Prayer Prompt before reading LK 16:9-15 Come, Holy Spirit, teach me how to pray well, interpret the Scriptures for me so that I may know the Truth about who God the Father is and God the Son so that I may know who I am.
“YOU JUSTIFY YOURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF OTHERS, BUT GOD KNOWS YOUR HEARTS.” LK 16:9-15
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
Jesus teaches us what is disgusting in the sight of God; “human esteem” honors and awards glorify self not God who made us. When we put our trust in earthly goods instead of completely trusting in Him we become anxious and worry. Mammon means “that which one trusts” according to the NAB Bible.
The Pharisees loved money. In our culture we see some people who love sports and skip Mass to go to the Chiefs game. Most of us worship our cell phones. Some people use social media to ruin someone’s reputation. This is a serious sin. Some of us love to play video games on our devices (not evil in and of itself, but if we don’t pray or spend time helping others it becomes a distraction).
Some of us love to listen to music not evil in and of itself, but we are being formed by some of the ideas and if we fall asleep listening to music and not praying it becomes harmful. Some of us love to watch Netflix for hours (binging on anything is unhealthy and excludes God-how about we binge on God!).
I’m pretty sure I have done most of these. The point is God doesn’t need much of our time for prayer to remind us how much He loves us. Silence to think about what is distracting us or leading us into sin. It’s important to take time to reflect and figure out who we are. It’s important to take time to form an intentional relationship with the One who gave us life.
The One whose love forgives us into eternity when we choose to come to Him as a poor sinner begging for mercy. Certain things matter more than others and certain decisions carry more weight than others. It takes time to grow, make mistakes, and learn what truly matters in life.
What did Jesus say to the Pharisees (us sometimes)? “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts.” God knows you better than you know yourself, He sees everything and knows your heart, your intentions. We can’t hide the intentions of our hearts with God, maybe others, but not God. We are deceiving ourselves. What is the intention of your heart? God must be above all else because He gave us our very life as a gift out of love. We have no life if it is not for God. “I am loved, therefore I am.” -Jeremy Driscoll, OSB
God is complete in Himself, He doesn’t need us. We can’t add anything to Him by our accomplishments. He doesn’t need sacrifice, we need sacrifice. He created us because He found love to be such a wonderful thing He wanted to share it. He wanted to share Himself with us. That is what love is to give ourselves away.
Our life is that gift of love, we must rise each day and give Him glory and thanksgiving for our breath, our life, and a Savior who died so we could get back to the Father who is crazy in love with us. This is our purpose, what we are made for, to be a saint.
How can we start showing God we love Him back and thank Him for this great gift of life and His Son? Rise early in the morning to pray and read the Scriptures, putting on the armor of God. Recognize we need His mighty powers to fight Satan and our fallen human nature and to carry our daily crosses as His followers.
After you have read the Truth and listened to Jesus speak to your heart in silence, make sure to go to Mass before you cheer on the Chiefs. On weekend sports tournaments, look up Mass times (CatholicMasstimes.org) so we can give glory to God that we are even able to compete and be healthy. Use our cell phones sparingly and what they are intended for instead of wasting hours on them. Put them down when we are driving recognizing life is too precious (This is tough).
We can put Catholic apps (Laudate, Hallow, Ascension Presents) and a Bible app to read and inspire us with quotes from the saints everyday to help us battle. We can choose to build people up instead of tearing them down on Snap chat, Instagram, Tik Tok and stop labeling each other. We can choose to put our tablets and video games down and pray and go to bed on time so we can function better the next day and put more effort into our homework and work.
We can choose to listen to Christian music to inspire us to keep up the good fight. When we watch Netflix we will realize the lies and trash that are in the shows filled with people not living the 10 commandments and be inspired by the good that is being portrayed.
First, we are created to come to know God and our identity in Jesus and start living with purpose and direction with love and then return to the Father. Jesus is always waiting for us to come to Him, but Jesus is different than any religious founder. When we come to Him, He requires us make a choice.
“You are either with me or against me”. “You either gather with me or scatter”. There is no such thing as lukewarm Christians, there is no fence to straddle. We are either with Jesus or we are against Him. He is Truth or reality. He gives us eternal life. Convert your mind and heart accordingly! It’s time to make decisions and it will not be easy! With God’s grace anything is possible! Come to Him and He will give you rest!
Today’s challenge: Start allowing God to transform your life, He knows what He made you for. Read the Truth everyday to stay on task with eyes set on heaven. Stop pretending God won’t know what you are doing in secret and start reconciling yourself in Him.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YODO (You Only Die Once; we will live again!)
212, be all in for the One who is all in for you!
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