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Even the SparrowWhen I was invited to attend the FOCUS conference, SLS20: “Made for Mission” in Phoenix Dec 30-Jan 3, I jumped at the chance. The prior year’s event, SEEK2019, had been attended by some friends who declared it life-changing. And to have it in my backyard? Count me in!
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January 29
"On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again."
-2 Corinthians 1:10
Today's Reflection:
God will intervene. He will come to our aid. He does have a plan. And His plan is devised for our welfare. This calls us reflect prayerfully on the challenges we are facing, the difficulties that are presenting themselves, the trials that are bearing down on us, and to ask this question: Where is God in this situation, and what is He saying to me? I know that He is involved -- Scripture has told me that. So what are His will and His purpose in the midst of this event?
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Image courtesy of Pixabay
Over the past month, we have received several requests from people who received gifts to Shen Yun performances as Christmas gifts. At first, I was surprised by the question because I had seen ads in my hometown for these shows and thought they looked like spectacular performances (albeit a bit pricey). But then I started to do a little research and was quite surprised by what I found.
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January 28
"The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
-Mark 12:28-31
Today's Reflection:
The passage reveals an important truth to us about the virtue of charity: true love of neighbor flows from true love of God. Jesus tells the scribe that the first commandment is to love God with the entirety of our being. Then we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The love of God is a prerequisite for love of neighbor and for every charitable action.
Practicing the corporal works of mercy is a practical way to grow in the virtue of charity. Seek at least one way that you can do so this week.
(1) Feed the hungry.
(2) Give drink to the thirsty.
(3) Clothe the naked.
(4) Shelter the homeless.
(5) Visit those in prison.
(6) Comfort the sick.
(7) Bury the dead.
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January 27
"If one member suffers, all suffer together."
-1 Corinthians 12:26
Today's Reflection:
In the Mystical Body, we are one in Christ Jesus. Even when it is not consciously experienced, suffering -- the common denominator of the human condition -- unites us with an unbreakable bond. But suffering itself begs us to ask questions. Why do we suffer? Why does God permit suffering to exist? What is suffering's purpose? Ponder them during your time of prayer today.
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January 26
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too."
-2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Today's Reflection:
How can your personal testimony be a beacon of hope and a light of faith illuminating the way to forgiveness through Christlike love and compassion?
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We have received several questions regarding the orthodoxy of a Servite nun and author named Joyce Rupp who is a popular speaker on the Catholic retreat circuit these days. The following information should prove helpful.
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January 25
"It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
-Galatians 2:20
Today's Reflection:
Today we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul. His powerful experience of Jesus Christ turned him from a persecutor of Christians to one of the greatest evangelizers of Christianity. Like him, we are called to meet Christ and grow in union with Him. How can you meet Him today? In what ways can you allow Him to live more powerfully in you?
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JD wrote:
"I have just read your book on Yoga and I am left with the impression that if the people who use yoga could be taught and led on the power of Christian meditation before the Eucharist, they would not be so easily misled."
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Polls have found that seven out of 10 young voters support restrictions on abortion, results that are giving pro-life women the perfect opportunity to use their feminine genius to open the eyes of young women to the truth about U.S. abortion law that is too often hidden behind “reproductive rights” misinformation.
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Photo Courtesy of Even the Sparrow