Produce Fruit

I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

Mt.21:43

Jesus has just told the parable of the treacherous tenants to the chief priests and elders. Jesus clearly states it is they who will lose what God has given them while it is given to others who produce its fruit. 

There's an obligation that comes with receiving the Good News of Jesus. I am expected not to sit on this treasure and horde it for myself but to share and multiply it. I am expected to evangelise. 

The Alpha Course is one way to produce fruit from God's Kingdom. Who can I invite today?

Jesus, give me a zeal to step up and step out for you. Lord I want to produce good fruit for you. Place in my path today people who haven't experienced your love.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Noble and Generous Heart

Gospel Acclamation    cf. Lk8:15

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless glory! 

Happy are they who have kept the word with a generous heart 

and yield a harvest through perseverance. 

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless glory!

Today's Gospel Acclamation is drawn from Luke 8:15 where Jesus is explaining the parable of the sower to his disciples. The rich soil that receives the seed and produces plenty are people with "noble and generous hearts" who hear God's word and act on it.

Lately, this verse has become a reset button for me. When I find myself tempted or embroiled in sin I ask myself, is what I'm doing or contemplating noble and generous? The answer is usually no and makes me pull back. Today is a good time to push the reset button and regain a noble and generous heart in all I do.

Jesus, you have the most noble and generous of hearts. I take you as my role model this day.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Less is More

The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.

Mt.23:12

Jesus has just called out the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who are great at preaching the law but not so great in practicing it. He then gives this antidote to prideful attention seeking... humility.

I am a sinner. That is a good starting point. I struggle with lust, greed, judgement and pride. But all is not lost, all is never lost. That is the good news. I am called again and again to turn back to God. 

Today Jesus even shows me how to do this. Practice humility, be a servant. Then I will be given exaltation from the one who matters most, Jesus himself. Today, less is more.

Jesus, you know my struggles. Thank you Lord for continuing to pursue me. Lord, you are the Servant King. Teach me your ways today that I may follow you more closely.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Higher up and Further In

You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Mt.5:48

Jesus has just given the command that we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us so that we may be sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven.

The bar has been placed by Jesus so that it is always higher than us. No matter how holy and pious I think I'm doing, I'm not perfect. This means I can never be complacent, that there's always a stretch involved in living my Christian life. 

I'm called to live the best version of myself. Jesus' call to perfection means I'm always called to grow, that I always have that urge to go "higher up and further in" as Aslan calls to the children in the Narnia Chronicles. What an exciting way to live out my day today.

Lord Jesus, I hear your call to go higher up, further in. Help me push the envelope of my life today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Ask Seek Knock

Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.
Mt.7:7,8

Jesus reminds us that when we initiate seeking God, he always responds. We are never left ignored.

The first reading about Esther shows the source of  her great courage, her confidence in asking God. She asked, she searched, she knocked and as we know, God came through. 

We all have areas where we need God to come through. I certainly have a list of requests that I pray through each day. I just need to keep asking, seeking, knocking and God will show up in those situations.

Jesus, you are the God who shows up. Thank you for the times you have already done that in my life. I place before you the prayer intentions of my day and I praise you for the work you will do.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Forgive Anyway

Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
Mt.6:15

Jesus has just given The Lord's Prayer as an example of how to pray. He underscores the verse on forgiveness by emphasising the result that follows when I forgive and when I don't.

The problem I have with forgiveness is that appears to let perpetrators of wrong get away with it. Forgiveness taken out of context can look this way. However, when I read verses in scripture on what God has to say about the wicked, I am reminded no one gets away with it. As we read in today's Psalm;

The Lord turns his face against the wicked to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

The Lord turns his eyes to the just and his ears to their appeal.

So what am I left with? Firstly, leave judgment up to God and work on being be the perpetrator of outrageous grace. Secondly, make sure I'm not in the camp that has its remembrance destroyed from the earth.

Jesus, you pleaded for forgiveness for those who were nailing you to the cross. Help me be a pleader for mercy rather than a plotter for revenge. 

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Option for the Poor

Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’

Lk.5:32

After responding to Jesus' call to follow him, Matthew hosts a party in Jesus' honor. This includes other tax collectors and people of "ill repute". The Pharisees are offended but Jesus defends his position saying it is for these very people that he has come.

Jesus' position is my position. It is the people outside the fold, the unchurched, that have my preferential option. This is the focus of our Alpha Course. All are welcome but our preferential option is for the poor (of spirit).

Lord Jesus, your heart is for the sick and the broken. Give a heart for those that break yours.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.