Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: July 25, 2010 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Good News Reflection
FOR NEXT SUNDAY: July 25, 2010
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 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/July/17thC.htm - Preview a sample

Next Sunday's Readings:
Gen 18:20-32
Ps 138:1-3, 6-8
Col 2:12-14
Luke 11:1-13
http://www.usccb.org/nab/072510.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_07_25.mp3

In next Sunday's Gospel reading, Jesus teaches us how to pray with faith. Notice that his parable does not say that we can get everything we ask for. Not everything is good for us; the "bread" that runs as a theme through this scripture is the life of holiness – the "Bread of Life" is Jesus. The gift of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, is a HOLY life.

Notice also that the visitor in the parable is a friend of God, not a stranger, who wants to share the bread with another friend. This represents a baptized Christian who wants to share the friendship of God ("three loaves" - the Trinity) with others, but he or she is inadequate for the task.

When we knock on the door to God's heart seeking help for our inadequacies, the Father gives us his fully adequate Holy Spirit. And that's not all we get! Whenever we pray, this Holy Spirit connects us to the Father and to Jesus. Therefore, every prayer increases our holiness, brings us closer to God and empowers us to be more like Jesus. But holiness does not come quickly nor easily . We must be persistent in our prayer lives. We must continually rely on God’s Spirit in order to resist temptations and grow in faith.

No matter what we ask God to share with us, including the material things that we need or desire, God wants to use it to nourish our souls. This is what we ask for when we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Be persistent. Receiving God’s bread usually doesn't happen overnight (we're slow learners).

It's the devil who says that we can have everything we ask for as fast as we want it. New Age and occult practices are fast-food spiritualities that are riddled with the unhealthy fat of false beliefs. They lack the growth in holiness that we can only receive from the Holy Spirit. Many people turn to the occult because they don't have the desire to persist on the path of holiness.

The supernatural adequacies of the Holy Spirit are ours for the asking, because we already received the Holy Spirit during baptism. However, to live in God's supernatural power, we have to pray persistently, identify our sins and repent, purge our lives of selfish motives, and humbly open ourselves to the holiness of the Holy Spirit.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
How much do you rely on the Holy Spirit's help in your daily life? How often do you humble yourself before the Lord in prayer and ask for an increase of holiness?

Questions for Family & Community Faith Sharing:
Describe your prayer life. How does it help you become holier in your daily activities? How has the Holy Spirit purified you?

STARTING ON MONDAY, if you're a member of the "Emmaus Journey" e-group, share your answers by writing to EmmausJourney@gnm.org
* To join and become a member, go to:
http://gogoodnews.net/GNMcommunities/EmmausJourney/

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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