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Never believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; never tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary - and that God is listening while you tell it.
- William Penn
(Discipline of the tongue: a key to self-control. See James 3:1-12.) |
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Col 1:1-8; Ps 52:10,
11 Lk 4:38-44 After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and
they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that
he was the Christ. At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of
Judea. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to
the holy ones.” —Colossians 1:1-2 Paul called Christians “saints,” that is, holy ones (see Col 1:4). He usually began his letters thanking God for the holiness of his Christian brothers and sisters. He called all the saints to grow in holiness. We are called to be holy in every aspect of our conduct (1
Pt 1:15). We are to be holy as God the Father is holy (1 Pt 1:16). We should want to be holy even more than we want to be selfish. Moreover, we should delight with God to see people living holy lives and growing in holiness. May our heart’s desire be that God the Father’s name be hallowed (Mt 6:9), that is, recognized as holy, because of the holiness of His children. In heaven, “day and night, without pause, they sing: ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty’ ” (Rv 4:8). May our holy lives
constantly sing the holiness of the thrice-holy God: “Holy, holy, holy...” Prayer: Father, may I live and die to be holy. Promise: “At sunset, all who had people sick with a variety of diseases took them to Him, and He laid hands on each of them and cured them.” —Lk
4:40 Presentation Ministries
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Two, Encountering the Risen Christ Chapter 4: Christian
Community - Selected quotes Another implication is that as individual cells, we exist for the Body, and not for ourselves. The old self has died and the new one
lives by the Life of the Body, which is the Spirit. We are given the grace of faith for our individual salvation and spiritual enrichment, that is true. But almost more importantly, we are given faith for the salvation and enrichment of others. Every part of the Body is needed; to withhold ourselves from the Body is to deprive other Christians of the gifts we have been blessed with to minister to them.
This last point is especially important, I think. As noted above, the Spirit blesses us with gifts for the sake of the Body. Everyone who has been baptized and who has faith has received seeds of these gifts, or charisms. It is not a question, then, whether you have been gifted, but of learning what your gifts are, and of finding ways to use them. What you discover when you do so is that the exercising of your
gift opens you to the flow of the Spirit, who blesses others through your gifts. Blessings given and received, a marvelous dynamic of grace! But apart from the Christian community, we do not come to awareness of our gifts—or not very deeply, I’m convinced—and we don’t experience the blessings that come when we share our gifts. Paperback and eBook versions
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