Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-05-04, Optional St. Faustina

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 10-05-04 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

October 5, 2004
Tuesday of the Twebty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Psalm: Tuesday 43 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading I
Gal 1:13-24

Brothers and sisters:
You heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it,
and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when he, who from my mother's womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas
and remained with him for fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
(As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.)
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that "the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
So they glorified God because of me.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

R (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Gospel
Lk 10:38-42


Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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Alleluia Ping!

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Through the mediation of St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-38), Jesus has given us a teaching on God's mercy, and a new form of devotion known as the Divine Mercy. The devotion centers on veneration of the image of the merciful Jesus. The image was described by the Lord to Sister Faustina, a Polish nun, and then painted by her. The Divine Mercy devotion includes recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, celebration of the feast of Divine Mercy the first Sunday after Easter, and keeping holy the hour of Christ’s death.

On Sept. 13, 1935, in Vilnius (now the capital of Lithuania), Jesus "dictated" the words of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to Sister Faustina. It is important to note that this took place after a vision of an angel, "the executor of Divine wrath," during which the mystic nun, terrified, began to "implore God for the world with words heard interiorly." This was recorded in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul (I, 196-197) [Stockbridge, Mass.: Marians of the Immaculate Conception, 2001; subsequent quotes are also from this source]. The next day Christ taught Sister Faustina to pray the chaplet, which she called "the prayer that serves to appease the wrath of God" (I, 197).

[Pyro7480]

I forgot today is St. Faustina's feast day! Thanks for reminding me!

[Salvation]

St. Faustina Kowalska

A New Doctor of the Church? (Why St. Faustina Deserves This Rare Honor and Title)

Inculturation at Papal Masses; next, Poland and St. Faustina

Divine Mercy

Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Miracle Cure Brings Sainthood to Polish Nun (Divine Mercy)

The Message of Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy

[Salvation]

From: Galatians 1:13-24


God's Call (Continuation)

---

[13] For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted
the church of God violently and tried to destroy it; [14] and I
advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so
extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. [15] But when
he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through
his grace, [16] was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I
might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and
blood, [17] nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles
before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to
Damascus.


[18] Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and
remained with him fifteen days. [19] But I saw none of the other
apostles except James the Lord's brother. [20] (In what I am writing
to you, before God, I do not lie!) [21] Then I went into the regions of
Syria and Cilicia. [22] And I was still not known by sight to the
churches of Christ in Judea; [23] they only heard it said, "He who once
persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy; [24]
And they glorified God because of me.

---

Commentary:


13-14. The Acts of the Apostles tell us about Paul's religious zeal; a
Pharisee, he had studied under Gamaliel (cf. Acts 22:3; Phil 3:5) and
had consented to and been present at the martyrdom of Stephen (cf. Acts
7:58; 8:1). Saul had stood out as a persecutor of Christians, so keen
was he to seek them out and imprison them, even going beyond Judea to
do so (cf. Acts 9:1-2). Clearly he had been a man convinced of his
Jewish faith, a zealous keeper of the Law, and proud to be a Jew (cf.
Rom 11:1 ; 2 Cor 11:22). Such was the fear the early Christians had of
him that they could not bring themselves to believe in his conversion
(cf. Acts 9:26). However, this same fervor and passion, to use St
Augustine's comparison (cf. "Contra Faustum", XXII, 70) was like a
dense jungle--a serious obstacle and yet an indication of immensely
fertile soil. Our Lord sowed the seed of the Gospel in that soil and it
produced a very rich crop.


Everyone, no matter how irregular his life may have been, can produce
good results like this--with the help of grace, which does not displace
nature but heals and purifies it, and then raises and perfects it:
Courage! You...can! Don't you see what God's grace did with
sleepy-headed Peter, the coward who had denied him..., and with
Paul, his fierce and relentless persecutor?" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way",
483).


15-16. More than once in Scripture we read about God choosing certain
people for special missions even when they were still in their mother's
womb (cf. Jer 1:5; Is 49:1-5; Lk 1:15; etc.). This emphasizes the fact
that God makes a gratuitous choice: there is no question of the
person's previous merits contributing to God's decision. Vocation is a
supernatural divine gift, which God has planned from all eternity. When
God made his will known on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:3-6), St
Paul "did not confer with flesh and blood", that is, did not seek
advice from anyone, because he was absolutely sure that God himself had
called him. Nor did he consent to the prudence of the flesh, seeking to
"play safe": his self-surrender was immediate, total and
unconditional. When the Apostles heard Jesus inviting them to follow
him, they "immediately left their nets" (Mt 4:20, 22; Mk 1:18) and
followed the Master, leaving everything behind (cf. Lk 5:11). We see
the same thing happening in Saul's case: he responds immediately. If he
makes his way to Ananias, he does so on the explicit instructions of
Jesus--in order to receive instruction and Baptism and to discover what
his mission is to be (Acts 9:15-16).


God's call, therefore, should receive an immediate response. "Consider
the faith and obedience of the Apostles", St John Chrysostom says.
"They are in the midst of their work (and you know how attractive
fishing is!). When they hear his command, they do not vacillate or lose
any time: they do not say, 'Let's go home and say goodbye to our
parents.' No, they leave everything and follow him [...]. That is the
kind of obedience Christ asks of us - not to delay even a minute, no
matter how important the things that might keep us" ("Hom. on St
Matthew", 14, 2). And St Cyril of Alexandria comments: "For Jesus also
said, 'No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for
the Kingdom of God', and he looked back who asked permission to return
home and speak to his parents. But we see that the holy Apostles did
not act in that way; rather they followed Jesus, immediately leaving
the boat and their parents behind. Paul also acted immediately. He 'did
not confer with flesh and blood'. That is how those who want to follow
Christ must act" ("Commentarium in Lucam", 9).


A person has a duty to follow Christ even if his relatives are opposed
to his doing so or want him to delay making a final decision, perhaps
because they feel that would be the more (humanly) prudent course: "A
person should honor his parents, but God he should obey. We should love
the one who has begotten us, but the first place should be given to him
who created us", St Augustine says, not mincing words ("Sermon 100").


Even if we are unsure as to whether we are strong enough to persevere,
this should not delay us or concern us: it should simply lead us to
pray confidently for God's help, because, as Vatican II teaches, when
God calls a person, he "must reply without taking counsel with flesh
and blood and must give himself fully to the work of the Gospel.
However, such an answer can only be given with the encouragement and
help of the Holy Spirit [...]. Therefore, he must be prepared to remain
faithful to his vocation for life, to renounce himself and everything
that up to this he possessed as his own, and to make himself 'all
things to all men' (1 Cor 9:22)" ("Ad Gentes", 24).


17-20. After a period of time devoted to penance and prayer, St Paul
made his way to Jerusalem (cf. Acts 9:26-30) to see Cephas, that is,
Peter. His stay of two weeks is an important indication of Paul's
recognition of and veneration for Peter, chosen as he had been as the
foundation stone of the Church.


In subsequent generations, right down the centuries, Christians have
shown their love for Peter and his successors, traveling to Rome often
at great personal effort and sometimes, even, risk. "Catholic,
apostolic, "Roman"! I want you to be very Roman. And to be anxious to
make your 'path to Rome', "videre Petrum"--to see Peter (J. Escriva,
"The Way", 520). Solidarity with and veneration for the Pope is, then,
a clear, practical sign of good Christian spirit.


"James the Lord's brother" (cf. notes on Mt 12:46-47 and 13:55) is,
most commentators think, James the Less (cf. Mk 15:40), also called the
son of Alphaeus (cf. Lk 6:15) and author of the letter which bears his
name (cf. Jas 1:1).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

You're welcome!

[Salvation]

From: Luke 10:38-42


Martha and Mary Welcome Our Lord

---

[38] Now as they went on their way, He (Jesus) entered a village; and a
woman named Martha received Him into her house. [39] And she had a
sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His
teaching. [40] But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she
went to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me
to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." [41] But the Lord answered
her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things;
[42] one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good position, which
shall not be taken away from her."

---

Commentary:


38-42. Our Lord was heading for Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) and His journey
took Him through Bethany, the village where Lazarus, Martha and Mary
lived--a family for whom He had a special affection, as we see in other
passages of the Gospel (cf. John 11:1-14; 12:1-9).


St. Augustine comments on this scene as follows: "Martha, who was
arranging and preparing the Lord's meal, was busy doing many things,
whereas Mary preferred to find her meal in what the Lord was saying.
In a way she deserted her sister, who was very busy, and sat herself
down at Jesus' feet and just listened to His words. She was faithfully
obeying what the Psalm said: `Be still and know that I am God' (Psalm
46:10). Martha was getting annoyed, Mary was feasting; the former
coping with many things, the latter concentrating on one. Both
occupations were good" ("Sermon", 103).


Martha has come to be, as it were, the symbol of the active life, and
Mary that of the contemplative life. However, for most Christians,
called as they are to sanctify themselves in the middle of the world,
action and contemplation cannot be regarded as two opposite ways of
practising the Christian faith: an active life forgetful of union with
God is useless and barren; but an apparent life of prayer which shows
no concern for apostolate and the sanctification of ordinary things
also fails to please God. The key lies in being able to combine these
two lives, without either harming the other. Close union between
action and contemplation can be achieved in very different ways,
depending on the specific vocation each person is given by God.


Far from being an obstacle, work should be a means and an occasion for
a close relationship with our Lord, which is the most important thing
in our life.


Following this teaching of the Lord, the ordinary Christian should
strive to attain an integrated life--an intense life of piety and
external activity, orientated towards God, practised out of love for
Him and with an upright intention, which expresses itself in
apostolate, in everyday work, in doing the duties of one's state in
life. "You must understand now more clearly that God is calling you to
serve Him IN AND FROM the ordinary, material and secular activities of
human life. He waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the
operating room, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the
factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all the
immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is something
holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it
is up to each of you to discover it [...]. There is no other way.
Either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we
shall never find Him. That is why I can tell you that our age needs to
give back to matter and to the most trivial occurrences and situations
their noble and original meaning. It needs to restore them to the
service of the Kingdom of God, to spiritualize them, turning them into
a means and an occasion for a continuous meeting with Jesus Christ" ([St] J.
Escriva, "Conversations", 114).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Faustina was born in 1905 near the town of Lodz, Poland and
was baptized Helena Kowalska. At the age of twenty, Helena left
home and joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of
Mercy. Upon entering religious life Helena took the name Faustina,
the by which she was known for the rest of her life.

In 1934 Faustina was encouraged by her spiritual director to begin
keeping a diary. In this diary, entitled "Divine Mercy in My Soul"
Faustina recorded profound revelations and several mystical
experiences where Jesus appeared to her. In these visions Jesus
addressed Faustina as "Secretary of My mercy" and "Apostle of My
Mercy." He gave Faustina the instructions that grew into the Chaplet
of Divine Mercy and the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday.

St. Faustina died of tuberculosis in 1938 after predicting the coming
war to the sisters of her community. After her death, devotion to the
Divine Mercy spread rapidly through Poland and throughout the
world. St. Faustina was the first saint of the new millennium to be
canonized. She was canonized on April 30, 2000.


QUOTE OF THE DAY

Apostle of My mercy, proclaim to the whole world My unfathomable
mercy. -Revelation to St. Faustina


TODAY IN HISTORY

869 4th Council of Constantinople (8th ecumenical council) opens
1938 Death of St. Faustina


TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Fourth Council of Constantinople was convened by Pope Adrian
II and its six sessions spanned from October 5, 869 until February
28, 870. This council was attended by more than one hundred
bishops and reaffirmed the condemnation of the iconoclastic heresy
issued at the Second Council of Nicea. This council also deposed
Photius as patriarch of Constantinople and restored Ignatius to this
position. This was the final ecumenical council held in the east and
was the first to be called "ecumenical" by historians in the eleventh
century.


INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray that more people may encounter the mercy of the Lord
and use it to come closer to Him.

[Salvation]

[Salvation]

Tuesday, October 05, 2004
St. Faustina, Virgin (Optional Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Galatians 1:13-24 Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15 Luke 10:38-42 Therefore gird up your minds, be sober, set your hope fully upon the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."  -- 1 Peter 1:13-16

[Salvation]

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

October 5, 2004

St. Faustina

(1905-1938)

St. Mary Faustina's name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy (celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter), the divine mercy chaplet and the divine mercy prayer recited each day by many people at 3 p.m.

Born in what is now west-central Poland (part of Germany before World War I), Helena was the third of 10 children. After age 16 she worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses.

In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, generously serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, she also had a deep interior life. This included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors.

At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. “I do not want to punish aching mankind,” he once told St. Mary Faustina, “but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart” (Diary 1588). The two rays emanating from Christ's heart, she said, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus' death (Gospel of John 19:34)

Because Sister Mary Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God” (Diary 1107).

Sister Mary Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and canonized her in 2000.

Comment:

Devotion to God's Divine Mercy bears some resemblance to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In both cases, sinners are encouraged not to despair, not to doubt God's willingness to forgive them if they repent. As Psalm 136 says in each of its 26 verses, “God's love [mercy] endures forever.”

Quote:

Four years after Faustina's beatification, Pope John Paul II visited the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy at Lagiewniki (near Krakow) and addressed members of her congregation. He said: “The message of divine mercy has always been very close and precious to me. It is as though history has written it in the tragic experience of World War II. In those difficult years, this message was a particular support and an inexhaustible source of hope, not only for those living in Krakow, but for the entire nation. This was also my personal experience, which I carried with me to the See of Peter and which, in a certain sense, forms the image of this pontificate. I thank divine providence because I was able to contribute personally to carrying out Christ's will, by instituting the feast of Divine Mercy. Here, close to the remains of Blessed Faustina, I thank God for the gift of her beatification. I pray unceasingly that God may have 'mercy on us and on the whole world' (chaplet of Divine Mercy).”

[Askel5]

One thing is necessary.
Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken from her.

---

............................ †JMJ† ............................
-- Tuesday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time --
......................... † AMDG † .........................

FIRST READING – Gal 1:13-24
God was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles.

For you have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion: how that, beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it. And I made progress in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

But when it pleased him, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, immediately I condescended not to flesh and blood. Neither went I to Jerusalem, to the apostles who were before me: but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went to Jerusalem, to see Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles I saw none, saving James the brother of the Lord.

Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ: But they had heard only: He, who persecuted us in times past, doth now preach the faith which once he impugned: And they glorified God in me.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 138 (139): 1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
Deduc me, Dómine, in via æterna.
Lead me, Lord, in the eternal way.

(It’s so beautiful -- putting the whole thing in and bolding today's excerpts.)

DOMINE, PROBASTI
God’s Special Providence over His servants.

Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me: Thou hast know my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue. Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.

Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present. If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.

And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures. But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well. My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.

Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened. I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee. If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me: Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain. Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pine away because of thy enemies? I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.

Prove me, O God, and know my heart:
examine me, and know my paths.
And see if there be in me the way of iniquity:
and lead me in the eternal way.

--------------------------------
4 There is no speech... Viz., unknown to thee: or when there is no speech in my tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to thee.
20 Because you say in thought... Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose.
22 I have hated them... Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance of God's commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to be considered enemies to God.


ALLELUIA – Luke 11:28
Beáti qui áudiunt verbum Dei, et custódiunt.
R. Alleluia, alleluia
Blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia


GOSPEL – Luke 10:38-42
Martha welcomed him into her house.
Mary has chosen the better part.

Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word.

But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her therefore, that she help me.

And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.

---

[Askel5]

Everyone, no matter how irregular his life may have been, can produce good results like this--with the help of grace, which does not displace nature but heals and purifies it, and then raises and perfects it: Courage! You...can! Don't you see what God's grace did with sleepy-headed Peter, the coward who had denied him..., and with Paul, his fierce and relentless persecutor?"

Amen.

[Askel5]

Following this teaching of the Lord, the ordinary Christian should strive to attain an integrated life--an intense life of piety and external activity, orientated towards God, practised out of love for Him and with an upright intention, which expresses itself in apostolate, in everyday work, in doing the duties of one's state in life.

Legion of Mary bump ... I'm really glad I discovered them.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Let the Lord Show You Where the Real Joy Is!
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Tuesday, October 4, 2004

Galatians 1:13-24; Luke 10:38-42

We are great worriers, every last one of us. In the course of a week, the range and quantity of things that we allow ourselves to worry just a little about, or perhaps a lot, is truly remarkable. Like the obese person who nibbles constantly without realizing it and then is astonished when the day’s nibbling is totaled in pounds and ounces, almost all of us would be astounded if the weight of our worries could be laid before us so graphically.

Worry steals from us the best parts of our lives, but it doesn’t have to. Worry can only get a foothold if we allow it. And that’s why Jesus addressed Martha so firmly in today’s Gospel. “Martha,” he said, “you are worried and upset about many things; one thing only is required.”

We have the power to choose what we give our attention to. The challenge for each of us is to see and then to choose decisively what’s worth giving our time and our hearts to. Don’t fritter your life away with baskets and bales of what in the end amounts to nothing. Let the Lord show you “the one thing only that is required.”

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Tuesday, October 05, 2004 Meditation Galatians 1:13-24 His encounter with the risen Christ changed everything. From that point on, Paul understood his life in terms of “before” and “after” Jesus revealed himself on the Damascus Road. Upon setting out, he had been an upright Jew filled with zeal for the Lord, but also violently opposed to the followers of Jesus, whom he considered blasphemous. But when Jesus did reveal himself, the whole orientation and purpose of Paul’s life shifted. Now he lived only to serve the one he had so recently persecuted. Many of us can point to our own “before-and-after” story. Like Paul, we were going full steam ahead with our own agenda and plans. They may have been noble goals such as professional advancement or financial security. Or perhaps they were personal plans such as travel, marriage and family, or pursuing a new sport or hobby. There may have even been not-so-healthy goals ruling us, such as substance abuse, immorality, or self-centeredness. Whether our goals were self-indulgent or noble, they were ours, and we pursued them wholeheartedly. But then we encountered Christ and said yes to him, just as Paul did. And then our lives changed dramatically. Do you remember what it was like? Today, take Paul’s example as a springboard for your own prayer. Take some time recalling your own pivotal faith experiences. When did you decide to stop living for yourself and start living for Jesus? What situations brought about a deepening of your initial conversion? Just as Paul was clear on the experience that brought him to Christ, try to get your own conversion experience straight. Whether it was dramatic, like Paul’s, or profound in its simplicity, frequently recalling it will help you fight against temptation and doubt and better equip you to evangelize when the opportunity arises. In another letter, Paul wrote that whatever had been important to him in the past—be it honorable or dishonorable—had lost its significance when compared with knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:4-10). Throughout his ministry, Paul constantly testified that a life lived for Christ is so much better than a life spent chasing after our own interests. May our lives testify to the exact same truth! “Father, I praise you for your generous love. Thank you for pouring your life into my heart through Jesus! I recommit myself to live only for Jesus. He is all I need, and in him I have nothing to fear.”

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 6

<< Tuesday, October 5, 2004 >>

Galatians 1:13-24

Psalm 139

Luke 10:38-42

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LISTEN UP!

“Lord, are You not concerned?” —Luke 10:40

God knows everything we need before we ask (Mt 6:8). Before a word is even on our tongue, God knows it (Ps 139:4). So God is certainly aware of the details and frustrations in our efforts to serve Him. Indeed, “He has been concerned about” our struggles (Dt 2:7). Many times in our struggles, God sends the help we need, gives us extra fortitude to bear our burdens of service, or assists us by lightening our load. So, if God hasn’t come through by sending help, there are probable reasons for His “delay”:

1. God is calling someone to help us, and they are not yet ready or willing to help. In this case, we need to be patient and continue to serve Him diligently.
2. God is allowing us to bear extra burdens for a reason known only to Him. In His wisdom, He finds it more important that we continue to persevere in carrying our cross than for our cross to be lightened (see Lk 9:23).
3. God could be saying by His delay that He considers discipleship a higher priority than service to Him. For example, perhaps Jesus would have asked Mary to help Martha once He had finished talking to her.

Service to Jesus flows out of the discipleship relationship, not vice versa. Far better to first listen to Jesus and hear Him tell us how to serve Him than for us to simply start serving Him without first consulting Him. A soldier knows to first receive the order from his commanding officer, and then act. Likewise, as disciples of Jesus, we must lay our struggles and frustrations at His feet, listen for our orders, and then respond.

Prayer: Father, each morning open my ears to hear You (Is 50:4).

Promise: “He who was formerly persecuting us is now preaching the faith he tried to destroy.” —Gal 1:23

Praise: Trying to conduct works of service bore only resentment in Maria’s heart until she met Jesus and sat at His feet. Out of that love, her new sense of service flourished.