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Immortality, holiness and living according to the virtues of Jesus Christ constitute living proof of our Godly-orientation. Our progress in perfection as we consciously live according to the image and likeness that is Jesus Christ is measured by our meaningful service to God, sharing God's freedom to do at all times the holy will of God.
- George Maloney, "The Uncreated Energies of God"
(What service can you do today to help further peace on earth?)
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PHIL 1:1-11; PS 111:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
LK 14:1-6
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully.
In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking,
“Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?”
But they kept silent; so he took the man and,
after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them
“Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern,
would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”
But they were unable to answer his question.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“My prayer is that your love may more and more abound, both in understanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really matter, up to the very day of Christ.” —Philippians 1:9-10
Paul prayed that the Philippians would “learn to value the things that really matter.” He wanted their relationship with Christ to shine a light on their priorities, surpass them in importance, and cause them to reappraise all as loss (Phil 3:7-8). Once the Philippians forfeited everything because of their love for Jesus and accounted all else rubbish, Christ would truly be their Wealth (Phil 3:8). Thus they would have
learned to value the things that really matter by valuing the One Who really matters, Jesus Christ.
Do your priorities seem insane to those “set upon the things of this world”? (Phil 3:19) Are others surprised or even threatened by the changes in your life? Are you worth persecuting? (see 2 Tm 3:12) Has your relationship with Jesus had a dramatic effect on your lifestyle? Does your life make sense only to those who know Jesus personally? Are you “crucified to the world”? (Gal 6:14) Do you “find that the world hates you”?
(Jn 15:18) Is your lifestyle in the same Spirit as that of the early Church after Pentecost?
Unless Jesus is Lord of our lifestyle, He’s not Lord of our lives.
Prayer: Father, may my lifestyle be a clear prophecy of Your presence, love, and truth.
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING THE ASSISTANCE RENDERED BY THE FATHERLY PROVIDENCE OF GOD TO THOSE SOULS WHO HAVE ABANDONED THEMSELVES TO HIM
SECTION II. Diversity of Grace
The afflictions which the soul is made to endure are but loving artifices of God which will, one day, give it great joy.
Souls that walk in light sing the canticles of the light; those that walk in darkness sing the songs of the darkness. Both must be allowed to sing to the end the part allotted to them by God in the great Oratorio. Nothing must be added to the score, nothing left out; every drop of bitterness must be allowed to flow freely at whatever cost. It was thus with Jeremias and Ezechiel whose utterances were broken by tears
and sobs, and who could find no consolation except in continuing their lamentations. Had the course of their grief been interrupted, we should have lost the most beautiful passages of Scripture. The Spirit that afflicts can also console; these diverse waters flow from the same source. When God appears angry the soul trembles; when He threatens it is terrified. The divine operation must be allowed to develop, for with the evil it carries a remedy; so continue to weep and to tremble; let
restlessness and agony invade your souls, make no effort to free yourselves from these divine terrors, these heavely troubles, but open your hearts to receive these little streams from that immense sea of sorrows which God bore in His most holy soul. Sow in sorrow for as long as grace requires, and that same grace will gradually dry your tears. Darkness will disappear before the radiance of the sun, springtime will come with its flowers, and the result of your abandonment will be seen in the
admirable diversity of the divine action. Indeed it is quite useless for man to trouble himself; all that takes place in him is like a dream. One cloud chases another like imaginations in the brain of the sleeper, some sorrowful, others consoling. The soul is the playground of these phantoms which follow each other with great rapidity, and on awaking it feels that, in all this, there is nothing to detain it. When these impressions have passed away it takes no notice of the joys or sorrows of
dreams.
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