christ. In your need for a miracle, is your attitude about suffering and endurance pointing others to Christ? When we're more interested in the wonders of temporal gifts than in the signs of eternal value, we get frustrated with God because he's not doing things our way. Are you a sign that tells others that God always loves us and knows what's best for us – or are you sign that says he doesn't care?
What kind of sign do you want to be?
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 25, 2010 Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 25, 2010
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/April/Easter4.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 13:14, 43-52
Ps 100:1-3, 5
Rev 7:9, 14b-17
John 10:27-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_25.mp3
Next Sunday's Gospel reading is short and to the point: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is the only one we follow, the only one we trust blindly.
Others who have authority in our lives might be good shepherds, but none of them are to be followed blindly, not even the best of them. We respect the positions of bishops, parish pastors, employers, teachers, parents, etc., but all make mistakes, all sin, all have incomplete understandings of the situations for which they're responsible. We must use the Holy Spirit's gift of discernment in each case so that we don't behave like dumb sheep inadvertently cooperating with decisions that grieve our Father God.
Only Jesus can be blindly trusted. Only Jesus is perfect and knows all, understands all, and never sins. Only Jesus can successfully make the right decisions all the time and lead us through the various situations of life without inadvertently cooperating with evil. Only Jesus can discern and implement a plan that's best for every person who's affected by the plan. Only Jesus can lead us closer and closer to heaven while guiding us through the pitfalls and dangers of the journey.
And it is only Jesus who can smile at our blunders when we stray from his plans, because he knows that we still really do love him and want to do what's right. He knows how to implement a new plan that will steer us back into safe pastures. He compassionately holds onto us so that we don't wriggle away from the Father's hand forever.
Whenever we distrust anyone – ourselves, included – we can safely trust that no matter what happens, Jesus is always there, steadfastly guiding us and re-guiding us after we stray. Because we really do love him and want to do what's right, he is securing our safety, redeeming our mistakes, making good come from bad when we repent of our sins, and of course always making sure that we'll get home to heaven.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
How much do you trust yourself and your discernment of truth and your ability to stay on the path to heaven? Who else is difficult to trust right now? What will you do this week to entrust these matters to Jesus?
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
When is it difficult to trust Jesus? Why is it so difficult? Considering that past experiences with imperfect humans have caused you to project this distrust onto Jesus, what helps you overcome this so that you can trust God more?
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/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 25, 2010
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/April/Easter4.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 13:14, 43-52
Ps 100:1-3, 5
Rev 7:9, 14b-17
John 10:27-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/042510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_25.mp3
Next Sunday's Gospel reading is short and to the point: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is the only one we follow, the only one we trust blindly.
Others who have authority in our lives might be good shepherds, but none of them are to be followed blindly, not even the best of them. We respect the positions of bishops, parish pastors, employers, teachers, parents, etc., but all make mistakes, all sin, all have incomplete understandings of the situations for which they're responsible. We must use the Holy Spirit's gift of discernment in each case so that we don't behave like dumb sheep inadvertently cooperating with decisions that grieve our Father God.
Only Jesus can be blindly trusted. Only Jesus is perfect and knows all, understands all, and never sins. Only Jesus can successfully make the right decisions all the time and lead us through the various situations of life without inadvertently cooperating with evil. Only Jesus can discern and implement a plan that's best for every person who's affected by the plan. Only Jesus can lead us closer and closer to heaven while guiding us through the pitfalls and dangers of the journey.
And it is only Jesus who can smile at our blunders when we stray from his plans, because he knows that we still really do love him and want to do what's right. He knows how to implement a new plan that will steer us back into safe pastures. He compassionately holds onto us so that we don't wriggle away from the Father's hand forever.
Whenever we distrust anyone – ourselves, included – we can safely trust that no matter what happens, Jesus is always there, steadfastly guiding us and re-guiding us after we stray. Because we really do love him and want to do what's right, he is securing our safety, redeeming our mistakes, making good come from bad when we repent of our sins, and of course always making sure that we'll get home to heaven.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
How much do you trust yourself and your discernment of truth and your ability to stay on the path to heaven? Who else is difficult to trust right now? What will you do this week to entrust these matters to Jesus?
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
When is it difficult to trust Jesus? Why is it so difficult? Considering that past experiences with imperfect humans have caused you to project this distrust onto Jesus, what helps you overcome this so that you can trust God more?
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/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Joy that lasts
Good News Reflection
Friday of the Second Week of Easter
April 16, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 5:34-42
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
John 6:1-15
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_16.mp3
Joy that lasts
In today's first and Gospel readings, we see two different sources of joy. In the Gospel, the people witnessed a miracle and got their bellies filled free of charge. They were so happy that they wanted to make Jesus their king and live like this all the time.
When he rejected their nomination, how long do you think their joy lasted? Certainly, some lost it by the time they arrived back home, because the walk was too hot or too long. Or they complained about how the fish was cooked or what kind of bread should have been served. Or when they got home, they had to deal with some jerk who'd never met Jesus.
In the scene from the Book of Acts, the apostles were joyful, too, but not because something good had happened. They were not even rejoicing over the fact that they had been released from prison. They were joyful because they were suffering! It thrilled them to be judged worthy of ill-treatment for their ministry.
Were they deranged? Were they masochists? Of course not. Then how could suffering give them joy?
Psalm 27 holds the key: The Lord is our refuge. Joy that lasts comes from being able to snuggle in the love of the Lord. Joy that fades comes from relying on life's circumstances. No miracle provides lasting joy, but when we gaze on the loveliness of the Lord – keeping our focus on him – our joy can continue forever. No matter what the circumstances, we can remain joyful if we remain aware that we are loved passionately by the Lord.
Instead of focusing on our troubles, we look at Jesus and take refuge in his love. When we allow evil to snatch our attention, we feel hopeless and angry. But when we refocus on Jesus, we can joyfully praise God for the goodness he will resurrect from our sufferings.
Granted, this is not easy; I struggle to stay focused on Jesus, too! Our normal reaction to anything that causes suffering is to complain about it. While we complain, we're looking squarely at it. We cannot see God's hand blessing us.
How do we look at and see an invisible God? By scouring through the scriptures to find the promises that relate to our situation. By reading the lives of saints to absorb their view of God. By asking others to point out what they can see of God's hand in our troubles.
Anything we do that puts Christ into the center of our vision – listening to Christian music, attending Mass, joining a small faith-sharing community or taking a Web course such as "Salvifici Doloris" (On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering) – frees us to experience the joy that lasts forever (to sign up for this course, visit http://catholicdr.com/e-Classroom/SalvificiDoloris).
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
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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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Friday of the Second Week of Easter
April 16, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 5:34-42
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
John 6:1-15
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_16.mp3
Joy that lasts
In today's first and Gospel readings, we see two different sources of joy. In the Gospel, the people witnessed a miracle and got their bellies filled free of charge. They were so happy that they wanted to make Jesus their king and live like this all the time.
When he rejected their nomination, how long do you think their joy lasted? Certainly, some lost it by the time they arrived back home, because the walk was too hot or too long. Or they complained about how the fish was cooked or what kind of bread should have been served. Or when they got home, they had to deal with some jerk who'd never met Jesus.
In the scene from the Book of Acts, the apostles were joyful, too, but not because something good had happened. They were not even rejoicing over the fact that they had been released from prison. They were joyful because they were suffering! It thrilled them to be judged worthy of ill-treatment for their ministry.
Were they deranged? Were they masochists? Of course not. Then how could suffering give them joy?
Psalm 27 holds the key: The Lord is our refuge. Joy that lasts comes from being able to snuggle in the love of the Lord. Joy that fades comes from relying on life's circumstances. No miracle provides lasting joy, but when we gaze on the loveliness of the Lord – keeping our focus on him – our joy can continue forever. No matter what the circumstances, we can remain joyful if we remain aware that we are loved passionately by the Lord.
Instead of focusing on our troubles, we look at Jesus and take refuge in his love. When we allow evil to snatch our attention, we feel hopeless and angry. But when we refocus on Jesus, we can joyfully praise God for the goodness he will resurrect from our sufferings.
Granted, this is not easy; I struggle to stay focused on Jesus, too! Our normal reaction to anything that causes suffering is to complain about it. While we complain, we're looking squarely at it. We cannot see God's hand blessing us.
How do we look at and see an invisible God? By scouring through the scriptures to find the promises that relate to our situation. By reading the lives of saints to absorb their view of God. By asking others to point out what they can see of God's hand in our troubles.
Anything we do that puts Christ into the center of our vision – listening to Christian music, attending Mass, joining a small faith-sharing community or taking a Web course such as "Salvifici Doloris" (On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering) – frees us to experience the joy that lasts forever (to sign up for this course, visit http://catholicdr.com/e-Classroom/SalvificiDoloris).
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
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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, April 15, 2010
Earthly or heavenly?
Good News Reflection
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
April 15, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 5:27-33
Ps 34:2, 9, 17-20 (with 7a)
John 3:31-36
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_15.mp3
Earthly or heavenly?
In today's first reading, Peter and the Apostles declare that the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth about Jesus. Then they really begin to shake things up, infuriating the disobedient priests and Pharisees by boldly proclaiming that this Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey God.
We harm our relationship with the Holy Spirit whenever we disregard the truth. When I was a kid, Jesus was my best friend and the Father was the highest authority in my life, but I thought of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal ghostly image of God. I wanted to experience the miraculous power of God that I had read about in Bible stories, but because I didn't understand the role of the Holy Spirit, I disobeyed God by seeking his power in the only place left to explore: the occult. Seven years of this totally destroyed my relationship with God; my eternal soul was in grave danger. (The full story is in my book, "Overcoming the Power of the Occult" - see http://gnm.org/books.htm.)
When I repented, it was because I finally met the Holy Spirit. The fact that I can write these Good News Reflections and touch so many unknown people's lives with just the right words at just the right time gives testimony to this.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus speaks of the consequences of disobedience: "Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life." In the Creed, we proclaim that the Holy Spirit is the "Giver of Life." We do not have the supernatural and eternal life of the Spirit of God while we're in a state of disobedience.
We don't really want to be disobedient. We DO desire to be "above all" that is earthly, but we play games in our consciences and pretend that disobedience either doesn't matter or is not really disobedience. We don't intend to disobey God, but we choose disobedience because obedience seems somehow more unpleasant, as if it's not good for us.
Learning to obey for the sake of avoiding punishment is not true obedience. It's just another game, a child's game, meant to protect ourselves because we are too immature to understand the love behind the commandments that God has given us in scripture and in Catholic Church teachings. But we are called to live as mature, fully loving Christians.
If we're lustful, for example, and "obey" God by refusing to look at someone lustfully, but we still have lust in our hearts, we are disconnected from God's Spirit. True obedience means our hearts are so strongly set on the love that comes from above that we're repulsed by the feeling of lust (or by whatever tempts us).
When our spirits long only for what is heavenly, we are fully alive in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says that "he does not ration his gift of the Spirit." ALL of his own holiness is fully available to us. How much we receive is up to us. The more we dislike what is not of God, the more freely God's holy power fills our lives, and the more we have his holiness, the more we dislike what is not holy.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
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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 of the Second Week of Easter
April 15, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 5:27-33
Ps 34:2, 9, 17-20 (with 7a)
John 3:31-36
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_15.mp3
Earthly or heavenly?
In today's first reading, Peter and the Apostles declare that the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth about Jesus. Then they really begin to shake things up, infuriating the disobedient priests and Pharisees by boldly proclaiming that this Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey God.
We harm our relationship with the Holy Spirit whenever we disregard the truth. When I was a kid, Jesus was my best friend and the Father was the highest authority in my life, but I thought of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal ghostly image of God. I wanted to experience the miraculous power of God that I had read about in Bible stories, but because I didn't understand the role of the Holy Spirit, I disobeyed God by seeking his power in the only place left to explore: the occult. Seven years of this totally destroyed my relationship with God; my eternal soul was in grave danger. (The full story is in my book, "Overcoming the Power of the Occult" - see http://gnm.org/books.htm.)
When I repented, it was because I finally met the Holy Spirit. The fact that I can write these Good News Reflections and touch so many unknown people's lives with just the right words at just the right time gives testimony to this.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus speaks of the consequences of disobedience: "Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life." In the Creed, we proclaim that the Holy Spirit is the "Giver of Life." We do not have the supernatural and eternal life of the Spirit of God while we're in a state of disobedience.
We don't really want to be disobedient. We DO desire to be "above all" that is earthly, but we play games in our consciences and pretend that disobedience either doesn't matter or is not really disobedience. We don't intend to disobey God, but we choose disobedience because obedience seems somehow more unpleasant, as if it's not good for us.
Learning to obey for the sake of avoiding punishment is not true obedience. It's just another game, a child's game, meant to protect ourselves because we are too immature to understand the love behind the commandments that God has given us in scripture and in Catholic Church teachings. But we are called to live as mature, fully loving Christians.
If we're lustful, for example, and "obey" God by refusing to look at someone lustfully, but we still have lust in our hearts, we are disconnected from God's Spirit. True obedience means our hearts are so strongly set on the love that comes from above that we're repulsed by the feeling of lust (or by whatever tempts us).
When our spirits long only for what is heavenly, we are fully alive in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says that "he does not ration his gift of the Spirit." ALL of his own holiness is fully available to us. How much we receive is up to us. The more we dislike what is not of God, the more freely God's holy power fills our lives, and the more we have his holiness, the more we dislike what is not holy.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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.
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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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Trusting in the light of Christ amidst scandals
Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
April 14, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 5:17-26
Ps 34:2-9
John 3:16-21
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_14.mp3
Trusting in the light of Christ amidst scandals
If I may speak of something that makes us all feel uncomfortable and unhappy, I'd like to use today's scriptures to strengthen us against scandals in our beloved Church. It's very disturbing when the scandal of the molestation of children is in the news, but there are other abuses of priestly vocations that also cause pain, and the people who write to me about this usually do so because they have received too little help from higher authorities.
We are the Body of Christ undergoing purification. And until this affects all types of abuses (bullying, verbal abuse, lustful affairs with adults, etc.) committed by all types of Church leaders (laity as well as clergy), we will continue to be challenged to communal purging so that the Church can be resurrected into a better Servant of salvation for the world. And this includes how well we love the abusers in addition to caring for the abused and how well we affirm the holy priests we do have so that they become visible role models.
Any form of abuse or unloving response to abuse by a Christian is a grave sin, because it harms the whole Body of Christ as it turns away the unbelievers who are watching. How far should we go to stop this? What are we willing to sacrifice to heal the Body of Christ?
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus points out that those who do evil prefer darkness so that their wickedness can continue unnoticed. Most of us, however, tend to contribute to this darkness. When we witness abuses, we're afraid to speak up for fear of reprisal, or we're afraid that it's a sin to take action because it will make the Church look bad, or we're afraid that there aren't enough priests and it's better to have a bad one than none at all, or we're afraid of seeing more than we're comfortable seeing.
The good news is: God's light has come into the world! The Lord wants to bring to light what has been hidden. Sins need be exposed so they can lead to repentance, and how it's handled needs to be exposed so the world sees what real love is like, and holiness needs to be exposed so that others are inspired to the vocation of a holy priesthood.
What we see in the light is sometimes very ugly, repulsive, shocking, and dismaying, but isn't that what Jesus looked like on the cross? If we truly prefer the light, we thank God for the cross of exposed sins and we trust his Holy Spirit while looking forward to the inevitable resurrection. Although bringing sin into the light for purification is painful, it really is the way of Christ. The New Testament is full of such stories. The cross is the only way to redemption. Jesus redeems scandals by raising up much good from them.
As we proclaim in today's Responsorial Psalm, the Lord hears the cry of the poor. No matter how badly we've been hurt or have caused hurt to others, God saves us from distress if we take refuge in him. The Holy Spirit helps us overcome our sins, heals our pain, and leads us into new life.
Pray with me for an increase in holy vocations. Join me in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary using prayers from the Dallas Plenary Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002, which dealt with sexual offenses, because these prayers are equally valid for any form of vocations abuse.
http://gnm.org/prayers/vocationsrosary/index.html
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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.
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To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
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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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Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
April 14, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 5:17-26
Ps 34:2-9
John 3:16-21
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_14.mp3
Trusting in the light of Christ amidst scandals
If I may speak of something that makes us all feel uncomfortable and unhappy, I'd like to use today's scriptures to strengthen us against scandals in our beloved Church. It's very disturbing when the scandal of the molestation of children is in the news, but there are other abuses of priestly vocations that also cause pain, and the people who write to me about this usually do so because they have received too little help from higher authorities.
We are the Body of Christ undergoing purification. And until this affects all types of abuses (bullying, verbal abuse, lustful affairs with adults, etc.) committed by all types of Church leaders (laity as well as clergy), we will continue to be challenged to communal purging so that the Church can be resurrected into a better Servant of salvation for the world. And this includes how well we love the abusers in addition to caring for the abused and how well we affirm the holy priests we do have so that they become visible role models.
Any form of abuse or unloving response to abuse by a Christian is a grave sin, because it harms the whole Body of Christ as it turns away the unbelievers who are watching. How far should we go to stop this? What are we willing to sacrifice to heal the Body of Christ?
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus points out that those who do evil prefer darkness so that their wickedness can continue unnoticed. Most of us, however, tend to contribute to this darkness. When we witness abuses, we're afraid to speak up for fear of reprisal, or we're afraid that it's a sin to take action because it will make the Church look bad, or we're afraid that there aren't enough priests and it's better to have a bad one than none at all, or we're afraid of seeing more than we're comfortable seeing.
The good news is: God's light has come into the world! The Lord wants to bring to light what has been hidden. Sins need be exposed so they can lead to repentance, and how it's handled needs to be exposed so the world sees what real love is like, and holiness needs to be exposed so that others are inspired to the vocation of a holy priesthood.
What we see in the light is sometimes very ugly, repulsive, shocking, and dismaying, but isn't that what Jesus looked like on the cross? If we truly prefer the light, we thank God for the cross of exposed sins and we trust his Holy Spirit while looking forward to the inevitable resurrection. Although bringing sin into the light for purification is painful, it really is the way of Christ. The New Testament is full of such stories. The cross is the only way to redemption. Jesus redeems scandals by raising up much good from them.
As we proclaim in today's Responsorial Psalm, the Lord hears the cry of the poor. No matter how badly we've been hurt or have caused hurt to others, God saves us from distress if we take refuge in him. The Holy Spirit helps us overcome our sins, heals our pain, and leads us into new life.
Pray with me for an increase in holy vocations. Join me in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary using prayers from the Dallas Plenary Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002, which dealt with sexual offenses, because these prayers are equally valid for any form of vocations abuse.
http://gnm.org/prayers/vocationsrosary/index.html
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Experiencing the Spirit of Communion
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
April 13, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 4:32-37
Ps 93:1-2, 5
John 3:7b-15
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_13.mp3
Experiencing the Spirit of Communion
Acts 4:32-37 shows us what true Christian community is like. Why don't we experience such generous love today within the Church?
We've become very private in our faith. Historically speaking, it started when the people's language evolved beyond Latin and they could no longer understand what the priests said during Mass. The laity began quietly praying the Rosary and other devotions to connect with God while the priest did his liturgical stuff. In some of the larger churches, every side altar had a priest saying his own Mass at the same time. Although everyone came together to worship the Lord, the sense of sharing it as a community was lost.
Community and generosity are closely linked. The generous spirit that the early Christians felt is a natural outgrowth of first noticing a need in someone else and then caring enough to get involved.
What they did for each other wasn't all that amazing. When they sold their property to help others, they didn't make themselves homeless; they distributed what they could according to what was needed. Today, we often do that for family members, but we don't even know what our fellow parishioners need. We certainly don't feel connected to them enough to make sacrifices for them.
Generosity grows from love. The more we love someone, the more we want to be generous with them. Look again at how the first Christians related to one another. See how they were of "one heart and one mind". This doesn't mean they always agreed on everything, because they didn't. Their unity came from caring about each other. Their caring started in the communal worship experience and continued outside of Mass through ongoing interaction.
In John 3:7-15, Jesus tells us that to understand the things of heaven, we have to be "begotten of the Holy Spirit". It's one thing to know Jesus personally, but God wants more than that for us, because heaven is so much more. Remember that on Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon a community – upon a group of people whose lives were intertwined.
Generosity is a sign of a vibrant, healthy community. In heaven, love is everywhere. We call this the communion of saints. Yet we think of "communion" as a private experience of receiving the Eucharist. It's not! It's a coming together, becoming one in community through Christ. We walk up to the minister of the Eucharist as individuals and we return to our pews as a community, i.e., as the communion of saints singing the communion song together. Really! We're supposed to sing, not kneel in silent, private prayer after receiving Communion.
In heaven, we will care about everyone equally and we will be loved fully by everyone. On earth, we cannot attain this love unless we rely on the Spirit of God within us – the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Communion.
For an inspirational PowerPoint presentation on Life in the Spirit to show in religious education classes, RCIA, and prayer groups, please visit Catholic Digital Resources at http://catholicdr.com/TrinityRetreat and scroll down to see the last one on the page where you can preview it.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
April 13, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 4:32-37
Ps 93:1-2, 5
John 3:7b-15
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_13.mp3
Experiencing the Spirit of Communion
Acts 4:32-37 shows us what true Christian community is like. Why don't we experience such generous love today within the Church?
We've become very private in our faith. Historically speaking, it started when the people's language evolved beyond Latin and they could no longer understand what the priests said during Mass. The laity began quietly praying the Rosary and other devotions to connect with God while the priest did his liturgical stuff. In some of the larger churches, every side altar had a priest saying his own Mass at the same time. Although everyone came together to worship the Lord, the sense of sharing it as a community was lost.
Community and generosity are closely linked. The generous spirit that the early Christians felt is a natural outgrowth of first noticing a need in someone else and then caring enough to get involved.
What they did for each other wasn't all that amazing. When they sold their property to help others, they didn't make themselves homeless; they distributed what they could according to what was needed. Today, we often do that for family members, but we don't even know what our fellow parishioners need. We certainly don't feel connected to them enough to make sacrifices for them.
Generosity grows from love. The more we love someone, the more we want to be generous with them. Look again at how the first Christians related to one another. See how they were of "one heart and one mind". This doesn't mean they always agreed on everything, because they didn't. Their unity came from caring about each other. Their caring started in the communal worship experience and continued outside of Mass through ongoing interaction.
In John 3:7-15, Jesus tells us that to understand the things of heaven, we have to be "begotten of the Holy Spirit". It's one thing to know Jesus personally, but God wants more than that for us, because heaven is so much more. Remember that on Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon a community – upon a group of people whose lives were intertwined.
Generosity is a sign of a vibrant, healthy community. In heaven, love is everywhere. We call this the communion of saints. Yet we think of "communion" as a private experience of receiving the Eucharist. It's not! It's a coming together, becoming one in community through Christ. We walk up to the minister of the Eucharist as individuals and we return to our pews as a community, i.e., as the communion of saints singing the communion song together. Really! We're supposed to sing, not kneel in silent, private prayer after receiving Communion.
In heaven, we will care about everyone equally and we will be loved fully by everyone. On earth, we cannot attain this love unless we rely on the Spirit of God within us – the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Communion.
For an inspirational PowerPoint presentation on Life in the Spirit to show in religious education classes, RCIA, and prayer groups, please visit Catholic Digital Resources at http://catholicdr.com/TrinityRetreat and scroll down to see the last one on the page where you can preview it.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
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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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Preparing for Pentecost: Our amazing mission
Good News Reflection
Monday of the Second Week of Easter
April 12, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 4:23-31
Ps 2:1-9 (with 11d)
John 3:1-8
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_12.mp3
Preparing for Pentecost: Our amazing mission
The empty tomb is only half of the Easter story. Jesus conquered death, not only to open the door to heaven for his disciples, but to build a Church that would throw open the doors for everyone everywhere every time.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus emphasizes being "born of water AND SPIRIT." Why? Because once the disciples received the Holy Spirit, their own spirits became enlivened to continue Christ's mission of redemption. This mission of the Church has been passed to us. We all have the same vocation as those first disciples (we call it "the common priesthood"). We all have the same Spirit.
The word "Mass" has the word "mission" at its root. Another word that sprang from this root is "missal", i.e., the book that contains the scriptures, songs and prayers of the mission. To attend Mass means to get renewed for our mission. This is why presiding priests often end Mass with Christ's commission: "Go forth to love and serve the Lord and each other." Oh how important it is to stay until the very end of Mass! In those final moments, we are given a powerful blessing, a renewed anointing to go forth, to leave the church building and BE the Church.
In today's first reading, we read a "homily" that Peter and John gave to the early Church. They enthusiastically shared how the Gospel (the Good News) was experienced in their lives. The congregation responded in praise, in song, in a trust-filled plea for help against the threats of the world, and in a faith-filled request for miracles. It's the essence of our modern liturgies.
God participated in their worship: The place shook as they prayed. Why don't our churches shake today? Since God's ways never change, it should happen to us today. Why doesn't it? Because we've forgotten what it means to be, as this scripture recounts, a community that's "filled with the Holy Spirit". How many people receive the Sacrament of Confirmation without requesting the awesome power of the Holy Spirit? How few Christians honestly and consciously say yes to a full relationship with the Spirit of God? And with active participation?
We first received the Holy Spirit in baptism. Confirmation, in which the bishop "confirms" this gift, should bring us into full awareness of what it means to us personally and to the mission of the Church. Sadly, the passing of the mission onto our confirmands has been underplayed and neglected. It's a sin of omission, an ignorance that has far-reaching ramifications.
We're all supposed to have a fully alive friendship – a life-shaking relationship – with the Holy Spirit. Let's ask for this as we prepare for Pentecost, which is the day that we celebration our mission. Between now and then, my Good News Reflections will focus on increasing this powerfully holy friendship within each of us.
Here's a prayer to the Holy Spirit you can use in your daily prayers while preparing for the celebration of Pentecost: http://wordbytes.org/prayers/HolySpirit.htm. If you want copies of this to distribute in your parish, please see the published version at Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/faithbuilders/prayers/HolySpirit-Prayer.htm.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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.
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To sign up for your own subscription, go to:
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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 of the Second Week of Easter
April 12, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 4:23-31
Ps 2:1-9 (with 11d)
John 3:1-8
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_12.mp3
Preparing for Pentecost: Our amazing mission
The empty tomb is only half of the Easter story. Jesus conquered death, not only to open the door to heaven for his disciples, but to build a Church that would throw open the doors for everyone everywhere every time.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus emphasizes being "born of water AND SPIRIT." Why? Because once the disciples received the Holy Spirit, their own spirits became enlivened to continue Christ's mission of redemption. This mission of the Church has been passed to us. We all have the same vocation as those first disciples (we call it "the common priesthood"). We all have the same Spirit.
The word "Mass" has the word "mission" at its root. Another word that sprang from this root is "missal", i.e., the book that contains the scriptures, songs and prayers of the mission. To attend Mass means to get renewed for our mission. This is why presiding priests often end Mass with Christ's commission: "Go forth to love and serve the Lord and each other." Oh how important it is to stay until the very end of Mass! In those final moments, we are given a powerful blessing, a renewed anointing to go forth, to leave the church building and BE the Church.
In today's first reading, we read a "homily" that Peter and John gave to the early Church. They enthusiastically shared how the Gospel (the Good News) was experienced in their lives. The congregation responded in praise, in song, in a trust-filled plea for help against the threats of the world, and in a faith-filled request for miracles. It's the essence of our modern liturgies.
God participated in their worship: The place shook as they prayed. Why don't our churches shake today? Since God's ways never change, it should happen to us today. Why doesn't it? Because we've forgotten what it means to be, as this scripture recounts, a community that's "filled with the Holy Spirit". How many people receive the Sacrament of Confirmation without requesting the awesome power of the Holy Spirit? How few Christians honestly and consciously say yes to a full relationship with the Spirit of God? And with active participation?
We first received the Holy Spirit in baptism. Confirmation, in which the bishop "confirms" this gift, should bring us into full awareness of what it means to us personally and to the mission of the Church. Sadly, the passing of the mission onto our confirmands has been underplayed and neglected. It's a sin of omission, an ignorance that has far-reaching ramifications.
We're all supposed to have a fully alive friendship – a life-shaking relationship – with the Holy Spirit. Let's ask for this as we prepare for Pentecost, which is the day that we celebration our mission. Between now and then, my Good News Reflections will focus on increasing this powerfully holy friendship within each of us.
Here's a prayer to the Holy Spirit you can use in your daily prayers while preparing for the celebration of Pentecost: http://wordbytes.org/prayers/HolySpirit.htm. If you want copies of this to distribute in your parish, please see the published version at Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/faithbuilders/prayers/HolySpirit-Prayer.htm.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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:
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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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Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 18, 2010 Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 18, 2010
Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/April/Easter3.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
Rev 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_18.mp3
Read next Sunday's Gospel story. I have to wonder, how did Jesus catch the fish he was barbecuing when the disciples came ashore? Did he have a net, too? Did he buy it in town with the bread? If so, didn't anyone recognize him? Or maybe the fish just jumped out of the water onto the fire! And maybe he turned stone into bread, like Satan had once tempted him to do during his fast in the desert.
Reflect back upon the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish. Same foods: bread and fish. Same miracle! It does not matter how little we have or even whether we have anything at all. God the Creator has an infinite supply and is able to produce an abundance of everything. It’s never based on what we have; it’s always based on the love he has for us.
What he wants from us is the willingness to do the work of sharing what God provides. In the miracle of feeding the crowd, the disciples were asked to distribute the multiplied food. In the miracle of the huge catch of fish, the disciples were asked to "bring some of the fish you caught" and add it to the meal that Jesus was already cooking.
Afterward, Peter was asked to share the love he had for Jesus with the "sheep". From where does love come? Peter didn't love anybody by his own efforts; none of us do. Peter was created with God's love already in him, as we all were, for we were made in the image of God who is love. Peter's calling was to share the abundance of God's love, so that the kingdom of God could continue to spread throughout the earth.
What is God asking you to do? The answer does not lie in what you have, but in what you are willing to do with what God already has.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What work for the kingdom of God (the parish, a friend, a community program) have you felt a desire to do but haven't yet done because your net feels empty? Assume that Jesus is asking you to do it; what action can you take this week that will toss your net over the other side of the boat?
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Are you doing everything you feel called by God to do? Share with your community a frustrated calling, i.e., an unsuccessful or unbegun vocation. What does God have that you don't have that could take it from the dreaming stage into reality? Exchange ideas on how to avail yourself of God's abundance.
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/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 18, 2010
Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/April/Easter3.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
Rev 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_18.mp3
Read next Sunday's Gospel story. I have to wonder, how did Jesus catch the fish he was barbecuing when the disciples came ashore? Did he have a net, too? Did he buy it in town with the bread? If so, didn't anyone recognize him? Or maybe the fish just jumped out of the water onto the fire! And maybe he turned stone into bread, like Satan had once tempted him to do during his fast in the desert.
Reflect back upon the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish. Same foods: bread and fish. Same miracle! It does not matter how little we have or even whether we have anything at all. God the Creator has an infinite supply and is able to produce an abundance of everything. It’s never based on what we have; it’s always based on the love he has for us.
What he wants from us is the willingness to do the work of sharing what God provides. In the miracle of feeding the crowd, the disciples were asked to distribute the multiplied food. In the miracle of the huge catch of fish, the disciples were asked to "bring some of the fish you caught" and add it to the meal that Jesus was already cooking.
Afterward, Peter was asked to share the love he had for Jesus with the "sheep". From where does love come? Peter didn't love anybody by his own efforts; none of us do. Peter was created with God's love already in him, as we all were, for we were made in the image of God who is love. Peter's calling was to share the abundance of God's love, so that the kingdom of God could continue to spread throughout the earth.
What is God asking you to do? The answer does not lie in what you have, but in what you are willing to do with what God already has.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What work for the kingdom of God (the parish, a friend, a community program) have you felt a desire to do but haven't yet done because your net feels empty? Assume that Jesus is asking you to do it; what action can you take this week that will toss your net over the other side of the boat?
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Are you doing everything you feel called by God to do? Share with your community a frustrated calling, i.e., an unsuccessful or unbegun vocation. What does God have that you don't have that could take it from the dreaming stage into reality? Exchange ideas on how to avail yourself of God's abundance.
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/
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Resurrected fishing
Good News Reflection
Friday in the Octave of Easter
April 9, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 4:1-12
Ps 118:1-2, 4, 22-27a
John 21:1-14
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_09.mp3
Resurrected fishing
Are you involved in a ministry or service that needs a resurrection? Perhaps you've been working on something for a long time and have not yet succeeded. Does it seem like your efforts are pointless, fruitless? Where has progress been too slow or too lethargic? Are you hedged in and unable to do what you believe you're called to do? Is it time to cast your net over the other side of the boat, as in today's Gospel reading?
In the first reading, Peter and John experience the first roadblock in their preaching ministry. They are put into prison because someone wants to stop. The next day, they will be ordered by the authorities to never mention Jesus publicly again.
Would this have stopped you? What IS stopping you now?
Peter and John knew that when it comes to doing God's will, there's no such thing as an insurmountable obstacle. They could easily recall two incidents of fishing all night without success and then catching an abundance because they had obeyed Jesus.
Our only true obstacle is our lack of endurance. In reality, when we're tired and we think that we've failed, we're actually in the middle of building up to a great success that's far more wonderful than we can imagine. It might not be the outcome we're expecting, it might not be in the direction we started, but it will happen just as surely as Peter and John were released from prison to continue fulfilling God's plans – if we persist in following Jesus.
Usually, he tells us to do something that does not make sense or feels very uncomfortable. Jesus told the disciples to fish in the very same waters where they had already cast their nets unproductively! What difference did it make to try the other side of the boat? It was uncomfortable to change, because they had developed muscles and a good working pattern of swinging the net one way. The advice Jesus gave them was like telling a right-handed artist to paint with his left hand in order to produce a masterpiece.
Are you ready to try something that doesn't make sense? Go ahead and do whatever will stretch you beyond what feels logical and comfortable. If it seems like a "wrong" direction, but the "right" direction hasn't been working, as long as it doesn't conflict with scripture or Church teaching, assume that it is Jesus talking to you. Move boldly into it and trust that if you're making another mistake, God will get your attention and redirect you again.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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Friday in the Octave of Easter
April 9, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 4:1-12
Ps 118:1-2, 4, 22-27a
John 21:1-14
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_09.mp3
Resurrected fishing
Are you involved in a ministry or service that needs a resurrection? Perhaps you've been working on something for a long time and have not yet succeeded. Does it seem like your efforts are pointless, fruitless? Where has progress been too slow or too lethargic? Are you hedged in and unable to do what you believe you're called to do? Is it time to cast your net over the other side of the boat, as in today's Gospel reading?
In the first reading, Peter and John experience the first roadblock in their preaching ministry. They are put into prison because someone wants to stop. The next day, they will be ordered by the authorities to never mention Jesus publicly again.
Would this have stopped you? What IS stopping you now?
Peter and John knew that when it comes to doing God's will, there's no such thing as an insurmountable obstacle. They could easily recall two incidents of fishing all night without success and then catching an abundance because they had obeyed Jesus.
Our only true obstacle is our lack of endurance. In reality, when we're tired and we think that we've failed, we're actually in the middle of building up to a great success that's far more wonderful than we can imagine. It might not be the outcome we're expecting, it might not be in the direction we started, but it will happen just as surely as Peter and John were released from prison to continue fulfilling God's plans – if we persist in following Jesus.
Usually, he tells us to do something that does not make sense or feels very uncomfortable. Jesus told the disciples to fish in the very same waters where they had already cast their nets unproductively! What difference did it make to try the other side of the boat? It was uncomfortable to change, because they had developed muscles and a good working pattern of swinging the net one way. The advice Jesus gave them was like telling a right-handed artist to paint with his left hand in order to produce a masterpiece.
Are you ready to try something that doesn't make sense? Go ahead and do whatever will stretch you beyond what feels logical and comfortable. If it seems like a "wrong" direction, but the "right" direction hasn't been working, as long as it doesn't conflict with scripture or Church teaching, assume that it is Jesus talking to you. Move boldly into it and trust that if you're making another mistake, God will get your attention and redirect you again.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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, April 8, 2010
Growing beyond the need for miracles
Good News Reflection
Thursday in the Octave of Easter
April 8, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 3:11-26
Ps 8:2ab, 5-9
Luke 24:35-48
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_08.mp3
Growing beyond the need for miracles
In today's first reading, the healing of the crippled man attracted a crowd. This reminds me of the time when my parish hosted a guest speaker from Ireland who was advertised as a "healing priest". He attracted such large numbers of people that many could not fit inside the church. They waited outside for his preaching to end so that they could get in line to go in for a healing.
When was the last time you saw a parish mission draw crowds this large for nothing more than to hear good teachings and have a penance service? I've never seen it. Most people are more interested in physical miracles than spiritual growth.
Peter addressed the miracle-seeking crowd and used this opportunity to turn their attention away from the miracle – and away from himself and John – to guide their eyes toward Jesus and their hearts toward conversion. Some of them accepted this, some did not.
Are we more fascinated by miracles or by personal improvement?
Look at how the disciples reacted when the risen Christ appeared supernaturally in Luke 24:35-48. Jesus offered peace, but they shook with fear and confusion. They had already heard that Jesus had risen from the dead, but they were still in that in-between zone of hearing the truth and doubting it.
There's a big difference between knowing and believing. We know we are loved by parents and spouses and rebellious children and argumentative friends, but we demand proof. We know that God loves us beyond all measure, but look at how readily we assume he's not answering our prayers. We know God is generous, but look at how stingy we are with our finances when the collection basket comes; we're fearful that God won't replenish and multiply what we give away.
Seeing miracles is wonderful, but this is not what gives us true belief in God's love, because seeing is NOT believing. The disciples were able to see Jesus after his death. When they saw the truth, they knew that a miracle had happened – but they felt afraid. Their conversion to believing the truth and understanding what it meant did not happen until Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
When we pray for miracles, be they small or large, easily possible or seemingly impossible, we become true believers when we allow the Holy Spirit to give us new understanding and spiritual growth. Miracles are only bonuses of Christian living. The heart of Christian living is believing in God's love for us, which occurs when we move beyond the desire for miracles into the realm of understanding that God is making everything work for our good and for the benefit of others.
In this we find much more joy and inner peace than miracles could ever give us.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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 in the Octave of Easter
April 8, 2010
Today's Readings:
Acts 3:11-26
Ps 8:2ab, 5-9
Luke 24:35-48
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_08.mp3
Growing beyond the need for miracles
In today's first reading, the healing of the crippled man attracted a crowd. This reminds me of the time when my parish hosted a guest speaker from Ireland who was advertised as a "healing priest". He attracted such large numbers of people that many could not fit inside the church. They waited outside for his preaching to end so that they could get in line to go in for a healing.
When was the last time you saw a parish mission draw crowds this large for nothing more than to hear good teachings and have a penance service? I've never seen it. Most people are more interested in physical miracles than spiritual growth.
Peter addressed the miracle-seeking crowd and used this opportunity to turn their attention away from the miracle – and away from himself and John – to guide their eyes toward Jesus and their hearts toward conversion. Some of them accepted this, some did not.
Are we more fascinated by miracles or by personal improvement?
Look at how the disciples reacted when the risen Christ appeared supernaturally in Luke 24:35-48. Jesus offered peace, but they shook with fear and confusion. They had already heard that Jesus had risen from the dead, but they were still in that in-between zone of hearing the truth and doubting it.
There's a big difference between knowing and believing. We know we are loved by parents and spouses and rebellious children and argumentative friends, but we demand proof. We know that God loves us beyond all measure, but look at how readily we assume he's not answering our prayers. We know God is generous, but look at how stingy we are with our finances when the collection basket comes; we're fearful that God won't replenish and multiply what we give away.
Seeing miracles is wonderful, but this is not what gives us true belief in God's love, because seeing is NOT believing. The disciples were able to see Jesus after his death. When they saw the truth, they knew that a miracle had happened – but they felt afraid. Their conversion to believing the truth and understanding what it meant did not happen until Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
When we pray for miracles, be they small or large, easily possible or seemingly impossible, we become true believers when we allow the Holy Spirit to give us new understanding and spiritual growth. Miracles are only bonuses of Christian living. The heart of Christian living is believing in God's love for us, which occurs when we move beyond the desire for miracles into the realm of understanding that God is making everything work for our good and for the benefit of others.
In this we find much more joy and inner peace than miracles could ever give us.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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What I have I give to you
Good News Reflection
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
April 7, 2010
Today's Saint: John Baptist de la Salle
Pray for schools and teachers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnBaptistSalle.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 3:1-10
Ps 105:1-4, 6-9
Luke 24:13-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_07.mp3
What I have I give to you
In today's first reading, Peter and John give us an example of what it means to be a Spirit-filled follower of Christ. The message is summed up in their words: "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give to you...."
We are all called to share Jesus with others, and we accomplish this by doing what he did, or in other words by doing what he wants to do today through us. We are now the Body of Christ that dwells on earth. Remember the instructions that Jesus gave us during his last supper when he instituted the Eucharist: "What I have done, go and do likewise."
When it seems like we cannot "go and do likewise", we must not be stopped by what we lack. Instead of saying, "I can't get involved because I don't have the resources or the know-how to help", we are to say, "What I do have, THIS is what I give".
For example, your parish needs more money (most parishioners donate way too little, due to a lack of understanding about the holiness of financial generosity). If you don't have much income to share, you could help the church cut costs by getting on the phone and contacting businesses for donations of food or whatever supplies are needed for the next parish event. This isn't difficult, because most companies are looking for tax write-offs and would be willing to donate their goods to your church if only someone would call them.
What do you have that you can give to those who need it?
When someone at work comes to you with a problem, if you can't help them fix it, do you give them a listening ear and compassion? This is a beautiful way to serve the Lord!
Do you have the know-how to make household repairs? Through your parish office, find the single moms and the elderly who could use a free handyman. This is a fantastic service and greatly needed!
When someone mumbles, "Pray for me," do you put aside whatever you're doing and immediately pray with that person so that he or she feels affirmed and cared about? Anyone can develop a prayer ministry – yes anyone! The results are up to God, not you nor the particular words you use nor how you pray. Sometimes God will even work a miracle through you. Yes, you! Why? Because you have the same Jesus, alive in you, who worked miracles through Peter and John.
You are important in God's kingdom. When the Father created you, he assigned to you an important role in the Body of Christ in order to continue the Son's mission here on earth with the help of the Holy Spirit. You have a lot to give, and it's all very essential to the mission!
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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 - American Edition" mailing list.
MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
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Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
April 7, 2010
Today's Saint: John Baptist de la Salle
Pray for schools and teachers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnBaptistSalle.htm
Today's Readings:
Acts 3:1-10
Ps 105:1-4, 6-9
Luke 24:13-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_07.mp3
What I have I give to you
In today's first reading, Peter and John give us an example of what it means to be a Spirit-filled follower of Christ. The message is summed up in their words: "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give to you...."
We are all called to share Jesus with others, and we accomplish this by doing what he did, or in other words by doing what he wants to do today through us. We are now the Body of Christ that dwells on earth. Remember the instructions that Jesus gave us during his last supper when he instituted the Eucharist: "What I have done, go and do likewise."
When it seems like we cannot "go and do likewise", we must not be stopped by what we lack. Instead of saying, "I can't get involved because I don't have the resources or the know-how to help", we are to say, "What I do have, THIS is what I give".
For example, your parish needs more money (most parishioners donate way too little, due to a lack of understanding about the holiness of financial generosity). If you don't have much income to share, you could help the church cut costs by getting on the phone and contacting businesses for donations of food or whatever supplies are needed for the next parish event. This isn't difficult, because most companies are looking for tax write-offs and would be willing to donate their goods to your church if only someone would call them.
What do you have that you can give to those who need it?
When someone at work comes to you with a problem, if you can't help them fix it, do you give them a listening ear and compassion? This is a beautiful way to serve the Lord!
Do you have the know-how to make household repairs? Through your parish office, find the single moms and the elderly who could use a free handyman. This is a fantastic service and greatly needed!
When someone mumbles, "Pray for me," do you put aside whatever you're doing and immediately pray with that person so that he or she feels affirmed and cared about? Anyone can develop a prayer ministry – yes anyone! The results are up to God, not you nor the particular words you use nor how you pray. Sometimes God will even work a miracle through you. Yes, you! Why? Because you have the same Jesus, alive in you, who worked miracles through Peter and John.
You are important in God's kingdom. When the Father created you, he assigned to you an important role in the Body of Christ in order to continue the Son's mission here on earth with the help of the Holy Spirit. You have a lot to give, and it's all very essential to the mission!
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
You may print one copy for your own personal use.
For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see:
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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