Of course, this is what our imagination is fed by today…At least, I am willing to admit mine is…
Or maybe like this…This is more directly from the first reading for Today’s Mass Readings!
Prayer: Lord, help me to see the fruit that comes from Paul’s teaching in Rome both historical and what his death is saying to us today. Saint Paul, pray for us. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen
Courage (Photo credit: drp)
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: I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. (John 17:15)
Observation: It is my understanding that God will keep us from evil, but we have to comply with the way that we are being kept from evil. No matter what issues I have with the things that I have to do to comply with God’s will, I must do them, if I am going to be kept from evil.
Personification: Generosity It is my hope that I can follow the will of God in my life, so that I can display the fruit of observing the will of God in my life and give those fruits of that observance to others that are close enough to me to see the difference.
Prayer: Lord, help me to follow your will for me in my life, so that I can be kept from evil by your grace. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
English: Jesus ascending to heaven (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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: And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. (John 17:11)
Observation: Today, I hear Jesus saying that he has concern for us his disciples, even after he leaves this world to ascend to the Father. I am hearing that it is the same concern that every disciple of Jesus should have at the end of their earthly life. As we will see tomorrow, Jesus’ concern for us is not just about our ending up in Heaven, but protecting us while we are still here too.
Personification: Generosity It is my hope that I live my life for Jesus, but not just partly for him. I want to empty myself out completely for Him. It is only because I know that Jesus did this for me, that I know that I can do this as well, and I know that God wants this from me.
Prayer: Lord, empty me of all my own selfish concerns, so that I can be more fully yours. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen!
Mary (Mother of Jesus) (Photo credit: da_n)
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:. “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. (John 16:25-28)
Observation: I read this Gospel reading this morning as a reminder of why we would invoke the name of Jesus when we pray. We believe that Jesus is God, and He and the Father and the holy Spirit are one, so why not just pray to God. Jesus is saying here that since the disciples have developed a relationship with Jesus by their love for Him, it gives them a special channel into bring their needs to the Father. Sometimes, it is easier for us to see someone who walked the earth as one who understands us, rather than an almighty Father in heaven.
Personification: Love I hope that I can display love to my brothers and sisters on earth, but also show the love I carry for the Virgin Mary and Jesus, and all the Saints who we know are with God, by calling on their intercession for us, and knowing that they will do it if it is in God’s will for us.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, as we approach Pentecost Sunday next week, let us be ever mindful of the Saints that came before us and rely on their intercession and yours in our times of need. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen!
This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Czech Wikipedia for th week, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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: Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us. (1 John 3:24)
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The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. (John 14:26)
Observation: Today’s journal is based on the readings from yesterday and today’s Gospel. I am hearing today that even though I do believe that there are certain things that need to be accepted by faith, for sure, God is telling me that the Holy Spirit is going to be with me, revealing the truth of the Word to me and I should be able to see God working through the revelation that comes to me from the Word. It is not in my nature to surrender my will completely to God or lean on something other than my understanding, but I know now that if it does not come from the Holy Spirit, it is not worth knowing. Jesus didn’t say that the Holy Spirit would teach you some things, he said “everything”.
Personification: Self-Control It is amazing to me that I could display any self-control at all, but I am thankful to God for giving me the grace to display it. I know that God will continue to supply the necessary grace to continue to display this self-control, as long as I keep myself in a constant state of surrender to His will and understanding.
Prayer: Our Father, who is in Heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
Stained glass window of the sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in the former Mosque (Cathedral) of Cordoba, Spain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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: Let this be written for the next generation,
for a people not yet born,
that they may praise the LORD:
*“The LORD looked down from the holy heights,
viewed the earth from heaven,
To attend to the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.” (Psalm 102:19-21)
Observation: I recognize that the Psalmist is talking about all of us who are doomed to die here on earth, to continue groaning to God because we know that he will hear our groaning and answer us. It is only through the recognition that it is not after death that God will save us, but rather during our life that we can be saved, if we only remember that we are doomed to die and keep trusting in God’s grace to bring us to eternal life.
Personification: Love It is the fruit of love that I hope to display. The fruit of love that brings with it truth of God’s grace to everyone that I meet today. It is only possible for me to display this fruit because of the grace that comes from the church and my willingness to take part in the activities in the church to bring God’s grace to me.
Prayer: Lord, help me to stay faithful to you, no matter how unwilling my flesh may be at times. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
Probably an image of Jesus from St. Johns gospel in a miniature from Vukan's Gospel, end of the twelfth century, by some held to be an image of the Evangelist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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: “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” (John 5:30)
Observation: I don’t know how many times I have read this part of the Gospel and just glossed over the fact that Jesus is modeling for us how to act in the will of the Father. We know that Jesus is God, so the fact that he could or couldn’t do anything on his own is debatable. However, if we are truly trying to do the will of the Father because he is the one who sent us, why do we always try to do things on our own? I guess I should just be speaking for myself, but phrases like, “God helps those, who help themselves” and other such rubbish come to mind. The truth is, God will only be able to help me grow spiritually closer to Him, if I stop helping myself to whatever pleasure or fleshly desire I want.
Personification: Love It is my focus today to stay in the grace of God to be able to put on display the fruit of love that comes from God, who is love. I hope to be able, by the inspiration of the holy Spirit, to stop trying so hard to please God and just do what he tells me to do, with the resources that He has given me.
Prayer: Lord, let me be an instrument of your love. Please help me to stay out of your way and allow your love to pass through me to others today and everyday for the rest of eternity. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
Image via Wikipedia
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: However, be on your guard and be very careful not to forget the things your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart as long as you live, but make them known to your childreng and to your children’s children. (Deuteronomy 4:9)
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.* (Mark 5:19)
Observation: It is not for the glory of being called the greatest in the kingdom that I remind my children of their obligation to follow the will of God and not their own will, it is for their own good. It sounds like a saying we hear all the time, “It is for your own good.” However, it truly is for their own good, because we know that nothing good comes from evil and everything that is good comes from God. If Jesus says this about the least of the Commandments, how much more would he say about the greatest commandment to love Him alone? I could have tried to ignore the issue that was right in front of my face, but God would see that I ignored it.
Personification: Love I hope that in the discipline that I am giving my children to see that it is not worth selling their soul to gain the world, they see that the love of God and his commandments is what I am trying to model for them. I hope that they will see my heart that loves them enough to not let them make the same mistakes I did. Maybe they still will make some of the same mistakes I have, because I am not a very good model of obeying God myself, but at least God will know that I tried, and I hope, by the grace of God, they will learn the lesson before it can really hurt them.
Prayer: Lord, it is only by experience that I have gained the wisdom necessary to accept the grace of God as enough to keep my sinfulness at bay, but I hope that you will grant this wisdom to my children and family through the Sacraments and your church, so they will not have to wait to turn 40 to give themselves fully to God. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
Matthew
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: But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. (Matthew 20:25-27)
Observation: I have heard many times about people who have servant hearts, and I know a few of them pretty well, I think. The message I am hearing today, from the Gospel verse I chose both today and yesterday, is that the only way to be truly fulfilling God’s mission for us in this life, is to become a servant. If we truly wish to be joyful in this life, we must be a slave to other people’s needs and not to our own.
Personification: Kindness In my life, I know that when I have embraced this practice of being a servant, I have been the most fulfilled and full of life. It is only when I am trying to make a point or more directly my point, that I feel troubled or at odds with what God is calling me to. I will focus today on displaying the fruit of kindness to everyone that I meet today, and hopefully they will ask me for something and allow me to fulfill God’s mission for me.
Prayer: Lord, give me a servant’s heart and remind me that I am the full of joy when I am serving others. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
(My original title for this journal entry was, “What makes me feel fulfilled?” I got a tweet from the USCCB about the daily readings, that started with the response from the Responsorial Psalm for today, as I was finishing my prayer…God is enough!
Heart of Jesus
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: This day the LORD, your God, is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances. Be careful, then, to observe them with your whole heart and with your whole being. (Deuteronomy 26:16)
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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. So be perfect,* just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-45,48)
Observation: It is not that I feel like I am going to be approaching perfection any time soon, but I am hearing the call to perfection very loud and clear today. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, so it is very hard for me to focus on being good. I said all of my prayers this morning, as usual, but I should have recognized my need for sleep and just went back to sleep after I said them. Instead, I let myself be distracted by the things of this world and did not do what I knew my body needed. From a TV show that my son was watching when I first woke up, to the random websites that I perused to keep my mind occupied, and not let it sleep I learned that if I am going to be out late again, even for a good reason like a Christian music concert, I need to make sure that I make arrangements to get enough rest and trust that God is with me and wants me to be perfect and not distracted.
Personification: Faithfulness I hope that the fruit of faithfulness will show through as I complete this day and make reparations for any damage that I did to my relationships with my family and my God today. I will lean on God’s mercy to carry me through to completion this day, and know that I am not close to perfect yet, but thankfully God is not finished with me yet.
Prayer: Lord, help me to follow the path that you have laid out before me this evening and don’t allow my mind to get distracted from your will. I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. Amen.
The Divine Life 