R E F L E C T I O N S: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Evangelizing our families

Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the 1st week of Advent
November 30, 2010
Available as a Good News Ministries Podcast:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts

Today's Feast: St. Andrew
Pray for relationships with family members:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Andrew.htm

Today's Readings:
Romans 10:9-18
Ps 19:8-11
Matthew 4:18-22
http://www.usccb.org/nab/113010.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_11_30.mp3

Evangelizing our families

In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus calling people into apostleship. Saint Andrewwas the first Apostle (see John 1:40-42), and although he would later lead many others to Christ, he started with his brother, Simon (who became Peter our first pope).

The most difficult people to evangelize are usually our own family members. We're too close. We care so much about them that we're too hard on them. And since they knew us before our conversion, we don't have much credibility.

Apostleship means being sent forth to do whatever God calls us to do, and whatever he calls us to do he gifts us, enables us, and empowers us to do. Romans 10:9-18 describes why God gives us apostolates: The message must go out! And it describes our importance: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!

If we each fulfill our part in the Body of Christ – together – the voice of Jesus goes out to all the earth and our words (his words) reach to the ends of the world. However, not enough of us are accepting our call to apostleship.

As baptized members of Christ's Body, we all have apostolates. And it starts in our homes. We could be the best evangelizers in the world or the best at what we're gifted to do, but if we can't bring Jesus to our families, something's wrong. Our priorities are out of order or we're a bad example of what it means to be Christian.

Being good apostles and terrific evangelizers does not mean that we're going to be successful at changing the hearts and minds of family members. "Not everyone has heeded the good news." But it's at home where we're challenged to grow. It's at home where we learn to love others unconditionally. It's at home where we become good at forgiving. And it's at home where we're tested and strengthened in serving others without complaining or resentment.

Being an apostle at home does not mean preaching conversion and debating the need to go to Mass. To be effective apostles for our families, our first priority must always be to purify ourselves and keep growing spiritually.

Then, we can show them what Christ is really like by giving them persistent, unconditional, undeserved love. We can evangelize them by treating them the way Christ wants to treat them.

And when they ask questions and show an openness to learning from us, then we can evangelize through words.

How well do you imitate Jesus when you're with family? Consider every interaction as an opportunity for them to meet Jesus, even if they stubbornly refuse to recognize him in you. If you're a good reflection of Jesus, eventually, this will make a difference. Maybe not as fast as you'd like, but this hardship will help you grow more fully into the image of Christ if you truly want to live the Good News that we proclaim.

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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Monday, November 29, 2010

Hope is found in the light of Christ

Good News Reflection
Monday of the 1st week of Advent
November 29, 2010
Available as a Good News Ministries Podcast:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts

Today's Readings:
Isaiah 4:2-6
Ps 122:1-9
Matthew 8:5-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112910.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_11_29.mp3

Hope is found in the light of Christ

This Advent, the Good News Reflections are focusing on the four gifts from God that are represented by the four candles on our Advent wreaths: hope, peace, joy, and love.Jesus is the Light of the World, represented by the candlelight that grows brighter as we get closer to Christmas.

Jesus commissioned us to share the gifts of God by spreading his light. We become light so that when others observe us, they see Jesus. Together, connected to each other in Christian community, we become a string of lights like the ones that will decorate our Christmas trees.

Whenever you see festive Christmas lights adorning the houses in your town or hanging inside your home, let them remind you that we are all connected to each other through Christ, and that when everyone's light bulbs are glowing, the world is a much cheerier place. This is the source of our hope in a dark and anxious world.

The problem is: not everyone’s lights are lit. Gaps on the string are quite noticeable. How bright is your own light?

December is such a busy, hectic month! Be sure to slow down and take time for yourself and your spiritual needs. How close does God feel when you're busy with the decorations, baking cookies, partying, and shopping for gifts? Don't let the busyness of December interfere with your preparations for the true meaning of Christmas.

For today's readings, let's apply the metaphor of the string of lights to what happened in the Gospel. Think of Jesus as the one who turns on the electricity to make our lights glow. The centurion is teaching us that Christ's command is enough to flip the switch. We need nothing more than his say-so.
The sun goes down, your home gets dark, and your world be-comes bleak. Jesus says "yes!" to you and flips the power switch. Now everything you see is awash in brightness and color. What had seemed lifeless has been converted into delightful beauty.

That's all it takes for your soul to change! First, you supply the electricity: You make your soul available to Jesus. What do you need him to do in you? He says, “Yes!” Nothing more than his say-so is needed.

When your decorations are up and night-time falls, flip the Christmas lights on and off and on and off. Enjoy how easy it is to change the way your little world looks. It's that easy for Jesus to change the great big world, but because there are a lot of bulbs missing from the string of lights, not much of the world gets lit up.

This is why it's so very, very important that we all do our best to become brighter lights and why we must evangelize others so that the missing ones are restored and new ones are added to the string!

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: December 5, 2010 Second Sunday of Advent

Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: December 5, 2010
Second Sunday of Advent
Available as a Good News Ministries Podcast:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts

Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA:
For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources:
http://catholicdr.com/calendar/December/Advent2.htm - Preview a sample

Next Sunday's Readings:
Isaiah 11:1-10
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Rom 15:4-9
Matt 3:1-12
http://www.usccb.org/nab/120510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_12_05.mp3

Peace is the theme of the Second Sunday of Advent. The first reading describes Christ, the Messiah who came from the line of Jesse, King David's father. It also describes how to obtain peace – a peace that sustains us even in the midst of troubles. It's the very nature of Jesus himself: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him"; can you feel the Holy Spirit "resting" on you? It's the very nature of Jesus himself: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him"; have you felt the Holy Spirit "resting" on you lately?

We experience true peace when we're in a restful relationship with God, i.e., when we're not struggling against him and his ways and his plans for us. Peace does not depend on bringing to an end the struggles we have with people or the problems we have with financial shortages or addictions or health, etc. We can work hard to accomplish peace in any trial, win the war, and still not be at peace.

Peace comes to us in the wisdom and understanding that we get from the Holy Spirit. Peace comes from following the Spirit's counsel and relying upon God's strength. Peace comes from gaining knowledge of the truth that God wants us to know, in total submission to his authority, obediently acting upon the truth.

In the Gospel reading, John the Baptist reminds us to "prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his paths." To receive the Spirit of God and his peace, we must prepare ourselves to meet Jesus in the Mass and in all the other ways that he wants to come to us. How? By identifying and repenting of our sins, thus straightening our crooked paths. We must get rid of obstacles that block our view of Jesus. We must stop following the moods and fascinations that lead us into twisted circles that get us nowhere in our quest for peace.

Whatever separates us from God's peace, we must get rid of it. To do this, we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation and (when we've committed only small, venial sins) the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass. Christ equips us for the journey into true peace!

Questions for Personal Reflection:
What turmoil is going on in your life? What has stolen your peace? The only control you have over the problems that disturb you is how you let them affect you. Where is Jesus? What obstacles (e.g., unforgiveness or resentment) do you need to repent of to see him and feel his peace?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
What methods do you use to settle down and rest in the Spirit of Jesus when turmoil is spinning around you? What kind of prayer helps? Do you go on retreat or confide in a spiritual director? What are some other ideas?

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Friday, November 26, 2010

What's the season of your soul?

Good News Reflection
Friday of the 34th Week of Ordinary Time
November 26, 2010

Announcing! I'll be podcasting the reflections during Advent:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts

Today's Saint: John Berchmans
Pray for altar servers:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/JohnBerchmans.htm

Today's Readings:
Rev 20:1-4,11--21:2
Ps 84:3-6a, 8a (Rev. 21:3b)
Luke 21:29-33
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_11_26.mp3

What's the season of your soul?

The Liturgical Year is a series of spiritual seasons. We're about to begin the Season of Advent, which launches us into a new spiritual year by preparing us for a rebirth of Christ in our lives. The Christmas Season, which starts on Christmas Eve and ends onEpiphany, will remind us that Jesus became one of us to show us the way to heaven.

Then a new season of "Ordinary Time" begins. It's not "ordinary" at all; it's "ordained" to be a season of learning, with Jesus as our teacher. Lent soon interrupts this for a season for examining how well we're living what Jesus teaches. This brings us to Holy Week, when we give to Jesus all the ways that we have rejected his teachings.

On Easter Sunday, we enter into a season of celebrating our victory over sin as we continue our journey of holiness. This season ends with Pentecost, when we recommit ourselves to the in-dwelling of Christ's Holy Spirit, who empowers us to learn more and live better the ways of holiness. Now the lessons of Ordinary Time resume until the end of the Liturgical Year.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus gives us the fig tree as a visual aid for understanding the seasons of our faith. Fig trees produce fruit both in the spring and in autumn. Since the disciples, like other Jews, believed that the Messiah would usher in the reign of God at Passover time, Jesus used the fig tree to make a very specific point: His sacrificial death on the day after Passover would be the first harvest of the kingdom of God. Its fruit is our freedom from the deadly consequences of sin.

The second harvest is the autumn fruit. We see a wonderful image of this in today's first reading. It's fruit is heaven. We have been resurrected into eternal life by accepting Jesus' sacrificial death for our sins.

In contrast, those who reject the sacrifice of Jesus and continue in their self-destructive sins to the very end have no eternal life in them. There is nothing to harvest.

When we're unhappy about someone else's spiritual growth, we should remember that we're all in different seasons of our souls.

What season are you in? Is it the winter of dying to self because your sins have left you cold and almost lifeless? Is your faith a seed waiting to sprout in early springtime? Are you a sapling Christian who's just beginning to gain strength? Is your relationship with Christ providing summer shade under which others find shelter? Are your branches reaching out to others? Have you begun to bear fruit by serving in ministry?

Remember the necessity of each season. Even the most dead-looking times have divine purposes.

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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Enjoy the wedding feast!

Good News Reflection
Thursday of the 34th Week of Ordinary Time
November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers!

Announcing! I'll be podcasting the reflections during Advent:
http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts

Today's Readings:
Rev 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9a
Ps 100:1b-5 (with Rev. 19: 9a)
Luke 21:20-28
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_11_25.mp3

Enjoy the wedding feast!

What is your Babylon? Read today's first reading and think of Babylon as something in yourself that needs to be thrown into the sea. Selfishness is a common example, or any sin that you have not yet overcome. Imagine it as a huge millstone. This is a haunt for demons, a cage for every unclean spirit, a prison that has locked up a part of your life, barred from God.

If you desire to overcome it, an angel with great authority picks it up and tosses it like a pebble into the sea. It quickly sinks into the murky depths where you can see it no longer. Not even God can see it, because the only thing he's looking at is the Jesus in you. You're glowing with the goodness you received from Jesus in your baptism. God is absolutely, totally in love with you.

This is what happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

"Blessed are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb." In the symbolic language of the Book of Revelation, the Lamb is Christ and the wedding day is the beginning of God's reign. Every time we seek forgiveness for our sins with a sincere desire to change, we renew the vows of our wedding day. God's reign begins anew in our lives, but now more fully than ever!

This is also what happens in the Sacrament of the Eucharist if we sincerely examine our consciences before Mass and desire to become holy in Christ. The entire Liturgy is a wedding feast. At the beginning of the celebration, we put on the white wedding gown during the Penitential Rite. Then as the bride of Christ, we walk down the aisle to become one with our Lord in Holy Communion. At the final blessing, we leave the church to show our spouse to the world.

This is also what happens in the Sacrament of Marriage.

When couples live together unmarried or they wed without the sacrament, they really don't understand the holy communion they're denying to their relationship. Weddings are meant to be reflections of the Great Wedding Feast of the Lamb, and marriages are meant to be reflections of the union between Christ and his beloved Church.

When sacramentally united couples attend Mass together, their commitment is re-energized, the banquet of the Eucharist heals disunity and empowers them to love each other even in the most difficult of circumstances, and they are sent forth with a final blessing to show the world what Christ's undying love is like.

Regardless of whether you are married or single, divorced or widowed, priest or religious, Jesus is absolutely, totally in love with you. He wants to enjoy total communion with you! Do whatever it takes to enter fully into that union.

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