How important are you to Jesus?

Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time
July 20, 2010
Today's Saint: Margaret of Antioch
Pray for expectant mothers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/MargaretAntioch.htm
Today's Readings:
Micah 7:14-15,18-20
Ps 85:2-8
Matt 12:46-50
http://www.usccb.org/nab/072010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_07_20.mp3
How important are you to Jesus?
Think about how much Jesus loves you. How important are you to Jesus, really? The correct answer is: As important as his own Mother, Mary the Queen of Heaven, the blessed and "highly favored one"!
We know Jesus had favorites: friends that he felt closest to, a mother he cherished, companions he enjoyed being with during the fun times, and a few he wanted near him during the worst of times, but never did he show favoritism. John "the beloved" was an especially close friend. James the apostle was a relative whom he invited into the inner circle of the twelve. But as we see in today's Gospel reading, Jesus did not give anyone, not even his Blessed Mother, preferential treatment.
In this scene, Jesus is busy ministering to the crowds who flocked to hear him and to get a healing from him. Mary brings along some relatives who want to speak with him. Without a pause to find out what they want, Jesus uses the opportunity to teach his listeners that they were all equally important. Anyone, he explains, who unites their will to God's will is an important member of his family and is as loved and appreciated and valued as his own dear mother and his personal family.
That means YOU are equally precious to Jesus! YOU are as important to God as anybody!
Can you accept this? Or do you suppose your problems exist because you're not special enough to God?
And can you accept that everyone else you know is as important to God as you are? Even the people you don't like?
Find the followers of Christ who truly want to do the Father's will and you will find the favorites of Jesus. God loves everyone equally, but the blessed are those who work hard at being holy. If you want to enjoy the blessings that come from being with God's favorites, get more involved with those who love God. Seek out the ones who love God so much that it's obvious that they love others too. You'll usually find them busy serving in parish ministries. Join the same ministries!
Enjoying God's favorites, however, does not mean that we can treat them with favoritism. Look at how readily we give special favors to family, to friends who are good to us, to people who worship like us and think like us, or to those we want to impress. Why aren't we just as willing to do favors for anyone else? Another word for "favoritism" is "prejudice. "
Let's be more like Jesus. Jesus is not prejudiced against you or me or anyone in any way, even when we sin. However, he really enjoys being close to us when we cherish doing the Father's will. And that's when we most enjoy being close 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™.
______________________________________________________________
This is the "Good News Reflections - American Edition" mailing list.
MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
Change your address
Unsubscribe