(PDF copy is attached for printing)
Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word
…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan
November 3 – November 9
1 — “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Lk 16:15)**
…God knows my heart;
what is the general direction of my life right now?
2 — “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur.” (Lk 17:1)**
…What kind of an example am I showing?
3
– “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” (Lk 17;10)**…Extended Meditation
Hypocrisy
is an interesting phenomenon to talk about. It is an automatic trap or problem
area for anyone who gives direction to others: priests, ministers, teachers,
parents, legislators, anyone showing leadership of others. In our case, it is
anyone who chooses to do something good that others see, and therefore anyone understands
the importance of God in our lives. For whatever reason, we say to the world:
“I believe in God through Jesus Christ.” We must listen to Jesus in the Gospel.
It is possible to say ‘I believe’, and not put it into practice.We should be very interested in what we say in Church. We say strong words during
the service, words like, we believe, we will, we do. We
must truly listen to what we say and do. We receive the Lord in the words of
the Gospel and in the Eucharist. How can someone receive the Lord and with the
same mouth tear down someone else or allow foul language to come out of it? How
can someone receive the Lord and continue a life-style that makes a shambles of
a marriage or parenting? How can we miss the sacredness of life itself by being
bitter and angry most of the time? Or refusing to see the good in life?How?—according to Jesus, we have allowed religion to be nothing more than something to be seen
or performed.What’s the antidote to hypocrisy, how do we stay away from it? The Gospel gives us
that as well. Jesus says:The greatest among you must be your servant.
Service—we have heard that before from Jesus, in
fact a number of times. The way to keep ourselves from the hypocrisy of saying
one thing and doing another is to work on behalf of others. Serve people, give
to them without expecting anything in return, make others feel important
because they are—really.By the very fact that we say we believe in God, we are making a statement to the world
outside. We must realize that we could be hypocrites… or if we carry through,
we could be people who are helping this world.
4 – “You are God’s building.” (1 Cor 3:9)
…Do my thoughts, words and actions prove this?
5 – “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” (Jn 2:16)**
…Prayer is not bargaining with God; it is giving our very selves to God.
