Archive for July, 2011
Adoration
As we finish our Steubenville Youth Conference in San Diego, I am reminded by the readings this morning that anything that stands in opposition to God’s grace will not stand long. I am resolved to rest in the knowledge that God has called me to bring peace to the world. The love we felt for each other last night at Adoration was not a dream, it was the beginning of heaven on earth…Love and Peace!
I had a dream last night that I encounter God in a real manifestation of light at Mass. To me, this means that I should be looking to encounter Him at Mass when I go, and not just be going through the motions when I am able to attend. I think my sub-concious was saying that I was graced with the power to see him, but I have to slow down and really focus in order for this to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I know that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, but my dream was about God manifesting himself as light. Now, whether that happens during the Eucharistic consecration or some other time, I will report back what I find out…Hopefully! My prayer for today and more specifically this morning is that God reveals himself to me during our morning Mass and also to everyone who is in attendance at church this morning…I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit…Amen!
Matthew Evangelist and his Gospel
Gift: Piety (Reverence) – With the gift of reverence, sometimes called piety, we have a deep sense of respect for God and the Church. A person with reverence recognizes our total reliance on God and comes before God with humility, trust, and love.
Reading: When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. (Matthew 13:46)
Observation: Immediately after I wrote the title for my journal this morning, the thought occurred to me that maybe it is not about selling anything anymore for those of us that work for the church. We have already accepted the servant mentality, so now it is about the final words of this verse that I chose from the Gospel reading for today’s Mass. I need to not look for ways to sell what I have left, I need to look for ways to completely buy in to the Good News that our holy Mother Church is selling. I will never see what I have left to give up, until I am completely aware of the cost of what I am buying.
Personification: Patience I will focus today on the fruit of patience that comes from the grace that I will receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist today. I will look for how the Lord is revealing the truth of my path to fully accepting my call to be a servant in the church. God has shown me time and time again that my family will be taken care of, and now I have to be willing to show him that I will be faithful to his call.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be the man who you have made me to be and keep me from sin. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
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Gift: Knowledge – With the gift of knowledge, we understand the meaning of God’s Revelation, especially as expressed in the life and words of Jesus Christ. A person with knowledge is always learning more about the scriptures and Tradition.
Reading: The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom 21all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 22 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear. (Matthew 13:41-43)
Observation: I spend a lot of mental energy worrying about those who would lead the people of God astray in the church. I am hearing this morning the call of Jesus telling me to let it go. Jesus is saying that he has this taken care of. Of course, it is my hope and prayer that God would take them out of positions of authority in the church now, and make sure they do not cause any more people to sin by their false teachings. However, I am resolved to let God take care of this issue, just like everything else, in his own time.
Personification: Faithfulness It is my hope that without fail I can show a complete faithfulness to the sacred tradition of the church and the Word of God so that the righteous that our Lord mentions in today’s Gospel reading that shines like the sun in the kingdom of our Father, can include me. It is only by the grace of God that I will stay away from evildoing, so I will rely on God’s grace today and everyday to keep me from sin.
Prayer: Lord, continue to place your protection around your church and I will try to bring as many people to meet you in the church as you place in my path. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
Gift: Fortitude (Courage) – With the gift of courage, we overcome our fear and are willing to take risk as a follower of Jesus. A person with courage is willing to stand up for what is right in the sight of God, even if it means accepting rejection, verbal abuse, or even physical harm and death.
Reading: 9 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 10 Since, then, we have the same spirit of
faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we too believe and therefore speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. (2 Cor 4:12-15)
Observation: It is my hope that the answer that I can give to the question I posed in my title for my journal today is a resounding, “YES!” Not for anything that I have done, but for the work that Jesus is doing in me. I love the line at the end of the reading that says the grace will cause the thanksgiving to overflow.
Personification: Generosity I will focus today on displaying the fruit of generosity to everyone that I meet. It is not about money, but rather being generous with the gift of grace that has been given to me in abundance.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be generous with the gifts that you have given me and let your grace flow through me to others that come into my path today. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
Rooted
Gift: Understanding – With the gift of understanding, we comprehend how we need to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. A person with understanding is not confused by all the conflicting messages in our culture about the right way to live.
Reading: I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you. (1 Kings 3:12)
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The revelation of your words sheds light, gives understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)
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5 We know that all things work for good for those who love God, 6 who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
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“Do you understand 25all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” 26 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” (Matthew 13:51-52)
Observation: Of course, the appearance of God to Solomon in a dream where God tells him to ask for anything and God will give it to him, is a difficult story to ignore, even if it is in the first reading for Sunday Mass, and you know there are three more readings to get through. However, in the light of the rest of the readings, I believe this verse from the first book of Kings takes on a new meaning. I chose the other verses from the three other readings to help illustrate how I have drawn the following conclusion. I believe that God sent Jesus to not only impart to us God’s wisdom, but to complete our understanding of scripture, to allow both new and old testament to work together to complete the full picture of the truth.
Personification: Faithfulness It may sound strange to want to display the fruit of faithfulness on a day that the Word of God is revealing such truth to me through the readings, but I know that if was not for the grace of God, I would not have even been able to finish picking out the readings today. I choose to display the fruit of faithfulness, so that my life can help lead others to the truth that is being revealed in the scriptures.
Prayer: Lord, give me the gift of understanding, so that I can better lead your young people of faith to follow the path that you have laid out before them. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
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Gift: Fear of the Lord (Wonder and Awe) – With the gift of wonder and awe (fear of the lord), we are aware of the glory and majesty of God. A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all we desire: perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect love.
Reading: I sought the LORD, who answered me, delivered me from all my fears. Look to God that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush for shame. In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress. The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God. Learn to savor how good the LORD is; happy are those who take refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you holy ones; nothing is lacking to those who fear him. 3 The powerful grow poor and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:5-11)
Observation: I went to Mass this morning and heard the name of Saint Bridget of Sweden mentioned, but the Mass readings were from the normal readings for the Saturday in the sixteenth week in ordinary time. I looked for about an hour for the optional readings listed anywhere on the internet, and I couldn’t find them. I knew they were in the Daily Missal at the church, but it was confounding about why I could not find them anywhere else. Anyway, once I got to the church this afternoon to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet and take my oldest son to finally do his first confession, I found them and read them. It was the perfect Psalm for my son and myself to hear, since it will be my first confession since our last general reconciliation service here at Saint Alice before Christmas.
Personification: Peace I’d like to say that since I took the job working for the church as a Director of Religious Education and Coordinator of Youth Ministry, I have felt much peace and joy that I have not needed the Sacrament of Reconciliation as much. However, the fact is that I was always able to justify not going because my schedule conflicted with the Confession schedule at Saint Mary’s. It is true that I really haven’t had much to confess, but it really isn’t the quantity of sins confessed as the quality of the confession. I hope that I can display the peace that comes from the grace that I will receive after receiving the words of absolution from the priest and the forgiveness from God for the sins that I struggle with.
Prayer: Lord, as I venture to Saint Mary Catholic Church to confess my sins this afternoon, allow me to really let go and confess all of my sins, so that I can get lost in the pool of God’s grace and forgiveness after I return. Please help my son to make a good confession too. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
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Gift: Piety (Reverence) – With the gift of reverence, sometimes called piety, we have a deep sense of respect for God and the Church. A person with reverence recognizes our total reliance on God and comes before God with humility, trust, and love.
Reading: Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” 9which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, 10 for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her. (John 20:16-18)
Observation: I see this morning the truth revealed through Mary Magdelene that when we get to encounter our Lord, like when we receive him in the Eucharist, we should hang on to that moment with all that we are. Once we are back in the world, we should do what he tells us and work with his other disciples to spread the Good News that he has conquered death for all of us, and loves even the most hardened sinner.
Personification: Love It would be very easy to get caught up in a discussion of the controversy that has been created by the heresies that surround Mary Magdalene, but I choose to focus on displaying the fruit of love that comes from the grace of God that I receive as a free gift. I choose to walk with a repentant heart and not allow whatever grace I have received in the past or will receive in the future to make me full of pride.
Prayer: Lord, allow your grace to flow through me today, as it flows through Saint Mary Magdalene to us today as we remember our conversion and her sincere love for you. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
An icon depicting the Sower
Gift: Wisdom- With the gift of wisdom, we see God at work in our lives and in the world. For the wise person, the wonders of nature, historical events, and the ups and downs of our lives take on deeper meaning. The matters of judgment about the truth, and being able to see the image of God.
Reading: In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. 3 On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. (Exodus 16:13-15)
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But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. (Matthew 13:8)
Observation: God gave his chosen people in the desert the food that they needed to survive on earth. In other words, he heard their grumbling mouths and knew their hungry stomachs and fed them with food from heaven. They were so thankful that they reserved some of the manna to remind them of this amazing miracle that God performed for them. For us today, God has provided his son’s flesh for us to eat in the form of bread and his blood to drink in the form of wine. How much more should we be thankful for the chance to unite ourselves with God in this way? For me, I hear Jesus saying, in the parable of the sower in today’s Gospel reading for Mass, that the bread that we eat and wine that we drink is not intended to feed our bodies, but rather to be the seed by which the holy Spirit will be planted in our soul and be shown to be fruitful by the ways in which we share that grace with others.
Personification: Joy It will be my intention today to display the fruit of the holy Spirit that is planted in me by the Eucharistic meal that I plan to eat at our 8:30am Mass. It is not because I feel that I am worthy to eat it. Rather, Jesus is worthy of having at least some of the seed sown to be bearing fruit. Unlike the Israelites in the desert, I hope that God has prepared my soil to receive the seed of truth and I will be given the grace necessary to display real joy that comes from my being united to Jesus in the Eucharist.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
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Gift: Understanding – With the gift of understanding, we comprehend how we need to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. A person with understanding is not confused by all the conflicting messages in our culture about the right way to live.
Reading: And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:49-50)
Observation: As I was in an instant message conversation with my earthly father this morning, it seems right that I would read this gospel message today. The first reading was very moving, in that it reveals the great power and protection of God over his people. However, the gospel message is one that I wish I could really live out in my life. In my title for my journal today, I wrote out the beginning of my prayer for today and I will rely on the holy Spirit to guide me to the words that will complete the thought that was began there.
Personification: Self-Control It is my intention to continue to display the fruit of self-control that comes from the holy Spirit. It is my hope that I will not wander too far from God’s grace, to stay under the protection of the power of God. I should be able to surround myself with other disciples today that will help me protect myself from evil, but for those times that I have to venture out, I will pray for the protection of Saint Raphael and Saint Michael, the Archangels, who have always been there for me, even though I have not always felt their presence.
Prayer: Lord, give me the power of grace filled speech and continue to guide me to those people who are ready to hear it. It is my hope that you will bring my family along with me, but you will keep at a distance those that don’t believe in you, as I journey through this world with your disciples. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
