Thirteenth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim! Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph.

To be truly free, we must be willing to give up our selfish and sinful pursuits and choose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. This free choice can be a difficult one and the Devil will do everything he can to convince us that we are enslaving ourselves unnecessarily. He will try to convince us it is better to rule ourselves, then to be ruled by righteousness and goodness. However, his assertion is a lie... as are all his temptations. The choice we are given may be made of our free will, but in the end, we are choosing who will be our master... God or the Devil. Good or Evil. Justice or Injustice.

Are we seeking good and avoiding evil? How can we cultivate a deeper love of the good and a hatred of evil? What can we do to make the right choice and choose God over ourselves?

O Lord, we choose you above all.

Amen.

The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"  Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."  So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Jesus’ kingdom does not belong to this world and if we want to be part of it, then we cannot belong to this world either. We must foster within our souls a holy detachment from worldly things and people. Our trust should be in God and our energies should be focused on knowing, loving, and serving God and His children to the best of our abilities. We are also called to listen to God’s voice within our hearts and testify to the truth even if doing so causes us to be persecuted or undergo other troubles in our lives. It is far more important to suffer temporary trials and tribulations and become a child of God’s heavenly kingdom, then to be worldly creatures and suffer eternal separation from God because of our selfishness. As followers of Christ, we should always choose life with God over death in sin.

Do we believe Jesus is our King and Savior? How do we make our beliefs known through our thoughts, words, and works? Have we formed a spirit of holy detachment from the things and people of this world?

O Lord, you are our King and we belong to you.

Amen.

Eleventh Saturday of Ordinary Time

No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

We can't serve God and the world at the same time. One or the other takes priority, which one is up to us. We can choose to know, love, and serve God or we can choose to live worldly lives. We might try to convince ourselves there is a middle ground, but there will always be conflicts of interests between God and the world and we will constantly face a choice of who or what is our true master. Hopefully, we are strong enough in faith, hope, and love to choose God. But if not, then let us pray to be given the strength to break free from the chains of worldly interests and desires so we can live free as the children of our Lord.

Who or what is our current master? What can we do to resist the tempting calls of the world around us? How can we break free of those things that keep us from devoting ourselves to God?

O Lord, we want only to know, love, and serve you, our true master.

Amen.

Seventh Tuesday of Easter

I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.

Jesus constantly prays for us before our Heavenly Father and we glorify him by accepting God’s Mercy and living out our lives as an example of His love for His children. By leaving us to do God’s Will, Jesus gives us a chance to become like him and think, speak, and do the right and good thing no matter the cost or suffering. And like him, if we act in faith, hope, and charity we will one day be able to come to the Father. Till that day, we are called to be in the world, but not of it. Our actions should be focused on God and His children and then we shall know the peace that comes with acting rightly and well.

Do we reflect upon the fact that we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters? How do we glorify our Brother, our Father, and our Advocate? How can we be of God and not of the world?

O Lord, pray for us that we might glorify you through our every thought, word, and work.

Amen.

Fifth Tuesday of Lent

You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.

Jesus belongs to His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. Together they form the Holy Trinity and it is to these three persons in one God that we should belong, not the world. It is easy for us to be caught up in worldly things. They are right in front of us. We can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch them. God, however, is seemingly invisible to us. We only believe He is there through our faith, hope, and love. We do not know for certain, but we trust He is there. To belong to what is above requires a leap of faith, a hopeful persistence, and an enduring love that is willing and able to dedicate itself to the unseen.

What are the worldly things in our lives that we belong to? What are the heavenly ones we need to attach ourselves to? How do we remind ourselves that God is with us?

O Lord, we want to belong to what is above. We want to belong to you.

Amen.