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Consciousness, Conversion and Grace
A 5-week webinar series presented by Carla Mae Streeter, OP
- Feb. 21, 28; March 7, 14, 21. 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Central
- Free-will donation
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(In the midst of a financial crisis)
“For myself, I think the greatest happiness of this life is to be released from the cares and formalities of what is called the world. My world is my
family, and all the change to me will be that I can devote myself unmolested to my treasure.”
- St. Elizabeth Seton
(There is something about hard times that helps us to affirm our true priorities. What might those be
for you?) |
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LV 19:1-2, 11-18; PS 19:8, 9, 10,
15
MT 25:31-46
Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before
him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill
and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to
those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your
needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"You did it for Me." –Matthew
25:40
What are we to do? Sometimes we "stand by idly when [our] neighbor's life is at stake" (Lv 19:16). We can easily be remiss in serving the poor, hungry, thirsty, refugees, sick, and imprisoned (see Mt 25:42ff).
Sometimes we do something, but it is the wrong "something." We are busy about many things (Lk 10:41), but we may not have chosen the better part, that is, listening to Jesus (Lk 10:39, 42).
We may do
things at the wrong time. For example, we may try to remove the specks of sin from others' eyes before we have removed the plank of sin from our own eyes (Mt 7:5).
How much are we to do? Sometimes we should quit nagging others to do God's will. We should be quiet and prayerfully trust the Lord to complete His
work (see Is 30:15). At other times, we may plant one seed and wait for it.
But the Lord commands to do more and to sow bountifully (see 2 Cor 9:6).
We can be wasting our lives by doing nothing or doing the wrong thing. Lent is the time to make sure that we do not "spend what remains of [our] earthly life on human desires but on the will of God" (1 Pt 4:2).
PRAYER: Father, I will work "while it
is day," for "the night comes on when no one can work" (Jn 9:4).
PROMISE: "Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." –Lv 19:18
mycatholic.com
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Theological Gems from Emile Merch's Theology of the Mystical Body - selected by Jim and Tyra Arraj
Book III: Christ
Chapter 13: Revelation and the Trinity
410. -- this knowledge is inner light
412. -- God produces knowledge by union, by becoming really and hypostatically one with a man (Jesus) who is really and mystically one with all Christians. This knowledge
exists only in union with God and His interior light.
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Please support this outreach with a tax-deductible donation.
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