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There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should never worry about anything whatsoever.
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Gandhi
(What worries or anxieties do you have at this time? "Cast all your anxieties and worries onto Him, for He cares for you." 1 Pt. 5:7)
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Daily Readings
1 JN 2:22-28; PS 98:1,
2-3AB, 3CD-4 Jn 1:19-28 This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who
are you?”
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so
we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the
Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was
baptizing.
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.) John 1: 19-28 Jesus and John We now return to a familiar theme:
John the Baptist is precursor to the Messiah. Like John, it is important that we, too, recognize our limitations. * How does selfishness limit your experiences of creation, work, and relationships with other people? * How do you usually respond to selfishness? Think about the next
twenty-four hours and anticipate a time when selfishness will probably tempt you. Pray for the grace to respond in love.
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) ____________ BOOK IV: OF THE DECAY AND RUIN OF CHARITY Chapter 6: That we ought to acknowledge all the love we bear to God to be from God Well then, tell me now, miserable creature, what hast thou done in all this of which thou canst boast? Thou didst consent, I know it well; the motion of thy will did freely follow that of heavenly grace. But all this, what is it more than to receive the divine operation without resistance? And what is there in this, that thou hast not received? Yea, poor wretch that thou art, thou didst receive the receiving in which thou gloriest,
and the consent which thou vauntest: for tell me, I pray thee, wilt thou not grant me, that if God had not prevented thee, thou wouldst never have perceived his goodness, and consequently never have consented to his love? No, nor yet hadst thou thought a single good thought of him. His movement gave being and life to thine, and if his liberty had not animated, excited and provoked thy liberty, by the powerful invitations of his sweetness, thy liberty had been for ever unprofitable to thy
salvation. I confess thou didst co-operate with the inspiration by consenting, but, if thou knowest it not, I teach thee that thy co-operation took being from the operation of grace and thy freewill together, yet so, that if grace had not prevented and filled thy heart with its operation, never had thy heart had either power or will to co-operate.
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