The life of the Christian has three distinguishing aspects: deeds, words and thought. Thought comes first, then words, since our words express openly the interior conclusions of the mind. Finally, after thoughts and words, comes action, for our deeds carry out what the mind has conceived.
“Christ should be manifest in our whole life.”
May God Be Praised.
Listening Prayers
Take about ten minutes to listen to these songs and then take ten minutes to listen to God.
“How can Keep from Singing” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li2hddmy63U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNq3c0NVhzA
Let no storm shake your inmost calm, while you travel with Jesus, on the Bridge Over Troubled Water.
May God Be Praised.
In Distress Pray Psalm 55:2-10
“O God, listen to my prayer, do not hide from my pleading, attend to me and reply; with my cares, I cannot rest. I tremble at the shouts of the foe, at the cries of the wicked; for they bring down evil upon me. They assail me with fury. My heart is stricken within me, death’s terror is on me, trembling and fear fall upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
O that I had wings like a dove to fly away and be at rest. So, I would escape far away and take refuge in the desert. I would hasten to find a shelter from the raging wind, from the destructive storm, O Lord, and from their plotting tongues.”
In Distress and in Destress remember to go to the Lord.
May God Be Praised.
In 1776 our Declaration of Independence announced our break with Great Britain and offered these ideals: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
May God Bless America and May God Bless all people of all nations today and every day.
May God Be Praised.
N.B. A photograph of the Declaration of Independence for the National Archives.
In Matthew 8:1–4, Jesus heals a leper. The leper said, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
The leper offers a beautiful and humble prayer, today when you pray the Our Father pause for several minutes on “thy will be done”, then allow your heart to mold your will into a daily yes to that commitment.
May God Be Praised.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070223.cfm
Today’s Gospel is accurately described by C.S. Lewis, “Christ says, Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time & so much of your money & so much of your work: I want You…. I will give you a new self instead.
In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours.’ The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you.” [Give Me All, C. S. Lewis]
I was on retreat last week on Cardinal [SOO – pitch] Cupich told a story about being on an airplane, and he had difficulty putting his bag in the overhead compartment. After struggling for a few minutes, a man got up from his seat and said “Father let me help you, took his bag and easily put it in the overhead compartment. Then he turn and said, “ Father, will that get me into heaven?” The Cardinal responded, “I hope not on this flight.”
St. Augustine wrote, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” Our hands/meaning our hearts/wills are filled with this world’s goods, problems, things we want to do, and God often is left on the sidelines.
You and I know God should be the center of our lives!
We come to the altar with empty hands to receive what we believe, the Word made Flesh. “The rewards for accepting the Gospel are awesome, but the demands are hefty.” [Jaime L. Waters DePaul University]
Our Alleluia verse reminds us that we are called to “… announce the praises of Him who called [us] out of darkness into His wonderful light.” We are called to take up our cross, to give a cup of cold water to the little ones and aid those in need. Jesus said, whoever loses their life for My sake will find it. He wants us to center our lives on Him, He wants to center our lives on Him.
Paul Simon and his wife recently released a record “Seven Psalms”, a record of hope, fear and love. One of the psalms has this beautiful verse, “The sacred harp, That David played to make his song of praise.
We long to hear those strings That set our heart ablaze.”
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” [12:49]. Putting God 1st, Jesus’ 1st is difficult and demanding as well as fulfilling and edifying.
Many people ask why God does not speak today. A Rabbi was asked how it can be that in previous times God spoke people and today nobody ever hears God. The Rabbi replied, “Today nobody bows low enough.”
To hear God, we must bow low enough: bow our hearts, our wills, our lives. If we do that, we will know a deep abiding peace, we will recognize the prophets in our midst, and we will share Christ’s Gospel Message by our Actions.
We will “Give God are All.”
May God Be Praised.
In the movie “Rudy”, Fr. Cavanaugh says to Rudy, “Praying is something we do in our own time. The answers come in God’s time.”
God’s time is a gift and a cross to live by. Keep praying and patiently wait for God’s answer.
May God Be Praised.
