Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary.
Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race,
but only one wins the prize?
Run so as to win.
Every athlete exercises discipline in every way.
They do it to win a perishable crown,
but we an imperishable one.
Thus I do not run aimlessly;
I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.
No, I drive my body and train it,
for fear that, after having preached to others,
I myself should be disqualified. 1 Cor 9:22-27
Jesus told his disciples a parable:
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” LK 6:39-42
Today, St. Paul is trying to motivate us to train ourselves in the ways of Christ, virtues, so that when we are called to lead others we do not put ourselves above them. If we do, we risk being a hypocrite, and most importantly risk our salvation. It is easy to become self-righteous. Paul finishes by telling us to give all. If we are going to give ourselves to Christ and seek our heavenly homeland, hold nothing back. We are not called to be comfortable or reserved. Bishop Barron says to live in a “risky freedom”. This requires supreme trust, something I lack. Jesus responds, “Do not be afraid”. Timely news during a pandemic.
Jesus continues His teaching on how to treat our neighbor. He warns us to choose carefully who we follow. When we find teacher who is not self-righteous, but recognizes his/her own need for salvation and is humble, this is the teacher or spiritual director we must listen to to train ourselves. Obviously, Jesus is the Master teacher but it is important to have a spiritual director, too. Someone we can ask questions and who will guide us in the ways of prayer, suffering, training in virtues, and pushing us to “run so as to win the race”.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
We are trying to run the race into heaven. So far, I have taken only a few steps into it…
I can relate to this passage by helping out my friends and family in difficult times. I can also think about my actions before i do them. I will be more selfless and think about other people or things before me.
We must work on our own faith and our own way of life before we can help others. We should do our best in the little and the big things.
The scripture is talking about how u can help others. I can u this in my life is helping others and me.
You have to keep running towards God and Jesus. We can’t stop running towards God because if we do we lose.
The parable with the wooden beam is a great parable . Jesus teaches that you should strengthen your own faith and then go out and teach what you know. To make sure you are equipped with the knowledge to teach.
This teaches us to live not to come in second he wants us to come the whole way don’t pray just to participate. Pray to love God pray to be first, to get to heaven. To love God to save yourself from eternal suffering. Do not be telling people how to be religious if you yourself do not go to mass. Do not guide others to a treasure you do not posses or know how to posses. In doing so you are like the hypocrites pray yourself before you can see clearly and really know what is right and what is wrong.
We stand in a world God gave us. He brought us here and he’s above. He’s watching us stand with our faith, and when we’re asked the question of what we believe, he’s there. The Father is there. Here’s the parable Jesus tells us in the gospel.
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”
We can’t remove the beam from our brother’s eye before we do our own. It’s simple. We can’t be intent to pray and love God when I’m not removing my own. Not my brother’s.
This scripture is telling me to help myself before i can help other people so I can see what is wrong without seeing the other stuff.