For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Mt.6:21
Jesus exhorts me to store my treasures in heaven. Why? For it is there that not only my present but also my future lies.
So, what are my treasures, the things of greatest value to me? Those I love would be up in the list. My faith in Jesus.
It's good to remember what are my true treasures. The tries to seduce me with sparkling bling. It's just reconstituted dust that mouth and first week eventually consume.
The more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2Cor.9:6,7
Generosity or parsimony. These say a lot about my inner soul. God loves the generous spirit for he is the father of all generosity.
I'm currently visiting Rome, beggar central. From among the hundreds of beggars I will encounter today, I need to know who to give to and who to withhold from.
Come Holy Spirit, help me see as you see and be generous in response.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.
We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from affectation. 2Cor.6,6
Purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness and love. I am made in the image of God, not the image of man. When I see myself rightly, I live up to that image.
Lord, help me see myself through your eyes and act accordingly.
Saint Paul the Apostle, please pray for me.
So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.
2Cor.5:20
Paul explains clearly the role of all believers. We are ambassadors for Christ.
Being an ambassador implies that I go out into foreign lands. Going out means leaving the comfort of home, it means taking risks. I'm not meant to be a "homebody". I'm an ambassador, an ambassador for Christ.
Saint Paul, pray for courage so I may go out and appeal to those in "foreign lands" to be reconciled to God.
Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.
Lk.10:9
Jesus instructs the seventy two prior to their mission trip. The mission's objective is simple. Cure the sick and preach the Gospel.
This mandate is unchanged today and is for all believers. Cure the sick, preach the Good News. The faith of the first action gives authority to the second.
When did I last pray for healing with someone and then tell them the good news of Jesus?
Saint Anthony of Padua, please pray for me to have boldness in faith for healing and zeal in preaching the Gospel.
For he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith.
Acts.11:24
Barnabas is sent as emissary to the fledgling Church at Antioch. His credentials are goodness, faith and the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas is famously remembered as "the son of encouragement". His goodness and faith either welcomed the Holy Spirit or were the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
I want the credentials of Barnabas. Goodness and faith are gifts of the Holy Spirit that I wish to possess so, like Barnabas, I can edify and build up the Church.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your light shine before all,
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father.
Alleluia!Mt.5:16
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name. My soul, give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings.
Ps.102(103):1,2
David encourages his soul to never forget the blessings of God. He builds an attitude of gratitude.
Gratitude involves all my being; body, soul and spirit. I can sing of God's goodness, meditate on God's goodness, pray thanks to God for his goodness.
An attitude of gratitude makes me look up, not down, regardless of circumstances. What a great way to walk into my day!
Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his Holy name!
