Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends, in thy conduct, His likeness shall see.
- William Dunn Longstaff
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SIR 5:1-8; PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6
MK 9:41-50
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
"Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,
with what will you restore its flavor?
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."
Reflection on the Scriptures |
What is the millstone that pulls us away from a right path? Do we struggle with greed? Jealousy? Perhaps we tell white lies or manipulate to achieve our ends. I can judge too quickly. Too often I fail to put others’ needs above my own. Jesus’ words challenge us to be introspective enough to see our flaws so that we can then choose to remedy those flaws. I have no
intention of removing any body parts, as Jesus imagines in his teaching… but I can mindfully and with discipline act better than my nature. I can have the humility to claim my imperfection yet not be “overconfident” in carelessly clinging to my imperfections as an excuse to then expect forgiveness. I can strive to be better, to be closer to God, to move further from my sinful nature, and to have the humility to ask for help and for the forgiveness that comes through Jesus Christ.
What can I do to rid myself of my millstone? What prayers do I need from this community to support me on my path? We can all act – and we can all ask for help within our community of faith – to minimize our sins and maximize God’s grace.
- by Kimberly Grassmeyer
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 56
“God is nearer to us than our own soul”
“We can never come to full knowing of God till we know first clearly our own Soul”
AND thus I saw full surely that it is readier to us to come to the knowing of God than to know our own Soul. For our Soul is so deep-grounded in God, and so endlessly treasured, that we may not come to the knowing thereof till we have first knowing of God, which is the Maker, to whom it is oned. But, notwithstanding, I saw that we have, for fulness, to desire wisely and truly to know our own Soul: whereby we are learned to seek
it where it is, and that is, in God. And thus by gracious leading of the Holy Ghost, we should know them both in one: whether we be stirred to know God or our Soul, both [these stirrings] are good and true.
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