Tuesday - March 01, 2022
“Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the Passion of Christ deeply embedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it can they derive peace, grace, and truth.”
– St. Anthony of Padua
TUESDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 348
1 PT 1:10-16
Beloved:
Concerning the salvation of your souls
the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours
searched and investigated it
investigating the time and circumstances
that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated
when it testified in advance
to the sufferings destined for Christ
and the glories to follow them.
It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you
with regard to the things that have now been announced to you
by those who preached the Good News to you
through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,
things into which angels longed to look.
Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly,
and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Like obedient children,
do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance
but, as he who called you is holy,
be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
for it is written, Be holy because I am holy.
Responsorial Psalm 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4
R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
Alleluia MT 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MK 10:28-31
Peter began to say to Jesus,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
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How is God Stretching You?
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus says, "There is no one who has given up home, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children or property, for me and for the Gospel who will not receive in this present age a hundred times more...."
Do you believe that God is more generous than you could ever be? As Christians, whenever we hold back from being generous, it's probably because we're afraid that God is not going to be generous to us.
I know. I've wrestled with this myself. In August of 2009 when I hired the first employee for Good News Ministries, I was both excited about it and nervous. In my heart, I knew I could trust God to keep providing the extra funding this would require. But would more donors be willing to serve God by helping me with this added expense? The following December, during our annual fundraising appeal, one of my readers offered to completely sponsor that staff member's salary. Praise the Lord!
And the lesson keeps growing: Since then, the staff has multiplied and God has continued to provide support for personnel, equipment, and office space through the generosity of readers who champion the difference we are making in people's hearts for the Kingdom of God. Our motto is: Jesus leads, Grace provides.
Does this mean it's become easy for me to trust God? Not at all! God keeps stretching me as Good News Ministries continues to grow and our outreach continues to expand and our technology tools continue to need support and upgrades.
What distrust or worry has God asked you to give up? All letting go is hard. The root reason is this: We're afraid that God won't replace what we lose, yet he wants to give us even more! Or else we're insisting that we get back what we've lost, while God wants us to fill that hole with new, different blessings.
I began to learn this in the early 1980s when I was the leader of a prayer group and the editor of the monthly Charismatic Renewal newsletter for my diocese. God wanted me to give up both ministries so that I could take better care of myself during my second pregnancy, but that didn't make sense, because no one else in the prayer group was willing to lead and no one at the newsletter had the editorial skills that I had. After weeks of refusing to believe that God really did want me to quit, I noticed that the problems created by my not quitting were getting larger. I decided to trust God's advice.
As a result, my new-found free time evolved into writing articles that were published in Christian magazines. Just as I'd expected, the prayer group fell apart, but something new and better grew up in its place. And God sent a new editor to the newsletter who did a better job than I had done.
We need Spirit-filled discernment to identify what God wants us to give up when it's time to let go of it. Then we must trust Jesus as we accept the changes. Such trust always rewards us with new adventures, new paths, new friends, new ministries, and new blessings that are a hundred times better than what we've given up.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, strengthen my faith to place all my trust in You and to believe in Your promises of blessings for my life. I want to be faithful to You, both in joy and in hardships. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
The Rosary FamilyThe mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
How is God Stretching You?
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus says, "There is no one who has given up home, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children or property, for me and for the Gospel who will not receive in this present age a hundred times more...."
Do you believe that God is more generous than you could ever be? As Christians, whenever we hold back from being generous, it's probably because we're afraid that God is not going to be generous to us.
I know. I've wrestled with this myself. In August of 2009 when I hired the first employee for Good News Ministries, I was both excited about it and nervous. In my heart, I knew I could trust God to keep providing the extra funding this would require. But would more donors be willing to serve God by helping me with this added expense? The following December, during our annual fundraising appeal, one of my readers offered to completely sponsor that staff member's salary. Praise the Lord!
And the lesson keeps growing: Since then, the staff has multiplied and God has continued to provide support for personnel, equipment, and office space through the generosity of readers who champion the difference we are making in people's hearts for the Kingdom of God. Our motto is: Jesus leads, Grace provides.
Does this mean it's become easy for me to trust God? Not at all! God keeps stretching me as Good News Ministries continues to grow and our outreach continues to expand and our technology tools continue to need support and upgrades.
What distrust or worry has God asked you to give up? All letting go is hard. The root reason is this: We're afraid that God won't replace what we lose, yet he wants to give us even more! Or else we're insisting that we get back what we've lost, while God wants us to fill that hole with new, different blessings.
I began to learn this in the early 1980s when I was the leader of a prayer group and the editor of the monthly Charismatic Renewal newsletter for my diocese. God wanted me to give up both ministries so that I could take better care of myself during my second pregnancy, but that didn't make sense, because no one else in the prayer group was willing to lead and no one at the newsletter had the editorial skills that I had. After weeks of refusing to believe that God really did want me to quit, I noticed that the problems created by my not quitting were getting larger. I decided to trust God's advice.
As a result, my new-found free time evolved into writing articles that were published in Christian magazines. Just as I'd expected, the prayer group fell apart, but something new and better grew up in its place. And God sent a new editor to the newsletter who did a better job than I had done.
We need Spirit-filled discernment to identify what God wants us to give up when it's time to let go of it. Then we must trust Jesus as we accept the changes. Such trust always rewards us with new adventures, new paths, new friends, new ministries, and new blessings that are a hundred times better than what we've given up.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, strengthen my faith to place all my trust in You and to believe in Your promises of blessings for my life. I want to be faithful to You, both in joy and in hardships. Amen.
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