True Religion

You must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called.

1Tim.6:12

Paul writes to Timothy, warning him of the distractions of pride, pointless arguments and love of money. The Godly life is full of faith, love, patience and gentleness.  

I shouldn't be surprised that the early Church had the same distracting arguments and factions as today. Human nature is what it is. The only difference today are the topics being argued. 

Catholic social media arguments are depressingly similar to those of the unchurched. Why you should be vaccinated, why you shouldn't, why you should oppose government attacks on "freedoms", why there is a plot to control your mind... yadda yadda yadda. Distractions and disunity that Satan will be relishing.  I don't see Jesus being lifted up anywhere.

I'm just as prone to be sucked into this downward vortex of noise. The antidote? True religion consisting of faith, love, patience and gentleness. Let's try and practice these today.

Jesus, it's hard sometimes to hear you through the noise. Help me always have an ear inclined to your voice and stay focussed on the life you call me to.
Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Lift Him Up

The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Jn.3:14,15

Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, explaining what belief in him gains... eternal life.

What is death is the final question everyone must face. Is it a black hole into nothing or a door into everything? My mother, after ninety two years of atheism, faced this question four days before she died and concluded it must be the door into everything and became a believer. Her eleventh hour belief gained her eternal life. Thank you Jesus.

People don't realise they have a choice unless Jesus is lifted up. They must be told. My life is a book others can read. I need to be sure it tells the right story, that it lifts Jesus up so people may believe and have eternal life.

Thank you Jesus for the people you placed in my life that lifted you up and helped me believe. Help me be the same to those you place in my life today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

Hear Act

Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock.

Lk.6:47,48

Jesus insists that listening to his words is not enough. I must act on them or ruin for my household will follow.

Good foundations are crucial.  This well known parable of the wise man building his house on the rock contains sobering words. They highlight how my actions, or lack of them, affects not only me but my household, my family. 

So, how do I lay good foundations for my household? According to Jesus, hearing his words then acting on them. The process starts with hearing. My morning prayer is time of less noise, I time when I can hear. Acting on what I hear follows throughout the day. Acting requires intention. That can be tough but it's possible... one day at a time, starting with today.

Jesus, I hear you plain enough. Help me act on your words so I can lay a strong foundation for my household.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

 

Mercy and Grace gives Faith and Love

 

Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.

1Tim.1:13,14

Paul writes of what his conversion involved from God, mercy and grace, and what was the result in his life, faith and love.

This is true of my own conversion. Mercy and grace rescuing me from ignorance and filling me with faith and love. If I want to have any effect in a non-believer's life the starting point is showing them mercy and grace, even if they are persecuting what I hold dear. Today I need to be a channel of mercy and a flood of grace.

Jesus, you rescued me by your mercy and grace. Help me be a channel of mercy and grace to those I meet today.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

The Face of Love

Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.

Col.314,15

Saint Paul lists all the virtues that should be active in a believer's life. They are the natural ourworking of love, peace and gratitude.

Paul lists compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness. This is the attractive face of the Church that draws people in. 

The opposite is coldness, cruelty, pride, harshness, impatience, intolerance and judgement. This is the ugly face of the Church that repels. 

I'm a member of the body. What virtues and vices do people see in me? God's word and the words of those close to me are my mirrors. 

Jesus, help me root out my vices and foster my virtues so I can more authentically reflect you.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for me.

What a Friend I've Found

Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

Mt.1:22,23

Following the long genealogy of Jesus, Matthew writes of the circumstances of Jesus' birth. Mary is silent in these verses, all action focussing on Joseph and his wrestling with what to do. It's high drama that can only be made sense of by the words of the prophet Isaiah, "they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us."

God becoming man. This is unique to our Christian faith. Jesus being Emmanuel, God with me, stops him from being some distant, cold deity. He is my friend, my best friend right beside me. I am never alone, I always have his assured presence, he is the source of my joy today.

What a friend I've found 

Closer than a brother 

I have felt your touch 

More intimate than lovers 

Jesus, Jesus 

Jesus, friend forever

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.

Full of Thanksgiving

You must live your whole life according to the Christ you have received – Jesus the Lord; you must be rooted in him and built on him and held firm by the faith you have been taught, and full of thanksgiving.

Col.2:6,7

Paul writes to demonstrate that Christ is supreme over every human philosophy and accomplishment. The believer must choose to be rooted, built and held by faith in Christ, all bound together by an overarching gratitude. 

It is good for me to recall what Jesus has done for me. It stirs my faith and brings on gratitude. Thankfulness is a natural consequence of faith. An optimist tends to be a person full of hope who is always thankful. They are contagious, which is why they're great to hang around. 

Today I choose to be a man full of thanksgiving.

Thank you Jesus for the freedom, peace and joy you have given me. I will speak of your love forever.

Saint Philip Neri, please pray for us.