Tagged: message of the day

PRAYER CHANGES ?

“One of His disciples asked Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ ” –Luke 11:1 Sometimes our prayer is a projection of our own self-hatred rather than a communication with God. For instance, Abraham began interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah by saying: “See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes!” (Gn 18:27) Later in his prayer, Abraham begged God not to become impatient (Gn 18:30) or angry (Gn 18:32) with him, as if God could be impatient or angry. Abraham projected his own problems onto God. Eventually, Abraham quit interceding for Sodom...

WEED LOVERS

“Do you want us to go out and pull them up?” –Matthew 13:28 The farmer in Jesus’ parable of the wheat and weeds says something I’ve never heard a farmer or gardener say before. He says that you shouldn’t pull up the weeds because “you might take the wheat along with them” (Mt 13:29). It seems that Jesus’ wheat and weeds are much more intertwined than those of other people. This is a scary thought. It’s bad enough to put up with the weeds much less having to be closely connected to them. Jesus doesn’t want us intertwined with the...

PERSEVERANCE

“I will rise then and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek Him Whom my heart loves.” –Song of Songs 3:2 When we think of Mary Magdalene, we recall her intense love for Jesus. She received this love from the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22; Rm 5:5). She received the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way because of her perseverance. Just as Elisha received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit by persevering in sticking with him (2 Kgs 2:1ff), so Mary Magdalene received the Spirit’s gift of love through her perseverance. When almost all Jesus’...

IN LOVE AGAIN

“I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved Me as a bride, following Me in the desert, in a land unsown.” –Jeremiah 2:2 Remember when you first fell in love with Jesus? Remember what a joy it was to pray? How you loved to be with God and with His people! How you would praise Him in English and other languages! Remember when… Many, however, have lost their first love (Rv 2:4). They still believe; they still pray and serve the Lord. But it’s not the way it was. “Sluggish indeed is this people’s heart” (Mt 13:15). The...

THE RADICAL NEWNESS OF LIFE AFTER BAPTISM

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.” –Jeremiah 1:5 For the next two weeks at daily Mass, the Church reads to us from the prophet Jeremiah. Initially, Jeremiah balked at accepting God’s call to prophesy. He tried the excuse that he was too young (Jer 1:6). God did not accept this excuse (Jer 1:7). Throughout much of Jeremiah’s life, he continued to have problems answering God’s call, although he was for the most part faithful to the Lord. Many Christians can relate to Jeremiah because they too are ambivalent in...