Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life. . . . If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.
- St. Teresa of Avila
(Perspective! What, then, are the true priorities?)
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1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
Lk 4:31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
“What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out.”
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
Reflection on the Scriptures
If the past year and a half or so has taught us anything it’s that we don’t know what’s going to happen or when. “When people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden disaster comes upon them.” I thought when there was a vaccine and then when it was widely available that everything would just be ok again. But it’s not. There are variants, and not everyone is vaccinated, and we still need to be on guard and
take precautions. We are starting back to school here at Creighton with everyone vaccinated, but we still don’t know for sure what’s going to happen. The plan is to be in school in person like normal. I hope that works out. But I still need to be on guard, be careful, and do my best to stay safe.
Like we need to be alert and on guard for the return of the Lord. We don’t know when it will happen or what it will look like. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.” The Thessalonians thought it would be any minute. They expected the return, like, that year. It’s been 2000 years and we’re still waiting, but we can’t slack off. We need to stay alert and stay positive. We didn’t expect this past year,
and we don’t know what the next will bring. We don’t know what will happen or when, but we need to be alert, do what’s right, and be ready to respond.
- by Tamora Whitney
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three
Article 8: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
III. GOD'S SPIRIT AND WORD IN THE TIME OF THE PROMISES
Expectation of the Messiah and his Spirit
712 The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory,"80 speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11:
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.81
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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