Granted the Privilege by the Father to Come to Jesus

In today's Gospel, John 6: 60-69, Jesus had just said to his disciple: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world."  A significant number of his disciples said to themselves: "'This  saying is hard; who can accept it?'"  Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them:  "'The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.'  Jesus  knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, 'For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by  my Father.'  As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him."


Lord, you are telling me that the words you speak to me are Spirit and life. I discover that truth when I am open to your words and when I follow the way that you point out to me. I also discover the truth that I enter a "desert" when I walk away from you and do not choose the path to which you are directing me.

          Know, Dorothy Ann (insert your name), that I am grieved when I see you walking away! My 
          heart, then, aches for you and I wait for your return always!

Jesus, I am truly sorry when I cause you pain! Forgive me.

         I do, Dorothy Ann (insert your name).

Father, loving God, thank you for granting me the grace to come to you, to Jesus, to the Spirit.

         You are most welcome, Dorothy Ann (insert your name).  You are my beloved daughter (adapt             this to yourself) in whom I am well pleased. I delight in you. I cherish you. I love to watch the             efforts you put into your search for me. I love it as much as I loved watching Mary Magdalene             looking for me in the empty tomb. I am never far off when you look into places where I am not--
         am not, that is for you but might be for another person.

Thank you, Jesus. And thanks, so much, that you are never far away from me! Thanks for delighting in me, for cherishing me, for being pleased with me, for watching me always!  Lord, please help me that I may continue to follow you, to listen for your voice and when hearing it

Favored by the Lord

In  today’s first reading, Amos 3: 1-8; 4: 11-12, the Lord says to us through the prophet:

“You alone (the Chosen People of Israel) have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your crimes…..I brought upon you (allowed) such upheaval when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: you were like a brand plucked from the fire (not all of Israel was destroyed in the burning lava); yet you returned not to me, says the Lord. …[P]repare to meet your God, O Israel.”

Those words sound so harsh! A merciful, loving God, we ask! 

Let us personalize the passage.  Hear God saying:  “You…,” [Dorothy-- put your name here], have I favored…; therefore I will punish [chastise] you for all your crimes [sins/transgressions].”  Is God a punishing God? I don’t think so. I believe that God is my parent who loves me. Any good, responsible, loving parent, I believe, will chastise his/her child, let that child know when he/she is doing wrong and place consequences on poor behavior. Why? Because any parent who loves his/her children wants them  to grow up strong and trustworthy, adherents of good, at peace with themselves  as the result of making good decisions, satisfying themselves by doing good in the world around them, making the world they live in a better place pleasing to their Creator God, to others and to themselves. 

Do I realize that when I make poor choices that consequences follow accordingly, as when I make good choices. That is true for individuals, for society, for governments, municipalities, civic and ecclesial authorities and so on; in short for all humankind!  Am I learning from the evil that I experience when I follow evil spirits? Am I grateful for the good I experience when I make wise choices in accord with the good that exists within me?

We are here to carry on the work of the Lord—contributing to God’s Kingdom here on earth as modeled for us by Jesus in the Gospels. How faithful am I to the purpose for which God put me here on earth?

The Lord is My Shepherd

Yesterday’s responsorial psalm was Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want….” The LORD is my shepherd. Who? The Lord God Almighty, the All-knowing, All-seeing, All-loving, All-caring One. God Himself guards me, protects me gives me life, sustains it, nourishes it, strengthens it, and preserves it for life eternally. The Lord IS my shepherd, not “was” or “will be” but IS my Shepherd this very second, this very hour, today and every day of my life, one day at a time! The Lord is MY Shepherd. God has chosen me as HIS special sheep, the lamb He carries on His shoulder. I am His. He is mine. He has his eye on me all of the time because I belong to Him and to no one else. The Lord is my SHEPHERD. He knows the terrain I will encounter today, whether it has dangerous potholes in it, whether it leads to unsafe crossings, whether it is smooth and inviting yet deceptively evil, unsafe and/or treacherous. He knows where the path leads and will turn me around to safer ground, if need be. As my Shepherd, God leads me to “green pastures” where my needs will be met: my need for full development spiritually, intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally. All I need to do is step forward, get off the couch, so to speak, and move toward the goal that promises me authentic freedom, peace and joy. Then it is that God empowers me to be nourished on all levels. As Shepherd, He gives me the provisions I need to become the best version of myself every second of every day in all kinds of “weather” and on all kinds of terrain. “The Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I shall want.”