Good News Reflection
Wednesday of Holy Week
March 31, 2010
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 50:4-9
Ps 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34
Matt 26:14-25
http://www.usccb.org/nab/033110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_31.mp3
Betrayed by a friend – Part 2
We feel most betrayed when it comes from a friend who, like Judas in today's Gospel reading, assures us that they would never hurt us. The fact is, everyone sooner or later betrays us in some way. Anytime our loved ones disappoint us, renege on promises, or refuse to understand the precious truths that we share from our hearts, they betray us.
We can find wisdom and strength for endurance from today's first reading. Although it's a prophecy about the sufferings of Jesus, we can apply it to our own lives and thus unify ourselves with his cross and with his resurrection.
"The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue ... to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them." You have grown in compassion as a result of suffering, and what you have learned you can pass onto others who experience similar trials.
"Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; I have not rebelled" Jesus faced his betrayal with determination and single-minded trust in the Father. You, also, have the same Father God helping you move forward into healing and redemption.
"My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting." How often have you turned the other cheek in imitation of Jesus? God knows how many times you have refused to retaliate against evil with evil, and he appreciates your efforts.
"I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame." By forgiving those who hurt you and by refusing to compromise your moral stand, although others try to shame you, the Father holds you close to his heart.
"He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together." When people oppose you and cause you to suffer, they're also opposing and attacking Jesus. He is at your side, supporting you, healing you, comforting you, and taking the worst of the blows.
Psalm 69 is another prophecy about Jesus that we can use in the same way. Read it as a description of your own life. When we desire and expect people to strengthen us, encourage us, sympathize with us or heal us during our difficulties and pain, we always end up disappointed. Even the most caring friends cannot give us enough of everything that we need. Only God can. Only he can turn our mourning into dancing and joy.
By offering our sufferings to God's plan of redemption, and by turning to him for comfort, we experience the same great love that the Father gave to his Beloved Son. That love is what makes it all doable. That love is what helps us endure. That love is what heals us and resurrects us to a renewed, victorious life.
Note: For many people, praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary helps them through this process of connecting our sufferings to Christ's redemptive suffering, and praying any of the mysteries helps them become more open to the love that heals. At Good News Ministries, we have a Holy Family Rosary that we give freely as a gift of God's love to those who request it. For more information, please visit http://gnm.org/prayers/forparents/rosaries.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
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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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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Betrayed by a friend – Part 1
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of Holy Week
March 30, 2010
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 49:1-6
Ps 71:1-6, 15, 17
John 13:21-33, 36-38
http://www.usccb.org/nab/033010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_30.mp3
Betrayed by a friend – Part 1
In today's Gospel reading, when Jesus announced that one of his closest disciples would betray him, Peter and the others looked at each other, bewildered and alarmed. Did anyone feel guilty? Did they quickly examine their consciences and remember the times when they had disagreed with Jesus or had wished that he'd do things differently? Probably.
Peter, hoping he wasn't the betrayer, timidly asked John to ask Jesus, "Who is it?"
He did not want to be the betrayer. He really believed, "I will lay down my life for you!" Yet he did betray Jesus, despite all of his good intentions. We are like Peter whenever we back down from sharing our faith because we fear rejection or when we make unethical compromises to avoid conflicts. We love Jesus yet we betray him. And like Peter, we feel horrified about our sin and we gratefully receive his forgiveness.
Judas was different. In yesterday's Gospel reading, we saw Judas react to Mary's loving gift of costly perfume. Was he jealous? The powerful love between Jesus and Mary was obvious. He could have learned from the love they shared, but instead he verbally attacked them.
Apparently, Judas did not believe that Jesus loved him just as much as he loved Mary. With his perception clouded by his neediness, he judged the intimacy between Mary and Jesus as inappropriate. It’s a common psychological bandage for low self-esteem: He tried to shame them into feeling guilty as an attempt to feel better about himself.
People who are starving for love often put others down in order to get what they want. No wonder Judas turned Jesus in when he failed to cooperate with his expectations. He could not understand the unconditional, sacrificial love of Christ. In modern psychological terms, we might say that Judas was "codependent". His needy, hurting heart failed to recognize the healthy, true love that Jesus tried to give him. No wonder he chose suicide to cure his pain instead of turning to Jesus for forgiveness.
Think of the people in your life who are needy for love. We all have codependent friends who want us to be a god for them; they insist that we give them everything they think they need. Instead of developing a more intimate, healing relationship with Jesus, they become demanding of us, angry and manipulative.
And then, when we turn to Jesus for the fullness of the unconditional love that they cannot give to us, they become jealous. And like Judas, they betray us.
Some betrayals are easy to forgive, because we know the betrayer really does care about us. But when the betrayal comes from an unrelenting Judas, we can still love them, even if only from afar. Jesus never stopped loving anyone.
© 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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Tuesday of Holy Week
March 30, 2010
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 49:1-6
Ps 71:1-6, 15, 17
John 13:21-33, 36-38
http://www.usccb.org/nab/033010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_30.mp3
Betrayed by a friend – Part 1
In today's Gospel reading, when Jesus announced that one of his closest disciples would betray him, Peter and the others looked at each other, bewildered and alarmed. Did anyone feel guilty? Did they quickly examine their consciences and remember the times when they had disagreed with Jesus or had wished that he'd do things differently? Probably.
Peter, hoping he wasn't the betrayer, timidly asked John to ask Jesus, "Who is it?"
He did not want to be the betrayer. He really believed, "I will lay down my life for you!" Yet he did betray Jesus, despite all of his good intentions. We are like Peter whenever we back down from sharing our faith because we fear rejection or when we make unethical compromises to avoid conflicts. We love Jesus yet we betray him. And like Peter, we feel horrified about our sin and we gratefully receive his forgiveness.
Judas was different. In yesterday's Gospel reading, we saw Judas react to Mary's loving gift of costly perfume. Was he jealous? The powerful love between Jesus and Mary was obvious. He could have learned from the love they shared, but instead he verbally attacked them.
Apparently, Judas did not believe that Jesus loved him just as much as he loved Mary. With his perception clouded by his neediness, he judged the intimacy between Mary and Jesus as inappropriate. It’s a common psychological bandage for low self-esteem: He tried to shame them into feeling guilty as an attempt to feel better about himself.
People who are starving for love often put others down in order to get what they want. No wonder Judas turned Jesus in when he failed to cooperate with his expectations. He could not understand the unconditional, sacrificial love of Christ. In modern psychological terms, we might say that Judas was "codependent". His needy, hurting heart failed to recognize the healthy, true love that Jesus tried to give him. No wonder he chose suicide to cure his pain instead of turning to Jesus for forgiveness.
Think of the people in your life who are needy for love. We all have codependent friends who want us to be a god for them; they insist that we give them everything they think they need. Instead of developing a more intimate, healing relationship with Jesus, they become demanding of us, angry and manipulative.
And then, when we turn to Jesus for the fullness of the unconditional love that they cannot give to us, they become jealous. And like Judas, they betray us.
Some betrayals are easy to forgive, because we know the betrayer really does care about us. But when the betrayal comes from an unrelenting Judas, we can still love them, even if only from afar. Jesus never stopped loving anyone.
© 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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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 gift of true friendship
Good News Reflection
Monday of Holy Week
March 29, 2010
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 42:1-7
Ps 27:1-3, 13-14
John 12:1-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_29.mp3
The gift of true friendship
Imagine the scene depicted in today's Gospel reading. It takes place exactly one week before the crucifixion of Jesus. He knows what's going to happen; he knows his time is short. And how does he spend this day? Fretting and worrying and fearing the pain that he'll soon suffer? Is he depressed perhaps?
No, he's enjoying a party!
Jesus chose to spend his last peaceful day with his dearest and closest friends. He can relax around them. He knows they're not going to pick a fight with him. If he wants to rest, they will minister to his needs and desires.
What a great example of friendship!
Look at how they dined. It was no simple meal of pita bread and dates, but a banquet! Jesus taught by his own example that we should live in humble simplicity, and yet he also enjoyed a fancy meal with lots of trimmings and gourmet dishes. And he certainly appreciated the luxury of the perfume that his friend Mary lavished on him. He did not say: "Oh, you shouldn't have!" He was very gracious in accepting without question the gifts that his friends gave to him.
This is a wonderful example of genuine friendship. It didn't matter if the gift was expensive or frugal; what mattered was the depth of friendship from which it came. In true friendship, we give service and gifts to each other simply because we love each other. There's no equality to it, no thought of "If you pay the bill at the restaurant this time, next time it's my turn" or "If you invite me to your $100-a-plate wedding reception, then I have to arrive bearing a gift of equal value."
Mary didn't anoint Jesus as payment for all the good he had done for her, but as a gift of her own goodness simply because she loved him. She was accused of being wasteful, the gift too extravagant, but she didn't choose the perfume based on its price tag; she opted to give a gift of extravagant fragrance – she was generous in the enthusiasm of her love.
Is your friendship with Jesus like this? How we treat our friends is how we treat Jesus. Our friendship with Jesus is only as genuine as the relationships we have with the people he's provided as friends.
Jesus gives us his love through holy friendships. In the fellowship of true friends, Jesus ministers to us, heals us, teaches us, dies with us and resurrects us. In those friendships, we meet Jesus and kiss his feet and anoint him with the perfume of our adoration.
© 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
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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 Holy Week
March 29, 2010
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 42:1-7
Ps 27:1-3, 13-14
John 12:1-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_29.mp3
The gift of true friendship
Imagine the scene depicted in today's Gospel reading. It takes place exactly one week before the crucifixion of Jesus. He knows what's going to happen; he knows his time is short. And how does he spend this day? Fretting and worrying and fearing the pain that he'll soon suffer? Is he depressed perhaps?
No, he's enjoying a party!
Jesus chose to spend his last peaceful day with his dearest and closest friends. He can relax around them. He knows they're not going to pick a fight with him. If he wants to rest, they will minister to his needs and desires.
What a great example of friendship!
Look at how they dined. It was no simple meal of pita bread and dates, but a banquet! Jesus taught by his own example that we should live in humble simplicity, and yet he also enjoyed a fancy meal with lots of trimmings and gourmet dishes. And he certainly appreciated the luxury of the perfume that his friend Mary lavished on him. He did not say: "Oh, you shouldn't have!" He was very gracious in accepting without question the gifts that his friends gave to him.
This is a wonderful example of genuine friendship. It didn't matter if the gift was expensive or frugal; what mattered was the depth of friendship from which it came. In true friendship, we give service and gifts to each other simply because we love each other. There's no equality to it, no thought of "If you pay the bill at the restaurant this time, next time it's my turn" or "If you invite me to your $100-a-plate wedding reception, then I have to arrive bearing a gift of equal value."
Mary didn't anoint Jesus as payment for all the good he had done for her, but as a gift of her own goodness simply because she loved him. She was accused of being wasteful, the gift too extravagant, but she didn't choose the perfume based on its price tag; she opted to give a gift of extravagant fragrance – she was generous in the enthusiasm of her love.
Is your friendship with Jesus like this? How we treat our friends is how we treat Jesus. Our friendship with Jesus is only as genuine as the relationships we have with the people he's provided as friends.
Jesus gives us his love through holy friendships. In the fellowship of true friends, Jesus ministers to us, heals us, teaches us, dies with us and resurrects us. In those friendships, we meet Jesus and kiss his feet and anoint him with the perfume of our adoration.
© 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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Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 4, 2010 Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord, Cycle C
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord, 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/Easter.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
The Mass of Easter Day
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Ps 118:(24) 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8
John 20:1-9
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_04.mp3
The glorious day of the celebration of Easter could not exist without first walking with Jesus on the solemn journey of Holy Week. The doorway into heaven is the cross. No one can experience new joys without first accepting the sorrows and sacrifices of life as our personal connection to Jesus.
Easter joy comes not only from accepting what Jesus did for us on the cross but also from continuing the journey, side by side, step by step with Jesus. If we're sincere about following Christ, we do whatever he does, united to his ministry of helping others grow in their eternal relationship with God. In this, we face the cross again and again. There is no gain in salvation without the pain of sacrificial love.
Our cross is a soft word that we speak when someone else is angry and we feel like shouting. Our cross is a hand outstretched to comfort the afflicted when it's inconvenient and we feel like withdrawing. Our cross is a good deed that we do to those who treat us unjustly and we feel like retaliating. And our resurrection is the joy that comes from knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of others for the sake of God's kingdom.
Love that's given when it's difficult is a suffering love, a passionate love, a salvific love, i.e., it benefits the eternal lives of others. Then, our sacrifices have a value of endless worth. This is so much better than a self-serving, easy life! It's eternally better! Easter Sunday Mass is your celebration of rising with Jesus into glorious victory over evil.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What sacrifices are you suffering from right now? Write Jesus a love letter that connects your pain to his pain on the cross, then rest quietly with him as if you were sharing his tomb with him. When you're ready to rise from your chair, celebrate that God appreciates all you have done for his kingdom; this is your resurrection!
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Describe how it feels when a hard journey finally comes to an end. What part of that ending feels like being in the tomb with Jesus? How do you know that you're an Easter Christian?
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.
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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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FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 4, 2010
Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord, 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/Easter.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
The Mass of Easter Day
Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Ps 118:(24) 1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8
John 20:1-9
http://www.usccb.org/nab/040410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_04_04.mp3
The glorious day of the celebration of Easter could not exist without first walking with Jesus on the solemn journey of Holy Week. The doorway into heaven is the cross. No one can experience new joys without first accepting the sorrows and sacrifices of life as our personal connection to Jesus.
Easter joy comes not only from accepting what Jesus did for us on the cross but also from continuing the journey, side by side, step by step with Jesus. If we're sincere about following Christ, we do whatever he does, united to his ministry of helping others grow in their eternal relationship with God. In this, we face the cross again and again. There is no gain in salvation without the pain of sacrificial love.
Our cross is a soft word that we speak when someone else is angry and we feel like shouting. Our cross is a hand outstretched to comfort the afflicted when it's inconvenient and we feel like withdrawing. Our cross is a good deed that we do to those who treat us unjustly and we feel like retaliating. And our resurrection is the joy that comes from knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of others for the sake of God's kingdom.
Love that's given when it's difficult is a suffering love, a passionate love, a salvific love, i.e., it benefits the eternal lives of others. Then, our sacrifices have a value of endless worth. This is so much better than a self-serving, easy life! It's eternally better! Easter Sunday Mass is your celebration of rising with Jesus into glorious victory over evil.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
What sacrifices are you suffering from right now? Write Jesus a love letter that connects your pain to his pain on the cross, then rest quietly with him as if you were sharing his tomb with him. When you're ready to rise from your chair, celebrate that God appreciates all you have done for his kingdom; this is your resurrection!
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Describe how it feels when a hard journey finally comes to an end. What part of that ending feels like being in the tomb with Jesus? How do you know that you're an Easter Christian?
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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Friday, March 26, 2010
Have your good works been misunderstood?
Good News Reflection
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 26, 2010
Today's Readings:
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Ps 18:2-7
John 10:31-42
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_26.mp3
Have your good works been misunderstood?
Holy Week is the most awesome eight days of the liturgical year, beginning with Passion Sunday and ending with Easter Sunday. These Good News Reflections are now going to take us deeper into the experience of uniting ourselves with Jesus, connecting our sufferings to his sufferings, our passion to his passion, our need for the glory of resurrection to his glorious resurrection.
Using today's Gospel reading, we can unite ourselves to Jesus in the pain of rejection. Recall how you have done good works – the Lord's work – and you've been misunderstood or discredited.
Perhaps you have loved a troublesome relative or coworker or neighbor with the forgiving, unconditional love of Jesus, while others turned away in disgust. And because you did not join them in rejecting this person, they concluded that you have unhealthy or immoral feelings toward him/her.
Perhaps someone has tried to take advantage of you at work or in ministry or financially, and you obeyed Jesus' command to go the extra mile and to give away the extra shirt, and those who saw this told you to fight back and demand fair treatment. Then, because you didn't follow their advice, they condemned you as a fool.
Who is saying "let us denounce him!" about you, like we see in today's first reading? Who is watching for your misstep? Who is trying to trap you in order to prove that you are not the good Christian that you claim to be? Who is seeking vengeance against you because of the holy stand you're taking on some issue that makes them feel uncomfortable?
If you are truly serving the Lord, you have earned the disapproval of people who don't understand what you're doing and why. Gloriously, you now know how Jesus felt when it happened to him. And he knows how you feel. He's helping you endure your sufferings. He is giving you his strength and endurance and determination to do the Father's work.
When it wears you down – when the persecution and disapproval and condemnation seem like too much – remember to take time to mentally connect yourself to the Passion of Christ. Pray and ask the Father to tell you what he thinks of you. Meditate on his opinion of you – he approves of you! He appreciates what you're doing! He delights in you!
God is revealing his love to the world through you, and he thanks you. You are his beloved child and he is very pleased with 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.
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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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Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 26, 2010
Today's Readings:
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Ps 18:2-7
John 10:31-42
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_26.mp3
Have your good works been misunderstood?
Holy Week is the most awesome eight days of the liturgical year, beginning with Passion Sunday and ending with Easter Sunday. These Good News Reflections are now going to take us deeper into the experience of uniting ourselves with Jesus, connecting our sufferings to his sufferings, our passion to his passion, our need for the glory of resurrection to his glorious resurrection.
Using today's Gospel reading, we can unite ourselves to Jesus in the pain of rejection. Recall how you have done good works – the Lord's work – and you've been misunderstood or discredited.
Perhaps you have loved a troublesome relative or coworker or neighbor with the forgiving, unconditional love of Jesus, while others turned away in disgust. And because you did not join them in rejecting this person, they concluded that you have unhealthy or immoral feelings toward him/her.
Perhaps someone has tried to take advantage of you at work or in ministry or financially, and you obeyed Jesus' command to go the extra mile and to give away the extra shirt, and those who saw this told you to fight back and demand fair treatment. Then, because you didn't follow their advice, they condemned you as a fool.
Who is saying "let us denounce him!" about you, like we see in today's first reading? Who is watching for your misstep? Who is trying to trap you in order to prove that you are not the good Christian that you claim to be? Who is seeking vengeance against you because of the holy stand you're taking on some issue that makes them feel uncomfortable?
If you are truly serving the Lord, you have earned the disapproval of people who don't understand what you're doing and why. Gloriously, you now know how Jesus felt when it happened to him. And he knows how you feel. He's helping you endure your sufferings. He is giving you his strength and endurance and determination to do the Father's work.
When it wears you down – when the persecution and disapproval and condemnation seem like too much – remember to take time to mentally connect yourself to the Passion of Christ. Pray and ask the Father to tell you what he thinks of you. Meditate on his opinion of you – he approves of you! He appreciates what you're doing! He delights in you!
God is revealing his love to the world through you, and he thanks you. You are his beloved child and he is very pleased with 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
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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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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 right hand of God
Good News Reflection
Thursday of the Fifth Week in Lent
March 25, 2010
Today's Feast: The Annunciation
Pray to do God's will:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Annuciation.htm
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 7:10-14
Ps 40:7-11
Hebrews 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_25.mp3
The right hand of God
The story of Our Lord's Annunciation in today's Gospel passage reaches the high point when Mary says, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word." A handmaid is someone whose essential function is to assist. ASSIST! Not: Take charge of. Not: Become the Savior of. Not: Be such a good priest or lay minister or religious brother/sister that people admire you and praise you for a job well done.
An assistant is often called the employer's "right hand" or, more literally, an extension of the employer's arm. When I am given an assignment by God, such as "write a book" or "give a retreat" or "start up a new ministry on the website", my first inclination is to kick into high gear with all the skills and enthusiasm that God has given me. Although this seems holy, it is not.
And when I see someone lost in the darkness of sin and God nudges me to intervene, my strong sense of caring drives me into action, and if I don't see results fast enough, I assume that it's because I'm not trying hard enough and must push into higher gear. This, too, is not holy.
None of this is being a handmaid of the Lord. It's me being me, stretching out my own hand to see how far I can make it reach. Let's consider how Mary modeled the assistant's job:
(1) She responded first with great faith in God.
(2) A good handmaid listens closely to what the master wants. Mary said, "Let it be done to me according to your word." She was a good listener.
(3) She left the consequences of her "yes" in God's hands. She did not make her "yes" conditional, as in "Okay, but just make sure the townsfolk don't stone me."
(4) Her consent came from true humility. She accepted the value that God gave to her yet she knew she could do nothing valuable without him. She gave herself to God completely, knowing that she had something to give while also knowing that God's goodness was far greater than her own best efforts.
(5) Mary united her will to the intentions and actions of God. The Father intended to redeem the world through his Son; Mary intended to redeem the world through her Son in accordance with the Father's plan as it unfolded. The Father let his Son die for our sins; Mary let go of her Son as she watched him suffer, even though she didn't yet understand the plan.
Mary is still God's handmaid for the redemption of the world. She assists God whenever we need his helping hand in our lives. And she teaches us to do the same for others. How can you serve as God's hand for the people around you? Observe and listen to what he is asking you to do for him today and say, "Lord, let it be done to me according to your will; I am your handmaid (or handyman)." And then give your Master the credit for a job well done.
© 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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Thursday of the Fifth Week in Lent
March 25, 2010
Today's Feast: The Annunciation
Pray to do God's will:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Annuciation.htm
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 7:10-14
Ps 40:7-11
Hebrews 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_25.mp3
The right hand of God
The story of Our Lord's Annunciation in today's Gospel passage reaches the high point when Mary says, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word." A handmaid is someone whose essential function is to assist. ASSIST! Not: Take charge of. Not: Become the Savior of. Not: Be such a good priest or lay minister or religious brother/sister that people admire you and praise you for a job well done.
An assistant is often called the employer's "right hand" or, more literally, an extension of the employer's arm. When I am given an assignment by God, such as "write a book" or "give a retreat" or "start up a new ministry on the website", my first inclination is to kick into high gear with all the skills and enthusiasm that God has given me. Although this seems holy, it is not.
And when I see someone lost in the darkness of sin and God nudges me to intervene, my strong sense of caring drives me into action, and if I don't see results fast enough, I assume that it's because I'm not trying hard enough and must push into higher gear. This, too, is not holy.
None of this is being a handmaid of the Lord. It's me being me, stretching out my own hand to see how far I can make it reach. Let's consider how Mary modeled the assistant's job:
(1) She responded first with great faith in God.
(2) A good handmaid listens closely to what the master wants. Mary said, "Let it be done to me according to your word." She was a good listener.
(3) She left the consequences of her "yes" in God's hands. She did not make her "yes" conditional, as in "Okay, but just make sure the townsfolk don't stone me."
(4) Her consent came from true humility. She accepted the value that God gave to her yet she knew she could do nothing valuable without him. She gave herself to God completely, knowing that she had something to give while also knowing that God's goodness was far greater than her own best efforts.
(5) Mary united her will to the intentions and actions of God. The Father intended to redeem the world through his Son; Mary intended to redeem the world through her Son in accordance with the Father's plan as it unfolded. The Father let his Son die for our sins; Mary let go of her Son as she watched him suffer, even though she didn't yet understand the plan.
Mary is still God's handmaid for the redemption of the world. She assists God whenever we need his helping hand in our lives. And she teaches us to do the same for others. How can you serve as God's hand for the people around you? Observe and listen to what he is asking you to do for him today and say, "Lord, let it be done to me according to your will; I am your handmaid (or handyman)." And then give your Master the credit for a job well done.
© 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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Facing a fiery furnace?
Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 24, 2010
Today's Readings:
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
Daniel 3:52-56
John 8:31-42
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/032410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_24.mp3
Facing a fiery furnace?
In today's first reading, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face the fiery furnace. In the Gospel reading, Jesus faces the cross. What are you facing that's difficult or fearsome? A painful task? The uncertainty of a rocky relationship? Perhaps you've been wrestling with your conscience because a Christian decision could cost you your job or a promotion.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were so devoted to God that they were willing to die for him. Jesus was so devoted to you and me and everyone else that he was willing to die for us. Love hurts. Love means making sacrifices that are painful. The question in every difficulty is: How much do we really love God? It's measured by how much we love those whom he loves.
When I think of the person I like least of all, it occurs to me that since Jesus suffered and sacrificed his life for that person, can't I at least be kind to him or her? When I think of all that I want to do with my life and remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to give it all up for God, can't I at least give up a portion of my life to serve God with my talents and money in the parish and the Internet and other places?
God is not asking much of us, not really. He's not asking us to die for him – although who knows? For some who are reading this reflection, that could be the glorious way they will go Home to him.
Is that a scary thought? When reading the lives of Saints who were martyred, I've wondered, "How could they die so joyfully?" Some of them were tortured terribly. How could they endure it so happily? The answer, I've noticed, is that God gave them special graces to do whatever they were called to do at the time they did it. If they were willing to say yes to dying for him, he gave them a supernatural joy like you and I have never experienced because we've never needed it. If he asks us to enter our own fiery furnaces, he will give us that same gift.
He helps us through every little martyrdom that we face. If we are willing to sacrifice a job or a promotion or a relationship or an easy life for the sake of standing firm in our love for God, then God gives us an extra dose of grace so that we can endure the hardship. We still feel pain (so did Jesus), but it's easier to bear when we're covered by grace.
Instead of saying no or serving grudgingly and sparingly with our money or ministry, we can say yes and expect God's help. Instead of hesitating because the task looks fearsome, we can say yes and receive supernatural grace to endure it. It's in the toughest of times that we spiritually grow the fastest, leaping into the life of Christ, getting through the pain of the cross all the way to the glory of the resurrection.
© 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 Fifth Week of Lent
March 24, 2010
Today's Readings:
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
Daniel 3:52-56
John 8:31-42
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/032410.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_24.mp3
Facing a fiery furnace?
In today's first reading, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face the fiery furnace. In the Gospel reading, Jesus faces the cross. What are you facing that's difficult or fearsome? A painful task? The uncertainty of a rocky relationship? Perhaps you've been wrestling with your conscience because a Christian decision could cost you your job or a promotion.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were so devoted to God that they were willing to die for him. Jesus was so devoted to you and me and everyone else that he was willing to die for us. Love hurts. Love means making sacrifices that are painful. The question in every difficulty is: How much do we really love God? It's measured by how much we love those whom he loves.
When I think of the person I like least of all, it occurs to me that since Jesus suffered and sacrificed his life for that person, can't I at least be kind to him or her? When I think of all that I want to do with my life and remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to give it all up for God, can't I at least give up a portion of my life to serve God with my talents and money in the parish and the Internet and other places?
God is not asking much of us, not really. He's not asking us to die for him – although who knows? For some who are reading this reflection, that could be the glorious way they will go Home to him.
Is that a scary thought? When reading the lives of Saints who were martyred, I've wondered, "How could they die so joyfully?" Some of them were tortured terribly. How could they endure it so happily? The answer, I've noticed, is that God gave them special graces to do whatever they were called to do at the time they did it. If they were willing to say yes to dying for him, he gave them a supernatural joy like you and I have never experienced because we've never needed it. If he asks us to enter our own fiery furnaces, he will give us that same gift.
He helps us through every little martyrdom that we face. If we are willing to sacrifice a job or a promotion or a relationship or an easy life for the sake of standing firm in our love for God, then God gives us an extra dose of grace so that we can endure the hardship. We still feel pain (so did Jesus), but it's easier to bear when we're covered by grace.
Instead of saying no or serving grudgingly and sparingly with our money or ministry, we can say yes and expect God's help. Instead of hesitating because the task looks fearsome, we can say yes and receive supernatural grace to endure it. It's in the toughest of times that we spiritually grow the fastest, leaping into the life of Christ, getting through the pain of the cross all the way to the glory of the resurrection.
© 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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Have any complaints?
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 23, 2010
Today's Readings:
Numbers 21:4-9
Ps 102:2-3, 16-21
John 8:21-30
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/032310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_23.mp3
Have any complaints?
Think of the "pharisees" in your life, the unteachable people who are so sure they're right that their pride blinds them to their errors and sins. We all have some degree of phariseeism in our thoughts. Humility is the cure – taking an honest look at our fallibility to discover how we have strayed from God's love so that we can reconcile with him.
In today's first reading, the Israelites realized that their straying began when they complained. Pride tells us that it's right to complain because we know (as if we're God) that life should be perfect. Pride tells us that suffering is proof that we should grumble and complain rather than praise God. Pride makes us impatient for the Promised Land, which we will not reach unless we do a lot of growing first.
Growth is a product of suffering. Complaints are a product of pride.
The Israelites were saved from their pride when God provided a tool of repentance, the bronze serpent mounted on a pole, which foreshadowed the crucifixion of the Messiah. The serpent represented their sins, just as Jesus would one day accept all the world's sins upon himself and be "mounted" on the cross and raised up for all to see.
In today's Gospel reading, the Pharisees were so sure they had the right understanding of God that they failed to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. When people are that sure about hearing God correctly, they become offensive each time their understanding is challenged by reality. How do you handle this? Do you complain?
Analyze what you're saying when you complain. Complaining about people means we're condemning them. Complaining about a situation is condemning the God who allowed the situation to occur.
Look at how Jesus handled the Pharisees. He longed for them to hear and accept the truth. He could have condemned them, but instead he rested in the fact that the day would come when the truth would speak for itself.
If you feel like complaining, take your complaints to God and only to God, who understands your frustrations better than everyone else. Go to friends for good counsel, but don't drag them into the fray by making them complain, too. By venting your anger to God, your complaints will dissolve into his mercy. It won't be long until you lose interest in complaining. Does that happen when you vent with your friends?
Join me in making one more sacrifice for Lent. Let's sacrifice our complaints. Let's nail our complaining nature to the cross. Let's take a vow of silence rather than allow complaints to escape from our lips. God will resurrect us into a new life of peace and joy that lasts even when things go wrong.
© 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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Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 23, 2010
Today's Readings:
Numbers 21:4-9
Ps 102:2-3, 16-21
John 8:21-30
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/032310.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_23.mp3
Have any complaints?
Think of the "pharisees" in your life, the unteachable people who are so sure they're right that their pride blinds them to their errors and sins. We all have some degree of phariseeism in our thoughts. Humility is the cure – taking an honest look at our fallibility to discover how we have strayed from God's love so that we can reconcile with him.
In today's first reading, the Israelites realized that their straying began when they complained. Pride tells us that it's right to complain because we know (as if we're God) that life should be perfect. Pride tells us that suffering is proof that we should grumble and complain rather than praise God. Pride makes us impatient for the Promised Land, which we will not reach unless we do a lot of growing first.
Growth is a product of suffering. Complaints are a product of pride.
The Israelites were saved from their pride when God provided a tool of repentance, the bronze serpent mounted on a pole, which foreshadowed the crucifixion of the Messiah. The serpent represented their sins, just as Jesus would one day accept all the world's sins upon himself and be "mounted" on the cross and raised up for all to see.
In today's Gospel reading, the Pharisees were so sure they had the right understanding of God that they failed to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. When people are that sure about hearing God correctly, they become offensive each time their understanding is challenged by reality. How do you handle this? Do you complain?
Analyze what you're saying when you complain. Complaining about people means we're condemning them. Complaining about a situation is condemning the God who allowed the situation to occur.
Look at how Jesus handled the Pharisees. He longed for them to hear and accept the truth. He could have condemned them, but instead he rested in the fact that the day would come when the truth would speak for itself.
If you feel like complaining, take your complaints to God and only to God, who understands your frustrations better than everyone else. Go to friends for good counsel, but don't drag them into the fray by making them complain, too. By venting your anger to God, your complaints will dissolve into his mercy. It won't be long until you lose interest in complaining. Does that happen when you vent with your friends?
Join me in making one more sacrifice for Lent. Let's sacrifice our complaints. Let's nail our complaining nature to the cross. Let's take a vow of silence rather than allow complaints to escape from our lips. God will resurrect us into a new life of peace and joy that lasts even when things go wrong.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission.
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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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Shame, guilt, and mercy
Good News Reflection
Monday of the Fifth Week in Lent
March 22, 2010
Today's Readings:
Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
John 8:1-11
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/032210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_22.mp3
Shame, guilt, and mercy
Have you ever been accused unmercifully, like Susanna in today's first reading? Whether the accusation is true or false, we feel terribly invalidated, especially if it comes without forgiveness. Even when we've done nothing wrong, we need an attitude of mercy from our accuser or else the wound goes very deep.
Feeling remorseful for a genuine sin doesn't make it easier to endure the harsh reactions of others. Since we naturally prefer to look good in the eyes of others, especially when they treat us unmercifully, we defend ourselves and try to rationalize away our sins.
This happens because we're trying to protect ourselves from shame. Guilt is the honest awareness that we have sinned, which leads to remorse, which leads to healing. Shame is different. Shame belittles us and causes deeper wounds.
Only mercy can protect us from shame. Mercy validates our worth. Without it, we try to undo the shame by manipulating people into liking us and approving of us and affirming us. The more we sin, the more desperate we become for other people's approval. And the more desperate we become, the less remorse we feel for what we've done wrong, because remorse includes the feeling that we deserve disapproval.
To heal the wounds of shame, we must realize that our desire to repent and receive forgiveness has opened us to the mercy God and that his opinion of us is what matters most.
When we're accused falsely, we're at the mercy of others and they have rejected us. If their opinions matter to us, we hunger for affirmation. We defend ourselves and offend those who accused us. We convert our innocence into selfishness and pride and other unloving behavior.
To heal this wound we must know that we are embraced by the mercy of God.
No one can validate us like God can. He alone knows what's in our hearts. He alone loves us completely, no matter what we do. In him there is no shame; he has erased our guilt with Christ's blood on the cross. When we grasp the fidelity of God's mercy, we are freed from the self-protective need to be validated by people.
Shame is harmful but guilt is redemptive. Guilt without shame motivates us to repent. Repentance purifies us and helps us to grow in holiness. Holiness extends God's mercy to those around us. In holiness, we invite others to recognize their own guilt without shaming them into it. As we have received mercy, we give mercy, and so the world becomes a better place.
© 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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Monday of the Fifth Week in Lent
March 22, 2010
Today's Readings:
Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
Ps 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
John 8:1-11
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/032210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_22.mp3
Shame, guilt, and mercy
Have you ever been accused unmercifully, like Susanna in today's first reading? Whether the accusation is true or false, we feel terribly invalidated, especially if it comes without forgiveness. Even when we've done nothing wrong, we need an attitude of mercy from our accuser or else the wound goes very deep.
Feeling remorseful for a genuine sin doesn't make it easier to endure the harsh reactions of others. Since we naturally prefer to look good in the eyes of others, especially when they treat us unmercifully, we defend ourselves and try to rationalize away our sins.
This happens because we're trying to protect ourselves from shame. Guilt is the honest awareness that we have sinned, which leads to remorse, which leads to healing. Shame is different. Shame belittles us and causes deeper wounds.
Only mercy can protect us from shame. Mercy validates our worth. Without it, we try to undo the shame by manipulating people into liking us and approving of us and affirming us. The more we sin, the more desperate we become for other people's approval. And the more desperate we become, the less remorse we feel for what we've done wrong, because remorse includes the feeling that we deserve disapproval.
To heal the wounds of shame, we must realize that our desire to repent and receive forgiveness has opened us to the mercy God and that his opinion of us is what matters most.
When we're accused falsely, we're at the mercy of others and they have rejected us. If their opinions matter to us, we hunger for affirmation. We defend ourselves and offend those who accused us. We convert our innocence into selfishness and pride and other unloving behavior.
To heal this wound we must know that we are embraced by the mercy of God.
No one can validate us like God can. He alone knows what's in our hearts. He alone loves us completely, no matter what we do. In him there is no shame; he has erased our guilt with Christ's blood on the cross. When we grasp the fidelity of God's mercy, we are freed from the self-protective need to be validated by people.
Shame is harmful but guilt is redemptive. Guilt without shame motivates us to repent. Repentance purifies us and helps us to grow in holiness. Holiness extends God's mercy to those around us. In holiness, we invite others to recognize their own guilt without shaming them into it. As we have received mercy, we give mercy, and so the world becomes a better place.
© 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
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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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Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: March 28, 2010 Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle C
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, 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/Lent/PassionSunday.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Procession with Palms: Luke 19:28-40
Is 50:4-7
Ps (2a) 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Phil 2:6-11
Luke 22:14 -- 23:56
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_28.mp3
Palm Sunday begins the highest holy week of the liturgical year. Will it also begin in your life a high holy experience of uniting yourself to Jesus and to his awesome love?
There's a key phrase in the reading that we hear at the beginning of Passion Sunday Mass, during the Procession with Palms, which sums up this experience of your union with God: "The Master has need of it."
Why do you think the Gospel writer spent time explaining how Jesus obtained the colt for his ride into Jerusalem? It's meant to teach us something in our current circumstances. We each have a "colt" tied up somewhere in our lives. It's anything that belongs to us and is not yet being shared with Christ: It could be our possessions, money, talents and skills, creativity, time and energy, etc. The Master has need of it! But sometimes we selfishly tie these up with our own agendas and busyness. They would useful to Jesus if we let him have them. Like the colt that Jesus rode, they could become gifts that glorify our Savior.
Palm Sunday teaches us that he deserves to be glorified for his awesome love, which he made visible on the cross. Who else would die for you – with THAT much suffering? Jesus sacrificed his comfort and his body and blood to take the punishment that we deserve for our sins.
We should rejoice gratefully for this every Sunday with hosannas and admiration, for in the Eucharist we reunite ourselves to that tremendous love. In this communion, why aren't we grinning like lovers who have become joined to their beloved? The answer to that is: Our "colts" are still tied to the post.
Jesus has sent his disciples to you to ask you to share your "colt" with Jesus. They are at the altar consecrating the Eucharist for you. They are writing bulletin "help wanted" blurbs. They are interrupting you at work asking for your prayers or counsel or other assistance. They are the strangers who are in need of your charitable donations.
Who have you heard asking you to become more involved in the plans of God's kingdom?
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Make a list of the "colts" in your life. Which ones would you like Jesus to put to good use? Spend time in prayer imagining that you are untying them and handing them over to Jesus. See how pleased he is!
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Tell your group about a "colt" in your life that Jesus has need of. Why is it difficult to let go of the reins? How can giving control of it over to Jesus help him complete his Good Friday sacrifice in today's world?
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: March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, 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/Lent/PassionSunday.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Procession with Palms: Luke 19:28-40
Is 50:4-7
Ps (2a) 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Phil 2:6-11
Luke 22:14 -- 23:56
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_28.mp3
Palm Sunday begins the highest holy week of the liturgical year. Will it also begin in your life a high holy experience of uniting yourself to Jesus and to his awesome love?
There's a key phrase in the reading that we hear at the beginning of Passion Sunday Mass, during the Procession with Palms, which sums up this experience of your union with God: "The Master has need of it."
Why do you think the Gospel writer spent time explaining how Jesus obtained the colt for his ride into Jerusalem? It's meant to teach us something in our current circumstances. We each have a "colt" tied up somewhere in our lives. It's anything that belongs to us and is not yet being shared with Christ: It could be our possessions, money, talents and skills, creativity, time and energy, etc. The Master has need of it! But sometimes we selfishly tie these up with our own agendas and busyness. They would useful to Jesus if we let him have them. Like the colt that Jesus rode, they could become gifts that glorify our Savior.
Palm Sunday teaches us that he deserves to be glorified for his awesome love, which he made visible on the cross. Who else would die for you – with THAT much suffering? Jesus sacrificed his comfort and his body and blood to take the punishment that we deserve for our sins.
We should rejoice gratefully for this every Sunday with hosannas and admiration, for in the Eucharist we reunite ourselves to that tremendous love. In this communion, why aren't we grinning like lovers who have become joined to their beloved? The answer to that is: Our "colts" are still tied to the post.
Jesus has sent his disciples to you to ask you to share your "colt" with Jesus. They are at the altar consecrating the Eucharist for you. They are writing bulletin "help wanted" blurbs. They are interrupting you at work asking for your prayers or counsel or other assistance. They are the strangers who are in need of your charitable donations.
Who have you heard asking you to become more involved in the plans of God's kingdom?
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Make a list of the "colts" in your life. Which ones would you like Jesus to put to good use? Spend time in prayer imagining that you are untying them and handing them over to Jesus. See how pleased he is!
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Tell your group about a "colt" in your life that Jesus has need of. Why is it difficult to let go of the reins? How can giving control of it over to Jesus help him complete his Good Friday sacrifice in today's world?
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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Friday, March 19, 2010
Trust makes the cross bearable
Good News Reflection
Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 19, 2010
Today's Feast: Saint Joseph
Pray for husbands and fathers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Joseph.htm
Today's Readings:
2 Sam 7:4-5,12-14,16
Ps 89:2-5,27,29
Rom 4:13,16-18,22
Matt 1:16,18-21,24 or Luke 2:41-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_19.mp3
Trust makes the cross bearable
The Gospel reading for this feast day seems out of place in Lent. However, its lesson in trust is very apropos for facing the cross. In it, we see Joseph growing in his ability to trust God. How difficult it must have been to believe Mary's story! He didn't trust her when she tried to explain how she became pregnant. So, God sent him an angel in a dream.
Now, Joseph had to trust that his dream was not a product of his own imagination. Wouldn't it have been more convincing if the angel had appeared to him in person, the way Mary had been visited by an angel?
And yet, something about the dream triggered Joseph's faith. He believed what he heard in his sleep. I suspect, though, that a new doubt flooded him as soon as he believed the message of the dream. He might have wondered: "Who am I to raise the Messiah! I can't do this! I'm not worthy of this responsibility and I will make mistakes!"
Maybe the questions lingered only a second, or maybe he had to get down on his knees and go deep into prayer before he could feel God's assurance. Either way, he chose to trust God, which gave him the freedom to feel assured that God would help him take care of Mary and the child.
In today's first reading, David chose to trust that God would protect his throne forever. In the second reading, Paul reminds us that Abraham "hoped against hope" (which is the meaning of trust) that although he and his wife were well past their child-bearing years, he would become the father of a great nation as promised.
And Jesus had to trust that his death upon the cross – and all of its excruciating pain and the tortures before it – would lead to the glory of resurrection and the redemption of the world. During his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he begged the Father to protect him from the cross, he too, like Mary and Joseph, was visited by an angel who comforted him.
What sufferings are you enduring that could benefit from a visit by an angel? You have an angel who wants to comfort you and strengthen your trust.
To travel through the cross to resurrection, to move from pain to glory, trust is necessary. Without trusting that God will produce victory from even the worst, most discouraging situations, the pain becomes unbearable, because it all seems so pointless and destructive.
Trust God. Your resurrection glory has already been planned!
© 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 Fourth Week of Lent
March 19, 2010
Today's Feast: Saint Joseph
Pray for husbands and fathers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Joseph.htm
Today's Readings:
2 Sam 7:4-5,12-14,16
Ps 89:2-5,27,29
Rom 4:13,16-18,22
Matt 1:16,18-21,24 or Luke 2:41-51
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_19.mp3
Trust makes the cross bearable
The Gospel reading for this feast day seems out of place in Lent. However, its lesson in trust is very apropos for facing the cross. In it, we see Joseph growing in his ability to trust God. How difficult it must have been to believe Mary's story! He didn't trust her when she tried to explain how she became pregnant. So, God sent him an angel in a dream.
Now, Joseph had to trust that his dream was not a product of his own imagination. Wouldn't it have been more convincing if the angel had appeared to him in person, the way Mary had been visited by an angel?
And yet, something about the dream triggered Joseph's faith. He believed what he heard in his sleep. I suspect, though, that a new doubt flooded him as soon as he believed the message of the dream. He might have wondered: "Who am I to raise the Messiah! I can't do this! I'm not worthy of this responsibility and I will make mistakes!"
Maybe the questions lingered only a second, or maybe he had to get down on his knees and go deep into prayer before he could feel God's assurance. Either way, he chose to trust God, which gave him the freedom to feel assured that God would help him take care of Mary and the child.
In today's first reading, David chose to trust that God would protect his throne forever. In the second reading, Paul reminds us that Abraham "hoped against hope" (which is the meaning of trust) that although he and his wife were well past their child-bearing years, he would become the father of a great nation as promised.
And Jesus had to trust that his death upon the cross – and all of its excruciating pain and the tortures before it – would lead to the glory of resurrection and the redemption of the world. During his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he begged the Father to protect him from the cross, he too, like Mary and Joseph, was visited by an angel who comforted him.
What sufferings are you enduring that could benefit from a visit by an angel? You have an angel who wants to comfort you and strengthen your trust.
To travel through the cross to resurrection, to move from pain to glory, trust is necessary. Without trusting that God will produce victory from even the worst, most discouraging situations, the pain becomes unbearable, because it all seems so pointless and destructive.
Trust God. Your resurrection glory has already been planned!
© 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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How bright is your light?
Good News Reflection
Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent
March 18, 2010
Today's Readings:
Exodus 32:7-14
Ps 106:19-23
John 5:31-47
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_18.mp3
How bright is your light?
How strong is your Christian testimony? Does your life testify to the truth of God – not just your words, but the way you live your life? Does your life reflect the light of Christ so much that it brightens the darkness in others?
Today's Gospel reading explains that Jesus was persecuted because he spoke the truth uncompromisingly, and because his whole life was a testimony to that truth. A barometer of how well our lives reflect his is whether or not we're being persecuted. When we are truly shining as light in the darkness, those who prefer the darkness react against us. Their eyes need time to adjust.
Think of how you react when you're sleeping in a dark room and someone turns on the lights. Do you smile and say, "Thank you"? Not most of us. Startled, we react with hatred for the light, even if we know it's time to wake up.
When your life testifies to the truth of God, the light of Christ in you startles people out of their sleep. They will bury themselves deeper under the covers of their darkness, because it feels like a security blanket. But your continual light will seep through even the thickest blanket fibers. Then, if they really want to remain in darkness, they will try to find a way to shut off your light. Stand strong but take your bright light elsewhere. Give them time to adjust their vision. Keep praying for them. Keep loving them. Eventually, the darkness will cause them to stumble and their sufferings will make them want to change.
In the meanwhile, what should we do with the sufferings we endure from persecutions? Do we want to join our persecutors in the darkness by fighting back unlovingly. Do we protect ourselves through compromise, forsaking the truth? Do we try to cope by complaining?
We will find peace and healing only by taking our complaints to God (and him alone) and by focusing on how the persecutions are uniting us to Christ.
Like Jesus, we can offer our sufferings as a sacrifice for those who live in darkness. Jesus did not overcome his persecutors by defending himself. Rather, he trusted that his sufferings would eventually conquer the darkness. We can do this, too. The love we have for our persecutors and the union we have with Jesus will make a difference. Our patient endurance will help the eyes of those in darkness to adjust to the light so that their hearts will finally accept the truth.
If you're not being persecuted for your faith, your light's not shining very brightly. But if your light is that bright, appreciate how good this is and rejoice in it! The truth is worth being persecuted for. It's a sign that your life is filled with Christ.
© 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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Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent
March 18, 2010
Today's Readings:
Exodus 32:7-14
Ps 106:19-23
John 5:31-47
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_18.mp3
How bright is your light?
How strong is your Christian testimony? Does your life testify to the truth of God – not just your words, but the way you live your life? Does your life reflect the light of Christ so much that it brightens the darkness in others?
Today's Gospel reading explains that Jesus was persecuted because he spoke the truth uncompromisingly, and because his whole life was a testimony to that truth. A barometer of how well our lives reflect his is whether or not we're being persecuted. When we are truly shining as light in the darkness, those who prefer the darkness react against us. Their eyes need time to adjust.
Think of how you react when you're sleeping in a dark room and someone turns on the lights. Do you smile and say, "Thank you"? Not most of us. Startled, we react with hatred for the light, even if we know it's time to wake up.
When your life testifies to the truth of God, the light of Christ in you startles people out of their sleep. They will bury themselves deeper under the covers of their darkness, because it feels like a security blanket. But your continual light will seep through even the thickest blanket fibers. Then, if they really want to remain in darkness, they will try to find a way to shut off your light. Stand strong but take your bright light elsewhere. Give them time to adjust their vision. Keep praying for them. Keep loving them. Eventually, the darkness will cause them to stumble and their sufferings will make them want to change.
In the meanwhile, what should we do with the sufferings we endure from persecutions? Do we want to join our persecutors in the darkness by fighting back unlovingly. Do we protect ourselves through compromise, forsaking the truth? Do we try to cope by complaining?
We will find peace and healing only by taking our complaints to God (and him alone) and by focusing on how the persecutions are uniting us to Christ.
Like Jesus, we can offer our sufferings as a sacrifice for those who live in darkness. Jesus did not overcome his persecutors by defending himself. Rather, he trusted that his sufferings would eventually conquer the darkness. We can do this, too. The love we have for our persecutors and the union we have with Jesus will make a difference. Our patient endurance will help the eyes of those in darkness to adjust to the light so that their hearts will finally accept the truth.
If you're not being persecuted for your faith, your light's not shining very brightly. But if your light is that bright, appreciate how good this is and rejoice in it! The truth is worth being persecuted for. It's a sign that your life is filled with Christ.
© 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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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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Has God ever let you down?
Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 17, 2010
Today's Saint: Patrick
Pray for unity:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Patrick.htm
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 49:8-15
Ps 145:8-9,13-14,17-18
John 5:17-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_17.mp3
Has God ever let you down?
Is this you? "Sometimes it feels like God has let me down. Forgotten my needs. Forsaken me."
Our feelings cannot be trusted to speak the truth to us. Today's first reading assures us that God will never never (and again I say never!) stop caring about us and doing good for us. Mothers have strong, instinctive bonds with their children, but suppose a mother does forget her child? God has a much better memory. And you, dear one, are his very precious child!
Read Isaiah's words personalized for you. This is your Father speaking directly to you about you:
"What are your prayer requests? In a time of favor (divinely perfect timing) I answer you. What failures and sins and mistakes have destroyed your life? I will restore your land (your life). What addictions or injustices are imprisoning you? I am saying to you: Come out! Why are you lingering in the darkness of evil? Come into my light and show yourself!
"Do you need rest and nourishment? Along the ways that I guide you, you shall find pastures where you will be refreshed. But only if you let me lead you and stop insisting that we try it your way.
"Blessed are you if you hunger or thirst, for you shall have your fill. Let me tell you about those hard times that are drying up your life: The scorching wind and the sun shall not strike you down. I feel sorry for you. Let me lead you and guide you beside springs of water, the powerfully healing waters of my Holy Spirit. I will cut a road through mountains and make the highways level so that you won't become too weary on the road that you travel with me, and you will know which way to go.
"Sing out and rejoice, break forth into song! For I the Lord am comforting you! I show mercy to the afflicted!"
In today's Gospel passage, look at the intimacy between the Father and the Son. Look at how one speaks for the other. Notice how Jesus, even while in human flesh, does nothing apart from his divine Father. Look at how the only thing that really matters to Jesus is doing the will of his Father. Look at how the Father supplies to Jesus everything that he needs.
Look again at Isaiah's reading. You are just as important to the Father as Jesus is! He completely loves you, his adopted child, no less than his begotten Son! It's impossible for him to love you or anyone incompletely.
How well do you know your Father? If you still think he has ever let you down, you don't really know him. He is unlike any human father you've known; he is the Perfect Father.
© 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
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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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Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 17, 2010
Today's Saint: Patrick
Pray for unity:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Patrick.htm
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 49:8-15
Ps 145:8-9,13-14,17-18
John 5:17-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_17.mp3
Has God ever let you down?
Is this you? "Sometimes it feels like God has let me down. Forgotten my needs. Forsaken me."
Our feelings cannot be trusted to speak the truth to us. Today's first reading assures us that God will never never (and again I say never!) stop caring about us and doing good for us. Mothers have strong, instinctive bonds with their children, but suppose a mother does forget her child? God has a much better memory. And you, dear one, are his very precious child!
Read Isaiah's words personalized for you. This is your Father speaking directly to you about you:
"What are your prayer requests? In a time of favor (divinely perfect timing) I answer you. What failures and sins and mistakes have destroyed your life? I will restore your land (your life). What addictions or injustices are imprisoning you? I am saying to you: Come out! Why are you lingering in the darkness of evil? Come into my light and show yourself!
"Do you need rest and nourishment? Along the ways that I guide you, you shall find pastures where you will be refreshed. But only if you let me lead you and stop insisting that we try it your way.
"Blessed are you if you hunger or thirst, for you shall have your fill. Let me tell you about those hard times that are drying up your life: The scorching wind and the sun shall not strike you down. I feel sorry for you. Let me lead you and guide you beside springs of water, the powerfully healing waters of my Holy Spirit. I will cut a road through mountains and make the highways level so that you won't become too weary on the road that you travel with me, and you will know which way to go.
"Sing out and rejoice, break forth into song! For I the Lord am comforting you! I show mercy to the afflicted!"
In today's Gospel passage, look at the intimacy between the Father and the Son. Look at how one speaks for the other. Notice how Jesus, even while in human flesh, does nothing apart from his divine Father. Look at how the only thing that really matters to Jesus is doing the will of his Father. Look at how the Father supplies to Jesus everything that he needs.
Look again at Isaiah's reading. You are just as important to the Father as Jesus is! He completely loves you, his adopted child, no less than his begotten Son! It's impossible for him to love you or anyone incompletely.
How well do you know your Father? If you still think he has ever let you down, you don't really know him. He is unlike any human father you've known; he is the Perfect Father.
© 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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What needs healing the most?
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 16, 2010
Today's Readings:
Ezek 47:1-9, 12
Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
John 5:1-3, 5-16
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_16.mp3
What needs healing the most?
In scripture, flowing water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus, today's first reading tells us that wherever the Holy Spirit flows, the people thrive and their faith multiplies and spreads. We need the flow of God's Spirit in our lives to overcome stubborn sinful tendencies and to become distributors of true faith.
This is more important than the healing of our bodies. In the Gospel passage, Jesus connects healing to holiness: "You have been cured. Give up your sins so that something worse may not overtake you." He is less concerned about the man's physical well-being as he is his spiritual health.
I could tell you many stories about miraculous healings that I've experienced or witnessed, but is this really what matters? Often, while focusing on our need for physical healings, we forget to ask the Holy Spirit to help us with our need for spiritual healings. We want easy cures, not the painful work of purification.
Often, physical ailments are the results of spiritual ailments. However, even when there is no direct correlation between sin and illness, we must always remember that the need for physical healing – while important – is a lesser priority than the healing of our souls. At the time of death, we will leave behind the illnesses of the flesh, but we will carry the ailments of our souls into eternity, thus requiring purgatory for the completion of our healing.
The more we work on developing our holiness here and now, the healthier our souls become. Observe the alternative: By requesting a physical miracle without giving up our sins, something worse overtakes us: Our souls deteriorate, our lives fall apart, and we live in misery and loneliness. We blame others for our ills and brood in self-pity ("Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; someone else gets there before me.")
Every Mass holds lots of multiple opportunities for healing. The prayers, the scriptures, the community with whom we gather, and the Eucharist all provide healing. The cure begins when we identify our sins and seek forgiveness. It reaches the high point when we earnestly declare, "Lord! I am indeed not worthy, but say the word, say yes to my repentance, and I truly shall be healed!"
The Eucharist is a communion with the Body of Christ, which means it heals division and brokenness within the Body of Christ, which means that to experience unity with Christ we must first forgive those who have sinned against us.
Thus our souls are healed by the time Mass ends. Every Mass is a healing service. Every moment of Mass is an encounter with Jesus the Healer through the power of the Holy Spirit who helps us overcome our sinful tendencies and leads us deeper into holiness.
© 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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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 16, 2010
Today's Readings:
Ezek 47:1-9, 12
Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
John 5:1-3, 5-16
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_16.mp3
What needs healing the most?
In scripture, flowing water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus, today's first reading tells us that wherever the Holy Spirit flows, the people thrive and their faith multiplies and spreads. We need the flow of God's Spirit in our lives to overcome stubborn sinful tendencies and to become distributors of true faith.
This is more important than the healing of our bodies. In the Gospel passage, Jesus connects healing to holiness: "You have been cured. Give up your sins so that something worse may not overtake you." He is less concerned about the man's physical well-being as he is his spiritual health.
I could tell you many stories about miraculous healings that I've experienced or witnessed, but is this really what matters? Often, while focusing on our need for physical healings, we forget to ask the Holy Spirit to help us with our need for spiritual healings. We want easy cures, not the painful work of purification.
Often, physical ailments are the results of spiritual ailments. However, even when there is no direct correlation between sin and illness, we must always remember that the need for physical healing – while important – is a lesser priority than the healing of our souls. At the time of death, we will leave behind the illnesses of the flesh, but we will carry the ailments of our souls into eternity, thus requiring purgatory for the completion of our healing.
The more we work on developing our holiness here and now, the healthier our souls become. Observe the alternative: By requesting a physical miracle without giving up our sins, something worse overtakes us: Our souls deteriorate, our lives fall apart, and we live in misery and loneliness. We blame others for our ills and brood in self-pity ("Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; someone else gets there before me.")
Every Mass holds lots of multiple opportunities for healing. The prayers, the scriptures, the community with whom we gather, and the Eucharist all provide healing. The cure begins when we identify our sins and seek forgiveness. It reaches the high point when we earnestly declare, "Lord! I am indeed not worthy, but say the word, say yes to my repentance, and I truly shall be healed!"
The Eucharist is a communion with the Body of Christ, which means it heals division and brokenness within the Body of Christ, which means that to experience unity with Christ we must first forgive those who have sinned against us.
Thus our souls are healed by the time Mass ends. Every Mass is a healing service. Every moment of Mass is an encounter with Jesus the Healer through the power of the Holy Spirit who helps us overcome our sinful tendencies and leads us deeper into holiness.
© 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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Trust in what God has said
Good News Reflection
Monday of the Fourth Week in Lent
March 15, 2010
Today's Saint: Louise de Marillac
Pray for the needy:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/LouiseMarillac.htm
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 65:17-21
Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
John 4:43-54
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/031510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_15.mp3
Trust in what God has said
Today's Gospel passage shows us a contrast between true believers and non-believers. Jesus wants us to trust in his words instead of looking for undoubtable signs. When the royal official put his trust in what Jesus said to him, he became a true believer. We, however, often put our trust in the idea that "seeing is believing."
To have strong faith and to overcome doubts, we have to choose to trust what God has told us in his Word, rather than rely on what we can see. Those whose faith depends on visible proof are easily shaken when misfortunes and trials come along.
For example, do we make the sign of the cross at the end of a prayer because we think this gives it more power? It's much better to make the sign of the cross with our lives by trusting what God has said. Our prayer power comes from our unity with Christ, not from a hand gesture.
God speaks to us clearly in scripture and in Church teachings, which explain how to apply the scriptures to our lives. There's no reason to be uncertain.
Have you ever considered responding to a call from God but you waited for a sign before saying yes? Usually we get the sign but we doubt it's from God because we don't like the answer, so we wait for another sign.
When we're praying for an end to troubles that others are causing us, we get impatient looking for a sign that God will knock them to the ground with a bolt of Holy Spirit lightning! We should be spending the time, instead, researching what God's Word teaches about loving the troublemakers and finding peace by letting go of anger and frustration through unconditional forgiveness.
When we want God to prove his love for us by giving us the miracles we seek, we're not trusting what scripture says about him. We want God to do our bidding as a sign of his concern for us. But only by trusting in his promises can we understand and appreciate that he has a better, although still unknown, plan.
If we insist on seeing signs and wonders, we're telling God what conditions he must meet to satisfy us. We're rejecting his superior knowledge, daring to presume that we know better than he does about what's good for us.
Trust doesn't make sense. Signs and wonders make sense. We prefer things to make sense, but then we don't need faith. It's far better to trust, because trust opens our faith, and faith paves the way for real signs and wonders – signs and wonders that are not proof of God's love but are pure gifts!
© 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 in Lent
March 15, 2010
Today's Saint: Louise de Marillac
Pray for the needy:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/LouiseMarillac.htm
Today's Readings:
Isaiah 65:17-21
Ps 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
John 4:43-54
http:/www.usccb.org/nab/031510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_15.mp3
Trust in what God has said
Today's Gospel passage shows us a contrast between true believers and non-believers. Jesus wants us to trust in his words instead of looking for undoubtable signs. When the royal official put his trust in what Jesus said to him, he became a true believer. We, however, often put our trust in the idea that "seeing is believing."
To have strong faith and to overcome doubts, we have to choose to trust what God has told us in his Word, rather than rely on what we can see. Those whose faith depends on visible proof are easily shaken when misfortunes and trials come along.
For example, do we make the sign of the cross at the end of a prayer because we think this gives it more power? It's much better to make the sign of the cross with our lives by trusting what God has said. Our prayer power comes from our unity with Christ, not from a hand gesture.
God speaks to us clearly in scripture and in Church teachings, which explain how to apply the scriptures to our lives. There's no reason to be uncertain.
Have you ever considered responding to a call from God but you waited for a sign before saying yes? Usually we get the sign but we doubt it's from God because we don't like the answer, so we wait for another sign.
When we're praying for an end to troubles that others are causing us, we get impatient looking for a sign that God will knock them to the ground with a bolt of Holy Spirit lightning! We should be spending the time, instead, researching what God's Word teaches about loving the troublemakers and finding peace by letting go of anger and frustration through unconditional forgiveness.
When we want God to prove his love for us by giving us the miracles we seek, we're not trusting what scripture says about him. We want God to do our bidding as a sign of his concern for us. But only by trusting in his promises can we understand and appreciate that he has a better, although still unknown, plan.
If we insist on seeing signs and wonders, we're telling God what conditions he must meet to satisfy us. We're rejecting his superior knowledge, daring to presume that we know better than he does about what's good for us.
Trust doesn't make sense. Signs and wonders make sense. We prefer things to make sense, but then we don't need faith. It's far better to trust, because trust opens our faith, and faith paves the way for real signs and wonders – signs and wonders that are not proof of God's love but are pure gifts!
© 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: March 21, 2010 FOR NEXT SUNDAY: March 21, 2010
Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: March 21, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Lent, 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/Lent/Lent5.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Ps 126:1-6
Phil 3:8-14
John 8:1-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_21.mp3
Next Sunday's Gospel reading shows us a good example of how to treat someone who is, as Jesus says elsewhere in scripture (Matt. 25) "the least of these." The recipient of Christ's compassion in this story was considered to be unworthy of life itself. She was a woman, which in her society meant she was inferior to men. She was a sinner and deserved punishment. She was one single person facing a condemning crowd alone. How much more of a "least" one could anyone be?
When have you felt alone and insignificant? Perhaps you've faced a condemning crowd. Then again, have you ever treated others as if they're not important? Yes, none of us can cast the first stone.
There are many in the Church who feel forgotten and neglected. We all know some of them. If we're already busy in parish or diocesan ministry or in our own personal lives, seeking them out and giving them attention feels too overwhelming. These people become too insignificant to warrant the expense of our time, the development of resources, and the sacrifice of our personal comfort.
If the diseased and suffering have pain that we don't know how to handle, we look away. Catholics with broken marriages often feel condemned, and many who could be receiving Communion stay away because they've been misinformed about the Church's rules, and no one is reaching out to lead them back. And although the Church has been stopping abuses against children, often the lustful or abusive treatment of adults is never addressed, because they are dismissed as "less vulnerable" – they are of least concern.
Sometimes, secular institutions are better at responding to the needs of "the least of these" than us Christians! Identifying the least among us and reaching out to them is a good Lenten exercise.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Which persons are you neglecting because their situation makes you feel uncomfortable or inadequate? Which members of your family or parish do you avoid because you like them "least" of all? Begin to give them compassionate attention by praying for them, then discern if the Lord is inspiring you to do anything more.
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Share the story of a time when you encountered – or were – one of "the least of these". Did anyone show compassion? How? Where was Jesus?
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
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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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FOR NEXT SUNDAY: March 21, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Lent, 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/Lent/Lent5.htm - Preview a sample
Next Sunday's Readings:
Isaiah 43:16-21
Ps 126:1-6
Phil 3:8-14
John 8:1-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_21.mp3
Next Sunday's Gospel reading shows us a good example of how to treat someone who is, as Jesus says elsewhere in scripture (Matt. 25) "the least of these." The recipient of Christ's compassion in this story was considered to be unworthy of life itself. She was a woman, which in her society meant she was inferior to men. She was a sinner and deserved punishment. She was one single person facing a condemning crowd alone. How much more of a "least" one could anyone be?
When have you felt alone and insignificant? Perhaps you've faced a condemning crowd. Then again, have you ever treated others as if they're not important? Yes, none of us can cast the first stone.
There are many in the Church who feel forgotten and neglected. We all know some of them. If we're already busy in parish or diocesan ministry or in our own personal lives, seeking them out and giving them attention feels too overwhelming. These people become too insignificant to warrant the expense of our time, the development of resources, and the sacrifice of our personal comfort.
If the diseased and suffering have pain that we don't know how to handle, we look away. Catholics with broken marriages often feel condemned, and many who could be receiving Communion stay away because they've been misinformed about the Church's rules, and no one is reaching out to lead them back. And although the Church has been stopping abuses against children, often the lustful or abusive treatment of adults is never addressed, because they are dismissed as "less vulnerable" – they are of least concern.
Sometimes, secular institutions are better at responding to the needs of "the least of these" than us Christians! Identifying the least among us and reaching out to them is a good Lenten exercise.
Questions for Personal Reflection:
Which persons are you neglecting because their situation makes you feel uncomfortable or inadequate? Which members of your family or parish do you avoid because you like them "least" of all? Begin to give them compassionate attention by praying for them, then discern if the Lord is inspiring you to do anything more.
Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Share the story of a time when you encountered – or were – one of "the least of these". Did anyone show compassion? How? Where was Jesus?
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, March 12, 2010
To love your neighbor, first love yourself
Good News Reflection
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
March 12, 2010
Today's Readings:
Hosea 14:2-10
Ps 81:6-11, 14, 17
Mark 12:28-34
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_12.mp3
To love your neighbor, first love yourself
All of Jesus' teachings can be summed up in today's Gospel reading: "Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." When we love God fully, we can't help but love everyone else – even the "neighbors" who make our lives difficult.
Think of the person you love the most. Is it the one who's the easiest to serve? Do you enjoy doing good deeds for him or her more than for anyone else? This generous love is a reflection of your love for God.
Now think of the person you love the least. Is it someone you refuse to serve because of how he or she has hurt you? This is also a reflection of your love – or lack of it – for God.
Jesus never said that we have to enjoy doing good to our enemies. Hey, he didn't like being whipped and manhandled and jabbed and mocked and crucified, but that didn't stop him from offering himself as a sacrifice for you and for me and for the people we dislike. Since he did that for us, we can at least do small deeds of goodness that are no fun to do?
Love means choosing to do good whether we like it or not. To love with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength means choosing to let nothing prevent us from doing good, no matter how we might actually feel about it.
Love is not always a nice feeling. But love is always a choice that brings us into unity with the One Who Is Love.
As noted in today's first reading, we sin when we stumble in our treatment of others. Then, when we ask God to forgive our iniquity, we blossom spiritually like beautiful lilies and we bear good fruit.
However, we are not capable of loving others more than we love ourselves. Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Loving ourselves and doing good for ourselves to get our needs met gives us the confidence and freedom we need to do good to others, especially when life is difficult.
Low self esteem is not God's plan for you. Let him heal your wounded heart. Let him correct bad messages that have cut you down. Let him point out your goodness and giftedness. Spend time observing yourself through his eyes. Pay attention to how much he appreciates you. He sees your goodness even when you can't.
God loves you with his whole heart, his whole soul, his whole mind, and his whole strength!
© 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 of the Third Week of Lent
March 12, 2010
Today's Readings:
Hosea 14:2-10
Ps 81:6-11, 14, 17
Mark 12:28-34
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031210.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_12.mp3
To love your neighbor, first love yourself
All of Jesus' teachings can be summed up in today's Gospel reading: "Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." When we love God fully, we can't help but love everyone else – even the "neighbors" who make our lives difficult.
Think of the person you love the most. Is it the one who's the easiest to serve? Do you enjoy doing good deeds for him or her more than for anyone else? This generous love is a reflection of your love for God.
Now think of the person you love the least. Is it someone you refuse to serve because of how he or she has hurt you? This is also a reflection of your love – or lack of it – for God.
Jesus never said that we have to enjoy doing good to our enemies. Hey, he didn't like being whipped and manhandled and jabbed and mocked and crucified, but that didn't stop him from offering himself as a sacrifice for you and for me and for the people we dislike. Since he did that for us, we can at least do small deeds of goodness that are no fun to do?
Love means choosing to do good whether we like it or not. To love with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength means choosing to let nothing prevent us from doing good, no matter how we might actually feel about it.
Love is not always a nice feeling. But love is always a choice that brings us into unity with the One Who Is Love.
As noted in today's first reading, we sin when we stumble in our treatment of others. Then, when we ask God to forgive our iniquity, we blossom spiritually like beautiful lilies and we bear good fruit.
However, we are not capable of loving others more than we love ourselves. Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Loving ourselves and doing good for ourselves to get our needs met gives us the confidence and freedom we need to do good to others, especially when life is difficult.
Low self esteem is not God's plan for you. Let him heal your wounded heart. Let him correct bad messages that have cut you down. Let him point out your goodness and giftedness. Spend time observing yourself through his eyes. Pay attention to how much he appreciates you. He sees your goodness even when you can't.
God loves you with his whole heart, his whole soul, his whole mind, and his whole strength!
© 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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How to overcome divisions
Good News Reflection
Thursday of the Third Week in Lent
March 11, 2010
Today's Readings:
Jeremiah 7:23-28
Ps 95:1-2,6-9
Luke 11:14-23
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_11.mp3
How to overcome divisions
Today's Lenten challenge is embodied in the words of Jesus in today's Gospel passage: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
There is no neutral ground. No fence to straddle. Whenever we fail to fully cooperate with Jesus, we are working (to some degree) against his perfect plans, against his strategies for spreading the kingdom of God, and against his attempts to answer other people's prayers.
If we neglect the needs of others, if we ignore the sufferings of even the least significant people around us, if we refuse to love those whom he loves, we are working against Jesus.
Wow.
Are there divisions in your family or parish or rectory or religious order or ministry? Every division is more than just person against person, faction against faction. It's an act against Jesus and it scatters people away from the path that he has paved for them. Jesus says, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. Any house torn by dissension falls."
However, through God's resurrection power, all divisions can become great opportunities for new and stronger unity – IF both factions choose to reconcile and to handle the problems God's way.
What if you're willing, but others in a divisive situation have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks (as described in today's first reading)? The division might not end in your lifetime, but God will bless you and heal your heart and strengthen your holiness.
To receive this healing, we have to hear God's voice and harden not our hearts (as it says in today's responsorial Psalm) when others make reconciliation difficult or impossible. Condemnation and vengeful anger work against God's plans, so instead of adding to the wall of division, we take pity on our enemies and pray for them and stand beside Jesus, ready and eager to be conduits of his merciful love if and when opportunities arise.
Sometimes for the sake of safety or emotional and spiritual health, we have to separate ourselves from others when they refuse to cooperate with reconciliation. This breakup is not a sin, regardless of how long the division continues, that is, IF we listen for God's voice, soften our hearts, and choose to lovingly do good for our enemies.
Loving those from whom we're divided means that we don't decide how to treat them based on how they treat us nor on what we think they deserve. Instead, we give them what they're ready to receive from Jesus through us. That's how to have unity even in the midst of divisions!
© 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 in Lent
March 11, 2010
Today's Readings:
Jeremiah 7:23-28
Ps 95:1-2,6-9
Luke 11:14-23
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031110.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_11.mp3
How to overcome divisions
Today's Lenten challenge is embodied in the words of Jesus in today's Gospel passage: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
There is no neutral ground. No fence to straddle. Whenever we fail to fully cooperate with Jesus, we are working (to some degree) against his perfect plans, against his strategies for spreading the kingdom of God, and against his attempts to answer other people's prayers.
If we neglect the needs of others, if we ignore the sufferings of even the least significant people around us, if we refuse to love those whom he loves, we are working against Jesus.
Wow.
Are there divisions in your family or parish or rectory or religious order or ministry? Every division is more than just person against person, faction against faction. It's an act against Jesus and it scatters people away from the path that he has paved for them. Jesus says, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. Any house torn by dissension falls."
However, through God's resurrection power, all divisions can become great opportunities for new and stronger unity – IF both factions choose to reconcile and to handle the problems God's way.
What if you're willing, but others in a divisive situation have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks (as described in today's first reading)? The division might not end in your lifetime, but God will bless you and heal your heart and strengthen your holiness.
To receive this healing, we have to hear God's voice and harden not our hearts (as it says in today's responsorial Psalm) when others make reconciliation difficult or impossible. Condemnation and vengeful anger work against God's plans, so instead of adding to the wall of division, we take pity on our enemies and pray for them and stand beside Jesus, ready and eager to be conduits of his merciful love if and when opportunities arise.
Sometimes for the sake of safety or emotional and spiritual health, we have to separate ourselves from others when they refuse to cooperate with reconciliation. This breakup is not a sin, regardless of how long the division continues, that is, IF we listen for God's voice, soften our hearts, and choose to lovingly do good for our enemies.
Loving those from whom we're divided means that we don't decide how to treat them based on how they treat us nor on what we think they deserve. Instead, we give them what they're ready to receive from Jesus through us. That's how to have unity even in the midst of divisions!
© 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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The way of holiness
Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
March 10, 2010
Today's Saint: Dominic Savio
Pray for the children:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/DominicSavio.htm
Today's Readings:
Deut 4:1, 5-9
Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Matt 5:17-19
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_10.mp3
The way of holiness
How often have you heard: "It's okay if I do this or that, even though I'm not supposed to. God understands. He loves me anyway." For example: "It's okay if I swear. It's only words. God understands that I've had a really bad day." Or "It's okay if I had an abortion. I don't believe it was a real person yet. And God understands my reasons."
In today's first reading, Moses emphasized how important it is to observe (obey) the decrees of God. He said: "Observe them carefully...." Well, what if someone wants to claim ignorance as an alibi? For example: "I don't see how abortion can be breaking God's commandment of 'Do not kill,' because the fetus is not a real person yet."
God has made his commands known to us. He speaks to us in the scriptures and, in the Catholic tradition of Christianity, through the teachings of the Magisterium, which are carefully based on the scriptures to explain how to apply the scriptures to modern situations.
So why does God's will sometimes get muddy and messy? Because we convince ourselves that a sin isn't really a sin. Saying that a fetus isn't a person doesn't make it a blob of meaningless tissue. Saying that God understands doesn't make him approve of what we do.
Jesus warns us in today's Gospel reading that "whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of God." Although we've been saved from hell because we know that Jesus has redeemed us through the cross, we are not saved from eternal repercussions if we cling to disobedience through excuses and rationalizations.
Which sin is worse: swearing or having an abortion? It doesn't matter. Jesus says, "Whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so...." What are we teaching by our examples? We never sin alone. How terrible to enable others to sin by being lazy in our own holiness!
Here's a morning prayer for submitting ourselves to God's holy will:
Lord, here I am today.
Imperfect. Sinful.
Not loving You as I desire,
not loving others as I should.
Take me as I am.
You do love me as I am!
You are so good to me!
Help me to love myself, too.
Take what is good – the gifts
You have given to me –
and use it for Your kingdom.
Take what is imperfect
and transform it into a blessing.
Take what is sinful
and teach me to grow in holiness.
Lord, here I am today.
Help me to do Your will.
© 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 Lent
March 10, 2010
Today's Saint: Dominic Savio
Pray for the children:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/DominicSavio.htm
Today's Readings:
Deut 4:1, 5-9
Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Matt 5:17-19
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_10.mp3
The way of holiness
How often have you heard: "It's okay if I do this or that, even though I'm not supposed to. God understands. He loves me anyway." For example: "It's okay if I swear. It's only words. God understands that I've had a really bad day." Or "It's okay if I had an abortion. I don't believe it was a real person yet. And God understands my reasons."
In today's first reading, Moses emphasized how important it is to observe (obey) the decrees of God. He said: "Observe them carefully...." Well, what if someone wants to claim ignorance as an alibi? For example: "I don't see how abortion can be breaking God's commandment of 'Do not kill,' because the fetus is not a real person yet."
God has made his commands known to us. He speaks to us in the scriptures and, in the Catholic tradition of Christianity, through the teachings of the Magisterium, which are carefully based on the scriptures to explain how to apply the scriptures to modern situations.
So why does God's will sometimes get muddy and messy? Because we convince ourselves that a sin isn't really a sin. Saying that a fetus isn't a person doesn't make it a blob of meaningless tissue. Saying that God understands doesn't make him approve of what we do.
Jesus warns us in today's Gospel reading that "whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of God." Although we've been saved from hell because we know that Jesus has redeemed us through the cross, we are not saved from eternal repercussions if we cling to disobedience through excuses and rationalizations.
Which sin is worse: swearing or having an abortion? It doesn't matter. Jesus says, "Whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so...." What are we teaching by our examples? We never sin alone. How terrible to enable others to sin by being lazy in our own holiness!
Here's a morning prayer for submitting ourselves to God's holy will:
Lord, here I am today.
Imperfect. Sinful.
Not loving You as I desire,
not loving others as I should.
Take me as I am.
You do love me as I am!
You are so good to me!
Help me to love myself, too.
Take what is good – the gifts
You have given to me –
and use it for Your kingdom.
Take what is imperfect
and transform it into a blessing.
Take what is sinful
and teach me to grow in holiness.
Lord, here I am today.
Help me to do Your will.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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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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How much mercy do you want?
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
March 9, 2010
Today's Saint: Frances of Rome
Pray for unbelieving spouses:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/FrancisRome.htm
Today's Readings:
Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Ps 25:4-9
Matt 18:21-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_09.mp3
How much mercy do you want?
Giving forgiveness is necessary for receiving forgiveness, Jesus says in today's Gospel reading. We need to take an honest look at the areas of unforgiveness that we're still holding onto, so that we can let go of them and open ourselves fully to God's mercy.
Do you think God cannot or will not forgive a particular sin you've committed? Do you repeatedly confess the same past sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, even though you haven't repeated the sin itself? If so, you're holding a grudge against yourself and you're closing yourself off from the mercy God's already giving to you.
Do you hate yourself for your sinfulness and failures? Are you jealous of those who seem holier or better than you? Then you're not being merciful toward yourself, and God's mercy cannot touch you, although you long for it.
Do you think God isn't forgiving the sins of those who have hurt you the most? Are you quick to complain about others? Is your anger interfering with a joyful, holy life? Then you're holding grudges. Righteous anger focuses on the injustices of sin and hopes for the sinner's repentance; sinful anger focuses on revenge and retaliation and hopes for the sinner's demise.
Forgiveness doesn't mean condoning a sin, nor does it mean permitting the sin to continue. Choosing to forgive (it's a decision, not a feeling) is a spiritual un-corking of our hearts so that unforgiveness no longer blocks the love that's trying to get in. Either we're clogged up with grudges and fear or we're open to giving and receiving love. Giving love to those who aren't loving us frees us to receive God's perfect love, which is infinitely greater.
St. Peter Chrysologus said: "If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery .... You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others."
If we want God's mercy after we sin, we have to give mercy whenever someone sins against us. If we refuse to give mercy to others – if we complain rather than reach out with love, if we seek revenge instead of offering to help – we're not open to God's mercy.
God never denies us his love; he cares all the time, no matter what! But for us to receive mercy, we have to be a bottle with a hole at both ends – God's mercy flows out of us to others so that more mercy can flow into us.
John Paul II offered this prayer for you during his papacy: "May Christ's followers ... abound in works of mercy; may they be compassionate towards all, that they themselves may obtain indulgence and forgiveness from You" (Dives in Misericordia – "The Mercy of God").
© 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 Third Week of Lent
March 9, 2010
Today's Saint: Frances of Rome
Pray for unbelieving spouses:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/FrancisRome.htm
Today's Readings:
Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Ps 25:4-9
Matt 18:21-35
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_09.mp3
How much mercy do you want?
Giving forgiveness is necessary for receiving forgiveness, Jesus says in today's Gospel reading. We need to take an honest look at the areas of unforgiveness that we're still holding onto, so that we can let go of them and open ourselves fully to God's mercy.
Do you think God cannot or will not forgive a particular sin you've committed? Do you repeatedly confess the same past sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, even though you haven't repeated the sin itself? If so, you're holding a grudge against yourself and you're closing yourself off from the mercy God's already giving to you.
Do you hate yourself for your sinfulness and failures? Are you jealous of those who seem holier or better than you? Then you're not being merciful toward yourself, and God's mercy cannot touch you, although you long for it.
Do you think God isn't forgiving the sins of those who have hurt you the most? Are you quick to complain about others? Is your anger interfering with a joyful, holy life? Then you're holding grudges. Righteous anger focuses on the injustices of sin and hopes for the sinner's repentance; sinful anger focuses on revenge and retaliation and hopes for the sinner's demise.
Forgiveness doesn't mean condoning a sin, nor does it mean permitting the sin to continue. Choosing to forgive (it's a decision, not a feeling) is a spiritual un-corking of our hearts so that unforgiveness no longer blocks the love that's trying to get in. Either we're clogged up with grudges and fear or we're open to giving and receiving love. Giving love to those who aren't loving us frees us to receive God's perfect love, which is infinitely greater.
St. Peter Chrysologus said: "If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery .... You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others."
If we want God's mercy after we sin, we have to give mercy whenever someone sins against us. If we refuse to give mercy to others – if we complain rather than reach out with love, if we seek revenge instead of offering to help – we're not open to God's mercy.
God never denies us his love; he cares all the time, no matter what! But for us to receive mercy, we have to be a bottle with a hole at both ends – God's mercy flows out of us to others so that more mercy can flow into us.
John Paul II offered this prayer for you during his papacy: "May Christ's followers ... abound in works of mercy; may they be compassionate towards all, that they themselves may obtain indulgence and forgiveness from You" (Dives in Misericordia – "The Mercy of God").
© 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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Expect the unexpected
Good News Reflection
Monday of the Third Week in Lent
March 8, 2010
Today's Saint: John of God
Pray for the sick, addicted, and dying:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnofGod.htm
Today's Readings:
2 Kings 5:1-15
Ps 42:2-3; 43:3-4
Luke 4:24-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_08.mp3
Expect the unexpected
Is your soul "athirst" for the living God, like we read in today's responsorial Psalm? Are you tired of waiting to "behold the face of God" (in other words, his love up close and personal)? Are you spiritually or emotionally thirsty because it seems like God doesn't really care about you or isn't moving fast enough to rescue you from hardships?
We get thirsty when we haven't had enough to drink. In this life on earth, we will never fully quench our thirst for God, because it's only after death that we come face to face with God, and it's only after being completely purged of everything that's not of God that we enter into the fullness of his goodness and love.
However, we can relieve some of that thirst here and now. Often, we're much more thirsty than we need to be.
An unquenched thirst for God usually manifests itself in loneliness, despair, frustration, self-indulgence – or any other feeling or behavior that's triggered by lacking what we need. And yet, as Christians who spend time every day with God, we should feel like we have everything we need. Why don't we?
We get a clue from today's first reading. Observe the behavior of the leper Naaman. God gave him the healing he asked for, but at first Naaman didn't believe it because it was offered in an unexpected way.
Usually, when we think that God has abandoned us, what's really happened is that he's not giving us what we want the way we want it!
To see what God is doing and to receive everything that he wants to give us, we have to first get rid of our expectations. When dealing with God, we should expect the unexpected!
The people in the synagogue at Nazareth (in today's Gospel reading) had been waiting a very long time for the Messiah. They had been praying for his arrival for many generations. But they, too, did not recognize the answer to their prayers because of unmet expectations. The Messiah landed on their doorstep in quite an unexpected way!
How often we get angry, like those people did, because God's love and his answers to our prayers are not what we want the way we want it!
Like those people, we reject Jesus even while trying to find him. In saying "no, this can't be right" to whatever he places in front of us and by turning away and staying focused on whatever we're expecting, we say "no" to his gifts and blessings.
This is why our souls are parched! We need to spend time this Lent identifying and repenting of all the ways we say "no God, this can't be right", whether it's no to a Church teaching because we don't like it or no to a bad situation that doesn't end no matter how hard we pray.
We find our miracles when we expect the unexpected.
© 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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This is the "Good News Reflections - American Edition" mailing list.
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Monday of the Third Week in Lent
March 8, 2010
Today's Saint: John of God
Pray for the sick, addicted, and dying:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnofGod.htm
Today's Readings:
2 Kings 5:1-15
Ps 42:2-3; 43:3-4
Luke 4:24-30
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_03_08.mp3
Expect the unexpected
Is your soul "athirst" for the living God, like we read in today's responsorial Psalm? Are you tired of waiting to "behold the face of God" (in other words, his love up close and personal)? Are you spiritually or emotionally thirsty because it seems like God doesn't really care about you or isn't moving fast enough to rescue you from hardships?
We get thirsty when we haven't had enough to drink. In this life on earth, we will never fully quench our thirst for God, because it's only after death that we come face to face with God, and it's only after being completely purged of everything that's not of God that we enter into the fullness of his goodness and love.
However, we can relieve some of that thirst here and now. Often, we're much more thirsty than we need to be.
An unquenched thirst for God usually manifests itself in loneliness, despair, frustration, self-indulgence – or any other feeling or behavior that's triggered by lacking what we need. And yet, as Christians who spend time every day with God, we should feel like we have everything we need. Why don't we?
We get a clue from today's first reading. Observe the behavior of the leper Naaman. God gave him the healing he asked for, but at first Naaman didn't believe it because it was offered in an unexpected way.
Usually, when we think that God has abandoned us, what's really happened is that he's not giving us what we want the way we want it!
To see what God is doing and to receive everything that he wants to give us, we have to first get rid of our expectations. When dealing with God, we should expect the unexpected!
The people in the synagogue at Nazareth (in today's Gospel reading) had been waiting a very long time for the Messiah. They had been praying for his arrival for many generations. But they, too, did not recognize the answer to their prayers because of unmet expectations. The Messiah landed on their doorstep in quite an unexpected way!
How often we get angry, like those people did, because God's love and his answers to our prayers are not what we want the way we want it!
Like those people, we reject Jesus even while trying to find him. In saying "no, this can't be right" to whatever he places in front of us and by turning away and staying focused on whatever we're expecting, we say "no" to his gifts and blessings.
This is why our souls are parched! We need to spend time this Lent identifying and repenting of all the ways we say "no God, this can't be right", whether it's no to a Church teaching because we don't like it or no to a bad situation that doesn't end no matter how hard we pray.
We find our miracles when we expect the unexpected.
© 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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