Nothing is Impossible with God!

In today's first reading, Zachariah 8: 1-8, the Lord makes the following promise through the prophet:
"I  will return to Zion, and I will dwell within Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ...Old men and old women, each with staff in hand because of old age, shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem. The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the Lord of hosts. Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the Lord of hosts?"

What God says to the remnant of the people of Israel through the prophet Zachariah, He also says to the remnant of people who remain after their nations or countries have been destroyed by weapons of mass destruction or by devastating natural disasters.  "Old men and old women, each with staff in hand because of old age, shall again sit in the streets [of these bombed out cities]. The city shall  [again] be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets."  Not only will materials things be restored, so, too, shall the faith abandoned by by people be restored.  Trust and truth and faithfulness will also be restored. 

You and I may believe that restoration is never going to happen, especially when countries and nations have strayed so far from the truth as seems to have happened here in our own country. And how, we ask, will war-torn countries such as Syria and other nations or cities destroyed by years and years of being bombed out by warring factions, and, sometimes, by their own governing bodies ever see life return to normal? God says to us, as He did to the Israelites, "[e]ven if this should seem impossible in [your] eyes..., shall it... be impossible in my eyes also?"

Lord, as I listen to the news each night or read about world conditions  I truly wonder whether we will ever return to being faithful to the way of life Jesus taught us during his public ministry.  I ask that you have mercy upon us, strengthen our faith and trust that you are God and there is no other and that your thoughts and your ways are not our ways. What you did for the people of old you can and will also do for us!  Your death and resurrection are not in vain! You overseer life now as you did in years gone farther back that any of us can remember.  Evil will not triumph--you destroyed it on the cross. Satan was defeated there Calvary's hill.  I believe that, Lord!  And when I am weak in my faith, please restore it. May I keep my eyes on you and not on the evil I see in the world. I ask through through Jesus Christ.

Compete Well for the Faith

What an incredible God we have! In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 146, we praised God as the  One who sets captives free, gives sight to the blind, gives food to the hungry, raises up those who are depressed, loves the just, protects strangers, sustains those who are widowed or orphaned, and blocks the way of the wicked.

We might take the time today to reflect on how God has done these things for ourselves.   How has god fed our hunger for Him, for strength to endure a difficult situation at work, in our homes, concerning our health? How often has God not lifted up up in down times?  How often have you or I been in need for being set free from an addiction that led to our neglect our families: our children or grandchildren, our spouse, our elderly parents, or our fellow Sisters/Brothers in a religious community?

St. Paul, in today's second reading, 1 Timothy 6: 121-16, urges us to ";pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith,"  St. Paul says to us.  If that would have been the goal of the rich man in today's Gospel, Luke 16: 19-31, he certainly would have not ended up as he did when he entered eternal life. Caught up in, addicted to, good times, good food and the comforts his wealth afforded him, he neglected the poor, and, in particular, a sick man named Lazarus "lying at his door...covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table."

For what am I competing?  For that which is just? To what am I devoted: my family, my fellow community members, especially those who are significantly limited by physical and cognitive limitations?   Am I competing to increase my patience with others' and my own weaknesses, limitations, imperfections?  Am I growing in love, in devotedness to those in need, in being gentle in the face of life's harsh moments? Or do I escape these faith challenges by "gluing" myself to computer games, gambling trips, excessive and unnecessary shopping, nonstop TV watching or other distractions?

Lord, help us to take the words of these Scriptures seriously and have the change of heart that we need!

"Take Courage...and Work!"

In today's first reading, Haggai 2: 1-9, Haggai recalls the memory of the Temple built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians and the Lord  asked the people through the prophet Haggai: 

Who is left among you 
that saw this house in its former glory?
And how do you see it now?
Does  it not seem like nothing in your eyes? 
But now take courage...and work!"

Haggai then recalls the covenant God made with the people when they left Egypt and began their journey to the promised land. Through the prophet, God said to the Israelites: "I am with you...This is the pact I made with you when you came out of Egypt. And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!"

God says the very same things to you and me on our journey of faith to the Promised Land of eternal life. Number 1: Do not fear! Continue to work in building the Lord's Temple that each of us is.  Do our lives, our choices, we might ask ourselves, radiate God's glory, as in the lives of those who have gone before us?  Number 2: God's spirit continues in our midst by the way each of us follows God's Son Jesus the Christ!

In today's Gospel, Luke 9: 18-22, Jesus asked the disciples who people are saying he is. The disciples tell Jesus that some people believe that he is John the Baptist come back from the dead, others believe that he is Elijah, while still others believe that he is some ancient  prophet.  "'But who do you say that I am?'  Peter said in reply, 'The Christ of God.'"  You and I need to answer Jesus' question, as well!  Who do you (who do I) say Jesus is?

For me, Jesus is God who dwells in our midst and who dwells in the very core of my being. Jesus is the Son of God Incarnate whom I receive in Holy Communion at every Catholic Mass or Liturgy. Because God dwells among us in the Eucharist, in all of creation, and in the core of our beings, for that reason, you and I are able to reflect God's glory here on earth.

What covenant has God made with you?

"A Bag with Holes" or a Life that heals "Holes"

In today's first reading, Haggai 1: 1-8, the Lord, through the prophet Haggai, asks us to consider our ways: 

     "You have sown much, but have brought in little;
     you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
     you have drunk, but have never been exhilarated;
     you have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
     and whoever earned wages
     earned them for a bag with holes in it."

Sound familiar?  If I sow little, I will reap little, the Scriptures tell me.  If my sowing does not include seeds of love, compassion, mercy and reconciliation, then I will experience dissatisfaction,  an abundance of down times, and a cold heart! Like Herod, in today's Gospel, Luke 9: 7-9, I will be perplexed about Jesus, His teaching and the deeds He is doing: healing the sick, welcoming and forgiving sinners, raising the dead to life, and challenging the teachers of the law. The "wages" Jesus earned were sinners returning to the Father, the dead being raised, the deaf hearing and the blind seeing, cripples walking, lepers cleansed, the sick being healed!  He was not filling "a bag with holes in it"; He was healing "holes" that left people vulnerable to physical and spiritual illnesses!  He was a being-for-others and that way of living is full of grace, satisfies, exhilarates and wraps us in the warmth of God's Spirit.

God's Mercy Is Forever

In today's first reading, Ezra 9: 5-9, the prophet comes before the Lord filled with shame and too confounded to lift his eyes to the Lord.  Why? Because, he says, "our wicked deeds  are heaped up  above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven."  Ezra acknowledged God's mercy, leaving a remnant of the people to rebuild the Temple.  "For slaves we are," Ezra says, "but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us; rather he has turned the good will of the king of Persia towards us. Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins...."

As we listen to the news each night and also examine our own consciences, it is obvious, if we are honest with ourselves and about the news we hear, that our wickedness also "reaches up to heaven."  We, too, throughout any given day, become slaves to sin and selfishness, to being unjust and deceitful in how we deal with our neighbors here or abroad.  As with the Israelites, God is merciful toward us, as well!  Every day, God gives us life anew and new opportunities to rebuild the "house of our God," to restore the ruins created by unjust, deceitful, greedy, selfish actions towards others, all of creation, and the earth itself. And God comes to us in His mercy in many ways throughout the day and especially at every Catholic Mass, when we offer, in the the Holy Eucharist, the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ  to God the Father in atonement for our sins against humanity and the Earth. Yes, God's mercy comes down to us every single day, as it did in the day of Ezra , the prophet.

Thank you, God, for your awesome Presence among us!  Thank you for being merciful to us! Thank you for not abandoning us in our efforts to rebuild the house of God, that is, to restore the beauty of each human being, Temples of the Holy Spirit, that,  by our selfishness, greediness, injustices and deceitfulness have been wounded.

Competing for the Faith

In today's first reading, 1 Tim : 2c-11, St. Paul reminds us that "the love of money is the root of evil."  Note that he says "the love of money,"  not money itself.  How does the love of money become the root of all evil in the life of some people? Because in their desire for money some individuals "have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains."  What pains? The pains of being unjust, promiscuous, corrupt, deceptive, narcissistic, hate-filled, envious, conceited, arrogant, divisive, contentious, to name a few of the traps Satan sets for men and women enslaved to money.  Persons whose idol is money will do anything , it seems,  to increase their bank account: engage in human trafficking, slave labor, the sale of  illegal drugs; aborting or killing a child in the womb, cheating the poor of a just wage or not paying employees at all by declaring bankruptcy, engaging in unfair price setting and on and on and on!  Yes, when money becomes an idol, sin abounds and eventually the money lover becomes a slave and slavery eventually becomes extremely painful!

St. Paul says to Timothy and to all men and women of God, to you and to me: "Avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of witnesses."  You and I were called to be men and women of God when we were baptized and confirmed in the faith.

What are you, am I, pursuing: Righteousness? Devotion? Faith? Love? Patience? Gentleness?  In what are we competing?

Behaviors and Speech That Reveal Love, Faith, and Purity

In today's first reading  1 Tim 4: 12-16, St. Paul exhorts us to not "have contempt  for [our] youth, but to set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. "

Simple but profound teachings!  There is a psalm that says: Lord, I am not preoccupied with things too profound for me or beyond me.  Living a spiritual life, St. Paul says,  is about not showing contempt for oneself or anyone else, about not showing contempt for my life as a youth or any other time, not showing contempt for the elderly or poor or sick or lame, or mentally ill, the rich or the poor, immigrants or natives,  those whose skin is black or yellow, white or red.

Jesus, in today's Gospel,  Luke 7: 36-50, enters the house of a Pharisee. He is not greeted, as was the custom of Jesus' time, with the washing of his feet or the anointing of his head. A woman, a known sinner whose many sins were forgiven by Jesus, enters the house, knowing that Jesus is there, and, in profound gratitude,  washes Jesus' feet with her tears, anoints His feet with "an alabaster flask of anointment" and kisses them. The host is disturbed by what he sees happening and says to himself:  "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

Contempt! The woman's behavior does not reveal contempt for herself or Jesus but love, purity and gratitude. The pharisee is definitely out of line, not setting an example "in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity." St. Paul by word and the woman by example challenge us to live a life of love, faith and purity. Our speech and our conduct are to reveal our faith in Christ Jesus, as did the conduct of the woman who anointed Jesus' feet.  Our words and actions are to reveal the depth, the breath, the width, and the height of  our love, our faith, our trust in Christ Jesus, in ourselves and in others.

If someone shadowed us today, what would our behavior or our speech reveal of us?

The Church--the House of God and the Family of the Living God

St. Paul, in today's first reading, 1 Timothy 3: 14-16, speaks about the Church as"the household of God", the "pillar and foundation of truth," the "Church of the living God."  God is alive, active, caring, loving. God is parenting, mothering, fathering. God is actively disciplining us as his daughter/son. God is guiding us, celebrating us, comforting us, coaching us, counseling us!  As members of the Church we are members of God's household where truth reigns, justice abides, grace abounds.  We are members of a household where love grows, peace abounds, good thrives, differences are accepted, talent is given an environment where it is developed and expanded.  In God's household, each person is cherished, loved, understood, lifted up, challenged, made strong in weaknesses, led to his/her truth, taught to cope with difficulties and confront that which is evil and unwelcome!  No one in God's family is left to be bullied, abused or shamed--bullying, shaming, abusing of one another is brought to a halt and replaced with that which accepts another as a work of art in process, as one on the way to the eternal Kingdom, as one dear to God and possessed by God, the Potter molding the clay, strengthening the person as a vessel of grace, and making one a manifestation of God's image here on earth!

We are members of the household of God, a spiritual palace, where the work of God may remain invisible to some but not to others, a place where each person is listened to, where each person's needs are met and the Spirit reigns supreme!

What a gift, Lord, Thank you for making a place for each of us in Your Kingdom here on earth, the Church, your household, your family and being our Shepherd here on earth until we come to our place in your eternal Kingdom!

Faith Demonstrated by the Centurion

In today's Gospel, Luke 7: 1-10, we learn of the centurion whose slave is at the point of death. The centurion sends Jewish elders to Jesus, asking that he come to heal his slave whom he valued highly.  The elders beg Jesus to respond to the centurion's request because he "deserves to have you do this for him, because he loves our nation and he built a synagogue for us."  As Jesus is approaching the centurion's house, the centurion says to him,  "Lord, do  not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I do not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I, too, am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

Jesus is absolutely amazed by this man from Rome and heals his slave.  He's never met such a person in all of Israel with the faith of this centurion.  Would Jesus say this of you, of me?  Have you, have I developed the kind of character this centurion has developed?   

Mary, the Mother or all Sorrows

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Sorrowful Mother. Can any sorrow be greater or deeper than the sorrow Mary endured as she stood beneath the cross and witnessed her son's agony and painful death.   Also think of Mary hearing of Jesus' arrest and then meeting Him on the road to Calvary, carrying the heavy cross, bleeding from the wounds of the scourging and from the crown of thorns on his head and kicked and whipped when He fell beneath the weight of the cross. Furthermore, think of what pain must have pierced her heart, knowing that Jesus was carrying the cross to the hill where he would be cruelly crucified like a common criminal and hung up naked for all to see struggling to breathe.

It's hard enough to see a loved one die of a dreaded disease or a fatal accident but how much more difficult must it be to see a loved one put to death in a public place, stripped of his clothing, nailed to a cross, hung naked to die an agonizing death, and sneered at, mocked, made fun of during the dying process!  Any other mother, I suspect, would been sobbing and screaming at those putting their child to death:  "Stop! That's my beloved son/daughter! Stop!"  Not Mary! She stood beneath the cross, sharing her Son's suffering, supporting Him in His agony and, with Him, I believe, praying:   "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23: 34).  Jesus also cried out upon the cross: I thirst." So, too, I believe, did Mary thirst for all to come to believe in her son as the Son of God, who came to this world to reveal the Father's love and compassion for each of us, dying that we might live forever with Him in Paradise.

How ready are you and I to say with Mary and Jesus, at any time in our lives:  Be it done unto me according to your will? And for what do we thirst?

Rejoicing in Knowing that What We Endure Brings about a Good for Others

In today's first reading, Colossians 1: 24-2:3, St. Paul tells the Colossians that he is rejoicing  in the sufferings that he is undergoing for their sake.  Sounds like parents who are  filled with joy that the sufferings that they are enduring will result in their children growing up in the faith, will empower their children to make good choices and, in turn, become good parents and good providers for their own children,.  Nothing, then, is too much for a parent to endure! 

That is God for us! Nothing, absolutely nothing, is or was too much for Jesus to endure for our sake. That was true for the Son of Man, God incarnate, who as a man lived in Capernaum for a time and is true for Jesus now.  Christ lives in us--that is the mystery Paul is talking about in this passage to the Colossians.  The fact that Christ lives in us means that whatever suffering we are going through Christ also is enduring for our sake and the sake of the Church yet to be borne into eternal life.

"[W]hat is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of ...the Church" is what Paul states he is filling up in his flesh.  That suffering Jesus in filling up by His dwelling within us and suffering what we are suffering, thus transforming such into redemptive graces for ourselves and the whole Church.

Furthermore, St. Paul says "I am a minister in accordance with God's stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God."  The word of God is sent to us to bring about the purpose for which God sent it, our salvation.  Paul worked slavishly for the Colossians, and all to whom God sent him, so that they would come to Jesus, believe in Jesus and carry out Jesus' plan of salvation for them.  So, too, does Christ come to us in the sacraments, in the Scriptures and in the good works we do--all meant to bring about our salvation and open the gates of heaven for us in Christ Jesus and through Christ Jesus and for Christ Jesus, who loves us unconditionally and acts continuously for us to know and accomplish His Father's will!

Reconciled by God in Christ's Body

In today's first reading, Colossians 1: 21-23, St. Paul reminds us that we "once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds." 

Notice that our being alienated from others or from our deepest self, where truth and peace reside, where the Trinity dwells, results from the evil we do or think, and not from God or others.  When we are feeling hostile towards ourselves or others, it is because of the choices we make to engage in  evil acts!  Hostility in ourselves feeds hostility in others. If we react with hostility then we are likely to receive such from the other person. On the other hand, if we return good for evil and peace for hostility, the reaction is different, because we, then, are cooperating with God's grace of reconciliation.

The grace to reconcile with others or with our true self is always offered to us by God, as St. Paul reminds us:  "God has now  reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through is death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him [and before others], provided that [we] persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel..." which we hear at every Mass or Liturgy.  If we live the gospel, we will then be persevering in the faith and firmly grounded in our belief that God is calling us to be agents of reconciliation.

Lord, help us live our faith today, knowing that in every situation that we will face you will have prepared the way for us to be agents of reconciliation, ambassadors of peace, and instruments of Your love!

Knowledge and Understanding of God's Will

In today's first reading, Colossians 1: 9-14, St. Paul tells the people that he has been praying for them from the day that he first heard about them.  The same is true of Jesus' first meeting of us as His baptized son/daughter. Every day, Jesus intercedes for us asking, as St. Paul did for the Colossians, that you, insert your name), "may be filled with the knowledge of  God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father,. who  has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light."

The only way that we know God's will is through God's gift of "spiritual wisdom and understanding."  With Jesus as our intercessor, nothing will deprive us of the wisdom and understanding of what God is asking of us at any given time in our lives!  So why is it that we do not always do what God asks of us. Our failure is not that God is not doing His part!  God is always there with the wisdom and the understanding we  need to walk in a manner worthy of Him and in a way that we fully please Him in every good work bearing fruit.  The problem may be that we are too busy trying to please others and meet their approval, not God's!

St. Paul prays, as does Jesus, that we be strengthened  "with every power, in accord with [God's]
 glorious might."  However, we might be blind and deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit because we are obsessively and compulsively seeking the power and glorious might the world promises us through this world's billionaires or popular pseudo gods. No way, then, would we  be interested in  sharing the  "inheritance of the holy ones in light," an inheritance in which we begin to share even here on earth when our choices are in harmony with God's will for us here and now: knowledge of God, spiritual wisdom and understanding, God's glorious might working through us, and a joy and a peace which the world cannot give.

Living Christian Lives

In today's Gospel, Luke 4: 38-44, Peter's mother-in-law is seriously ill with a severe fever.   Peter and others in the household intercede for her and Jesus heals her!  Immediately following the healing, she proceeds to wait upon Peter and his guests. 

Notice that the healing takes place very quietly within the home and as the result of the family interceding for the sick family member. Take notice of three things: 1) That family matters and each member plays a significant part in the well-being of the other members, 2) That intercessory prayer is important and effective, and 3) That simplicity and humility are essential characteristics of disciples of Jesus. Following the healing, Peter's mother-in-law simply gets up and humbly waits upon the family and their visitors, immediately assuming the ordinary duties of the one who provides hospitality.  She could have, on the other hand, expected to be waited upon and treated with "kid gloves," so to speak, given how sick she had been.  Or she could have expected a lot to be made over her because she was the recipient of a sudden cure by Jesus!  Either position would not have been the fruits of simplicity and humility but would have flowed from pride!

Following the meal, as the sun is setting, people of the village bring their sick to Jesus for healing.   "He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting 'You are the Son of God.' But Jesus rebuked  them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ."    Jesus them goes off to a quiet place, most likely to commune with the Father. He does not hang around expecting Peter and his family or the villagers to applaud Him for the healings he performed in His Father's name.

Both Jesus and Peter's mother-in-law are models of simplicity, humility and service.  As disciples of Jesus, we, too, are called to live simple and humble lives of service and, like Peter and his family, be intercessors for others in need!

"Seeing the Bounty of the Lord in the Land of the Living" (Psalm 27)

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 27, we acknowledge our belief that "the Lord is  [our] light and our salvation,...[our] life' s refuge."  We ask the Lord for the the favor to "dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of [our lives and to]...gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple."  We then, at the close of the psalm, express our belief that we "shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living."  In order to experience any of the graces expressed in this psalm, however, the psalmist tells us that we  need to "wait for the Lord with courage....[B]e stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!"

"The Lord is our light." In order to know the Lord as our light, we need to experience darkness, as did the man in today's Gospel, Luke 4: 31-37. Think of the joy he experienced when Jesus, His Savior,  delivered  him from the power of an unclean spirit that had taken possession of him. To truly know joy, as this man did,  we need to experience the darkness of  sorrow. To deeply know the strength of our faith, we need to go through the darkness of doubt! To bask in the joy of being healthy we need to live through the dark times of an illness!  The man in today's Gospel, I believe, would have gone through all of these experiences! Even Jesus as a human being was not exempt from experiencing darkness, the most awful of which was His crucifixion and death upon the cross! He passed through death, however, to the glory of the resurrection!  We will, as well!

In Psalm 27, we pray to "gaze upon the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple."  How might that happen? I believe that the loveliness of the Lord resides in every human being and that all people and all of creation are God's temple. God, I believe, lives in each one of us and in creation itself. As temples of God and dwelling places of God's loveliness, we are called to make known God's loveliness and to build God's temple by co-operating with God's grace.  We have examples of this in creation. Everything in the universe reveals God's brilliance, God's loveliness, God's beauty, God's love for us!  As persons with free will, we may or may not cooperate with grace in revealing the loveliness, the beauty, the brilliance of God, the love of God within us and supporting and nurturing the God-life in others. 

The choice to live in the Light or in darkness is ours to make each day, as is the choice to move through "death" to resurrection or to new life each day!  If we choose life and reject death each day, we truly "shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living."

Jesus' Mission Statement and His Anointing of Us

In today's Gospel, Luke 4: 16-30, Jesus is attending the synagogue service, as He always did on the Sabbath.  He stood up to read and opened the Scriptures to the passage in Isaiah that spells out His Mission Statement:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the  oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord!

Let us hear Jesus' message to you and me:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon  you, (insert your name), because I have anointed you at your baptism and every time you receive the Eucharist, the sacrament of  the Anointing of the Sick or any other sacrament. I also anoint you every day with love.  Why? So that you become a Good News person and are able to make a difference in the lives you touch. I anoint you so that My love grows in  you and you can be a blessing of love to those I send into your life each day or to those to whom I send you.  I anoint you each day so that you can be a person who empowers others to know freedom from oppression, negative views of themselves and know that they are loved.  I anoint you with the oil of the Spirit, an oil that never dries up but multiplies when you anoint others with love and they anoint you."

"I anoint you because I have chosen you to go forth and bear fruit that lasts and that fruit is love."

How great is the Lord, our God!

Humility: Resisting the Temptations Pride Puts before Us

Hear the Lord say the following to you through the author of today's first reading, Sirach 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29:

(Insert your name), what I ask of you is to maintain a humble heart.  Resist pride's desire to be noticed or your ego's need to be set upon a throne to be worshiped.   

Seek Me, not accolades!

Rely on Me to comfort you and give you strength in hard times.  I am there for you always and I am enough for you.  Trust that truth!  I am God; there is no other. 

Be still. Be reverent and respectful of others and you will find Me.

Clothe yourself in humility and you will be surrounded by My peace within and without.

Seek my peace, a peace the world and those in it cannot give you.You find my peace in solitude. Avoid noise and unnecessary stress that comes from the ego's insistence on being No. 1 and being on its throne as king/queen!"

Thank you, Lord. I ask for those graces today!