Sincere Prayer

Continual and Loving Communication

In the message "By Our Love" we saw how Jesus desires for us to mature in our love for our Heavenly Father and for others. But as we continue our walk, we soon discover many decision points where we must choose between two paths...with only one being the path of God. At these critical moments, we must be able to recognize His leading; and if we have not spent time worshiping at His feet and communicating in prayer, we cannot expect to understand or even hear His guidance in our time of greatest need. Communication is essential for maturing in any relationship. A marriage which lacks communication will slowly begin to drift apart. It's not uncommon for married couples to live together for the majority of their lives and yet feel like strangers because they have failed to spend the time required to really know and understand one another. Our relationship with God is much the same. When we receive the gift of Salvation through faith in Jesus, we begin a life long relationship of love - a relationship which must be nurtured through fellowship and prayer. Psalm 5:1-3 "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray. In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation." David states that the morning is his dedicated time for prayer, his time to be alone with God, to share his heart and expectantly await God's direction. But God has not specified a preferred time. In fact, Paul encourages us to maintain a constant state of communion with God when he says to "pray continuously" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We ought to strive for communication which is regular and frequent; any time is the right time for prayer; any time is the right time to commune with the one you love! Prayer must originate from a sincere heart, anything less becomes a ritual of meaningless words. We should be motivated by a desire to strengthen our relationship, to praise Him for His blessings and earnestly ask for His guidance, and to deepen the commitment of our love. We ought to value our time with God above anything else this world has to offer; "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" (Psalm 27:4). Let's make sure our love doesn't fade. Let's set aside time each day to be alone with God, quiet time where we can hear His voice and begin to understand His character. Then, let's continue to commune and fellowship with Him throughout our times of busyness. Let's learn to dwell in His house all the rest of our days by maintaining continual and loving communication.

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Parable of the mustard seeds

Matthew 13:31-35
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/073117.cfm

What mustard seeds are you sowing?

What are your mustard seeds? We all have them. If you've been baptized, you have a pouch full of mustard seeds. They are the gifts and talents and resources that the Father has provided to you. Therefore, you are that person whom Jesus describes in today's Gospel reading.

It doesn't matter if your seeds seem too small to make a big difference. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that starts out very tiny, yet after it sprouts, grows and grows and eventually becomes a large, bushy tree. To see proof of this, go to the grocery store, buy a jar of mustard seeds from the spice aisle, and plant one seed in a paper cup at home. Water it, put it into the sunshine, and soon a plant will be springing to life and zooming in rapid growth. (Note: The mustard seed spoken of in this scripture is the Eastern Black Mustard seed, which is extremely tiny. The yellow seeds you buy in your grocery store can demonstrate the spiritual principle of amazing growth, but they won't become the bush that grows in Israel.)

Today you'll have an opportunity to plant a mustard seed in God's kingdom somewhere. The seed might be as small as a word of encouragement that you give to a co-worker or a neighbor who's feeling upset. Little words of hope, when planted with prayer and God's power, take root even if the people you give them to forget what you said. The mustard seed you gave them will sprout into renewed strength that helps them work through their problems.

And unless the soil of their soul is hard and rocky, these young sprouts will develop branches that will spread hope in new directions, affecting more areas of their lives. The branches will develop leaves that provide them with shade from the heat of their difficulties, giving them endurance, so that they can strive forward to a solution that they hadn't noticed before you entered their garden to provide seeds of encouragement, when they were still feeling angry and discouraged.

The mustard saplings will continue to grow as they become stronger in confidence, because confidence grows out of experiences that provide evidence that there's reason to hope. The next time a similar problem happens, the mustard tree will shade them from despair.

This tree will further develop into one that's big enough to provide leafy branches that others can "nest" in. This is what Jesus meant by the birds that come to dwell in the tree's branches. The people in whom you sowed your itty bitty seeds will someday pass hope onto others by sharing the strength that they gained while growing through their hardships.

We won't know the extent of the impact we make until we die and enter into the fullness of the kingdom of God. Purgatory will be a time of deep, inner heart-ache as we learn what happened when we withheld our seeds because we thought they were worthless. Heaven will be the discovery that even our tiniest gestures of holiness have made a beautiful difference.

God rejoices over every little thing we do for his kingdom.

Today's Prayer:

My Lord, You have placed inside my heart the seed of Your Kingdom and the desire to follow You. Thank You Lord, for this gift, fruit of Your Love. Make it grow inside me and may it be poured out onto those who are looking for You with all their hearts. Amen.

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Three layers of evangelization

Matthew 13:24-43

(1) Nurture your own faith-growth: In the kingdom of God, we are like good wheat growing amidst weeds. This takes effort; the weeds will take over if we're not working daily at growing in holiness. What have you been doing to prevent the weeds around you from taking over and strangling your holiness? How is your faith life benefiting from living in the midst of non-believers and evil? Your Father-Creator is empowering you to grow.

(2) Invite others to conversion: In the kingdom of God, we are like the tiniest of seeds that grow into a bush so large that others benefit from our growth. Who is benefiting from your faith? How is your spiritual growth inviting them into a closer relationship with Jesus? The Holy Spirit is empowering you to evangelize others if you're willing to minister to them using what you've learned from your experiences.

(3) Transform society: In the kingdom of God, we are like yeast that helps the whole batch swell up and mature into the bread of life that nourishes others. What are you involved in, as a Christian, that improves the world? Is your faith making a difference in your workplace, your community, and your parish? During Mass, as you receive the nourishment of the Eucharist, you are empowered to become Eucharist for the world. Mass ends with Christ commissioning you, through the presider, to be the yeast of goodness that affects those around you.

Questions for Personal Reflection:Maybe you never saw yourself as an "evangelist", but you are! This is your calling as a baptized Christian. Which of the above three areas of evangelization are you most actively doing? Which needs more of your attention?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:Give an example from your own life (or from the life of someone you know or have heard about) that illustrates one of the three goals above. What about the other goals? Make sure that, in your discussion as a faith sharing group, examples are given for all three goals of evangelizat

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Run With Perseverance

Our life can be a long and sometimes difficult race. We often grow weary and are in great need of rest. But this race is not like any we have ever run. We do not compete against the other runners, nor do we all even run the same course. We run the race marked out by our Heavenly Father; and yet, we ALL must strive toward the same finish line.

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

Perseverance means "to persist in spite of opposition or discouragement." But the original Greek includes the idea of patience and a determined endurance. We are therefore being told to patiently run the race, and to keep on running with determination and endurance, in spite of opposition or discouragement. What a wonderful picture!

Hindrances to our race can be represented by weeds which try to wrap around our legs and slow us down. This "sin that so easily entangles" can often be difficult to even recognize. We may be running a clear path without a hint of weeds; everything has been going well and we feel immune to the temptations of this world. But without our eyes fixed on Jesus - without our heart fully trusting Him for every step - our path can become covered before we even realize there is a problem.

We must maintain an acute awareness of the condition of our path. Weeds are not acceptable and must be cleared away (the word of God and prayer is an excellent weed killer!). There are no circumstances where weeds add beneficial "flavor" or excitement - they ALWAYS hinder!!

Please remember that our race is a long marathon, not a quick sprint. In order to persevere, we must prepare for many hills and valleys (and weeds) along the way. We must develop a burning desire to one day boldly say; "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). Jesus endured the cross (finished the race) because of "the joy set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2). And if we will keep our eyes on Jesus as our eternal joy, we "will not grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12:3).

No matter what this day may bring, we must persist with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus until we hear Him say: "Well done, good and faithful servant....Come and share your Master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:23). Some days we may only be able to take small baby steps, but still we must continue and run with the sole purpose of bringing Him glory and honor in ALL we do. Our race can be filled with joy and peace, but we must commit to a life of absolute trust and run with perseverance!

At Rotondo Italy

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Beatitudes

GospelMT 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 
He began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

The true meaning of 'blessed are the meek'

The beatitudes in today's Gospel reading contain a word, a description of Christian living, that is very misunderstood in our modern language: the word meek. "Blessed are the meek" does not mean "Blessed are the pushovers" or "Blessed are the victims of abuse who don't protect themselves" or "Blessed are the quiet ones who don't speak up against injustices."
In the dictionary, the word "meek" is defined as "showing patience, humility, and gentleness." But we tend to understand it more often by its other definition: "easily imposed upon; submissive due to being deficient in spirit and courage."
Jesus modeled meekness for us. So did his Blessed Mother. Think about it: How could they deal with the tough circumstances of their lives if being meek means being deficient in spirit and courage? In fact, holy meekness requires a very strong personality. It's a bold strength that enables us to refuse to be impatient, prideful, or pushy. Rather than being a pushover, a meek Christian is one who will not push over someone else.
To be meek like Jesus means standing up firmly for the truth without insisting on being believed. It means holding fast to the truth without casting pearls before swine by forcing it upon those who refuse to listen. It means letting your desires be known without demanding your own way.
Christian meekness is confidence -- but gently rather than arrogant or forceful or abusive. It's calm assertiveness. It's an unassuming but noticeable presence that does not draw attention to one's own self for the sake of being the center of attention but instead points to Jesus.
Holy meekness means setting healthy boundaries for your life and, with the strength of God, asserting these boundaries so that others cannot overstep them unless you choose to allow it for a greater good.
It means freely and lovingly, with good discernment, choosing when to make sacrifices, which you share with Jesus on his cross.
It means being a peacemaker in the midst of a battle, even as a troublemaker drawing attention to the battle so that a solution can be found.
In the kingdom of God, a meek person is anything but a wimp! Only with true meekness can we "inherit the land", i.e., receive as God's children everything that belongs to his kingdom. No one who's deficient in spirit and courage can obtain that.
The key to understanding how to be meek is to remember the word "love." To be meek is to be strong in whatever ways strength is needed -- but always with love. We have the spirit and courage to love even during life's toughest trials.

http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2017-06-12

Work for God not for men

When your life on this earth is said and done what do you want to be remembered for?  What do you want others to think about when they think on your life?  It is important that we ask ourselves these simple questions from time to time so that we can see if we are living life purposefully.  So many times we are on the go with our daily routines from sun up to sun down, but at the end of the day did we really accomplish anything?  I believe we should make each new day count.  When we do things purposefully we will be accountable to the time that we have been entrusted with.  That is why I believe we should go back to basics that bring true meaning to life.  The Lord Jesus declares in Matthew 22:37-39 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”  When we take time to seek God in prayer our day will go better because the Bible says that God will reward those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) (Matthew 6:27-34)

Our main job in life is to love God, live a life that is pleasing to Him and then do our best to love our neighbor, to be there for them in their time of need and to help elevate their life to greater heights as we would wish would be done to us in our time of need.  We can’t merely say that we love God without acting in the same manner as our words proclaim.  Our words must be backed up with action.  We must pray purposefully, we must devote our time to the Lord purposefully, we must act kindly, thoughtfully and lovingly towards others purposefully knowing that their life will become better because of our simple interaction with them.  That will be a life well lived because it will be lived in love and we know through the Scriptures as well as through living life that love never fails, that love covers many faults and that love welcomes all no matter their shortfalls or setbacks.  Let us always be mindful to shower down blessings upon those around us that will never be forgotten or erased from their minds. (1 Peter 3:8-12) (Luke 6:30-36)

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Holy Trinity

What does Scripture tell us about God and how he relates to us?

What does Scripture tell us about God and how he relates to us? When God met with Moses on Mount Sinai and made a covenant with the people of Israel, he revealed the nature of his character and his personal love for them: "The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy and faithfulness'" (Exodus 34:6). God is all-loving, faithful, merciful, and forgiving by nature. God's love is supreme because it directs, orders, and shapes everything he does.Love and judgment Scripture tells us that God is all just and all loving. How does his love and justice go together? God opposes sin and evil with his just wrath (his righteous anger) and right judgment - and he approaches sinful people and evil doers with mercy ("slow to anger" and "ready to forgive") and discipline ("fatherly correction" and "training in righteousness"). John the Evangelist tells us that the Father sent his Son into the world - not to condemn but to redeem - not to destroy but to heal and restore. Paul the Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God does not desire the death of anyone (Ezekiel 18:23,32, Ezekiel 33:11, Wisdom of Solomon 1:13). Instead he gives us the freedom to choose between life and death - good and evil. When we choose to sin and to go our own way apart from God, we bring condemnation upon ourselves. Sin draws us away from God and leads to a spiritual death - a death that is worse than physical loss of life because it results in a hopeless life of misery and separation from God's peace and joy. Jesus was sent on a rescue mission to free us from slavery to sin and death and to bring us the abundant life which will never end. His death brought us true freedom and abundant new life in his Spirit - as well as pardon, reconciliation and adoption as sons and daughters of God. Jesus took upon himself all of our sins and nailed them to the cross (Colossians 2:14). His death was an atoning sacrifice for our sins and a perfect offering to the Father on our behalf. We can find no greater proof of God's love for fallen sinful humanity than the cross of Jesus Christ. "To ransom a slave God gave away his Son" (from an early Christian hymn for the Easter vigil liturgy). Jesus' mission was motivated by love and obedience. That is why he willingly laid down his life for us. Jesus told his disciples that there is no greater love than for a person to willingly lay down his or her life for a friend (John 15:13). Jesus loved us first - even while we were captives to sin and Satan - in order to set us free and make us friends and beloved children of God. Believing in the Son of God Do you believe that Jesus personally died for you - for you alone - simply because he loved you? Scripture tells us that God knew each one of us even before we were knit in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13, Jeremiah 1:5). We were created for a purpose - to be united with God and to share in his love and glory now and forever. Augustine of Hippo wrote: "God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love." God's love is complete and perfect because it is wholly directed towards our greatest good - to make us whole and to unite us in a perfect bond of love and peace. That is why God was willing to go to any length necessary to save us from slavery to sin and death. How does God's love bring healing, pardon, and wholeness to our lives? God's love has power to set each one of us free from every form of bondage to sin - whether it be bondage to fear and guilt, pride and greed, envy and hatred. We can only know the love of God and experience his healing power to the degree that we put our faith in him and surrender our lives to his will. Faith is the key that opens the door to Christ and to his healing power in our lives. But for faith to be effective we must act and do our part. That is why faith requires repentance and obedience - turning away from unbelief and disobedience - and turning to the Lord with a believing heart and listening ear. That is why Jesus said, "whoever believes in me is not condemned" (John 3:18). To believe that Jesus is the only Son of God who died for our sins is the key that opens the door to his presence and work in our lives. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). The Lord Jesus knocks at the door of your heart - will you listen today and open at once? Triune nature of God The Lord Jesus has revealed to his disciples the great mystery of our faith - the triune nature of God and the inseparable union of the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' mission is to reveal the glory of God to us - a Trinity of persons - God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and to unite us with God in a community of love. The ultimate end, the purpose for which God created us, is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity. The Jews understood God as Creator and Father of all that he made (Deuteronomy 32:6) and they understood the nation of Israel as God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). Jesus reveals the Father in an unheard of sense. He is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son, who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father (see Matthew 11:27). The Spirit, likewise, is inseparably one with the Father and the Son. The mission of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit are the same. That is why Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will reveal the glory of the Father and the Son and will speak what is true. Before his Passover, Jesus revealed the Holy Spirit as the "Paraclete" and Helper who will be with Jesus' disciples to teach and guide them "into all the truth" (John 14:17,26; 16:13). In baptism we are called to share in the life of the Holy Trinity here on earth in faith and after death in eternal light. Clement of Alexandria, a third century church father, wrote:"What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos (Word) of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her 'Church'." We can know God personally How can we grow in our understanding and experience of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Father and the Son to us and who gives us the gift of faith to know and understand the truth of God’s word. Through baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord renews the gift of the Spirit in each one of us as we open our hearts with expectant faith and yield to his work in our lives. Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them the Spirit of truth who would be their Teacher and Guide. Ask the Lord Jesus to renew in you the gift of the Holy Spirit who strengthens us in the seven-fold gifts of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence, and holy fear in God's presence (Isaiah 11:2-3).

PRAYER

May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure throughout the unending succession of ages. PSALM 8:4-9 What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than the angels, and have crowed him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;  you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! https://www.kairos-eme.org/