Monday March 18th 2nd week of Lent
It was a crazy weekend and I am sorry for not getting out the daily blog. Generosity as we see in Chapter 11 is a wonderful gift to share because if we do not share our generosity then it quickly becomes the greed and grasping of “never enough”. In choosing to be generous we are choosing the abundance of love rather than the scarcity. It all begins with love of God and then follows the many loves that we have. Generosity is also linked to prudence, the wise use of the treasures God has given to us. Living and choosing prudent generosity is calculating how much or how little I can share, that again leads to greed and grasping, but to see the need in front and respond as Jesus would, with our full self. It fres us from selfishness and leads us into true fruitful relationships of love. As Matthew Kelly writes…”the Gospel liberates us from selfishness by inspiring us to be generous.” (58) How are generously living the Gospel Today? and “How is god inviting you to become more generous?”(59) If you wish to share, please comment. God Bless
Chapter 6 Tuesday 12 March 2019
Matthew Kelly continues to explore the theme of “Who is this Jesus guy?” noting that each of us must answer this question from our own personal relationship with Jesus. To “know” Jesus we must look with eyes of hope and faith into the moments and events in our lives. For example: in talking with parents seeking to share their faith with adult children who are doubting or not practicing we often talk about how they experience God and to share how this effects the way they live their lives. Jesus isn’t a God of convenience rather he desires a relationship with us that is daily, fruitful and full of life. A little video from Bishop Robert Barron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG77k-xLpz8
Chapter 5 (Monday 11 March 2019)
Mt. 16:13-20 In the Gospel of Matthew we hear this wonderful conversation between Jesus and his disciples where he asks “Who do you say that I am?” ending with the declaration by St. Peter. We also know that St Peter will then deny Jesus but return again to him because he “knows” the Lord. This too is our Lenten call..to return to Jesus because we know him and want to know him better. I would encourage you to go the following link at formed.org and listen to Dr. Scott Hahn’s talk entitled “The Fourth Cup” where he shares his insights on “Christ’s Paschal Sacrifice on the Cross” https://formed.org/listen/56ba021b084df3e40bdf0b72.
If you do not have the parish code please go to our parish website or look in our weekly bulletin for the code for your free subscription. http://www.stlucy-campbell.org/
( Sunday 10 March 2019)
Sorry I missed my post yesterday. It was a busy day at the parish with our Confirmation Retreat, Confession for our Vietnamese Religious education children and then Mass. As I noted in the video, Sunday is a day to look back at the previous weeks readings and take time to understand the lessons and hear God’s voice calling us to a deeper relation with Jesus Christ. Yesterday at the Confirmation retreat one of the ideas I hope the young people took away was from a Pentecost homily by Pope Francis where he reminded us we are called to “unity in our diversity.” Yes, Jesus is the way to heaven, but just as the twelve Apostles were each unique in the calling, we too must understand our “uniqueness” as a gift from God in getting to know Jesus better. If all are friends were exactly the same our life would be poorer for it. Today we are reminded Jesus wants our gifts, our unique gifts to be given and shared, to be grown in the abundance of God’s love.
Please, if you wish share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Thursday after Ash Wednesday #2
We are invited into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ…don’t be afraid to open your heart, to share your fears, to celebrate your joys with Jesus this day. We are asked, How would we describe Jesus? Take time to write it down, share it as a family or with friends…look deeper than just the outward. God Bless.
Share your answer in the comments if you wish.