Sunday Wisdom

In today’s gospel Jesus reminds us that He loves all of us equally. Did the disciples really think they could argue about who is the greatest without Jesus knowing? Haven’t they learned by now that nothing happens outside of God’s plan?

Jesus responds ever so gently. He does not rebuke them, but instead calls them to focus on being servants. So is that going to make them less competitive or will they just try to out do each other in terms of quality and impact. I can hear them now, I healed 5 people today how many did you heal?

But this is not how Jesus calls us to serve. It is like the poor woman who could only afford a coin for her offering, but it was all she had. So if you volunteer somewhere weekly, that is great, thank you. And if you only volunteer once a month, that is great too. Thank you.

Jesus only wants us to respond in willingness and love. So our willingness to welcome Jesus in prayer and in service no matter how that looks is not a waste of time and gives us the heart of a servant. Perhaps you are caring for a child, or a sick parent or an elderly neighbor. Perhaps you are praying for those within your parish and church community who are sick or who have died. Perhaps you willing to imitate Christ’s humility by allowing others the last word.

Jesus promised that those who become the “last of all and the servant of all” are the first.

So what makes you a servant?

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time, be blessed, Renae

In today’s gospel Jesus reminds us that He is always with us and that His ways are better than ours.  All we have to do is trust in His Divine will.  But being faithful and praying is not enough if we are not willing to put our faith into action.

St James is very clear that our works have great merit and are imperative to spreading the love of Christ.  We know God calls us to care for our brothers and sisters who are in need and in doing so we respond to the love God has already placed on our hearts.

 So today we ask the Lord to put the needs of his people on our hearts and for the grace and courage to respond.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time, be blessed, Renae

Today’s gospel is about being open and the healing power of the Lord’s touch. When we open our hearts and our minds to the possibilities of loving one another more, our hearts are changed. Perhaps you are in need of physical healing today and so we pray for all those suffering with an illness and beg God for the mercy of healing.

All of us, whether we are great or small, rich or poor, influential, famous or unknown, God loves all of us equally, which is exactly what the Lord wanted to share with us in the gospel and readings today.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time, be blessed, Renae

Jesus continually calls us to act on His word, to be a doer and a healer. Today’s gospel is not a ticket to stop following the rules of our faith, but a call for a deeper understanding of what we believe.  When we follow the rules only out of obligation and do not pay attention to what is going on in our hearts, we run the danger of becoming shallow.

If we are only going through the motions our hearts can become bitter and hardened.  It is not enough to honor the Lord with our lips, we must respond to His word with love and compassion for everyone. Jesus asks us to look inward, to discover those things that are within us that may be distracting us from his love and mercy. 

So today, let us ask the Lord to search our hearts and give us the grace of self-knowledge so we can love one other and build up the Kingdom of heaven here on earth.

Jesus, purify my heart today.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time, be blessed, Renae

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. In today’s gospel Simon Peter asks a crucial question, “Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the words of everlasting life.”

True enough, but what is faith? For me, faith is listening to the Lord, believing what I hear and acting on what I believe with love! Sure there are a lot of distractions and even evil goings on in our world, but the one safe way to know we are on the right track is to listen with our hearts and always act with love.

Life gets messy! Bad things happen to good people! What we must always remember is that faith is what sees us through even the darkest of times. So listen with your heart, believe what you hear and act in kindness and love.

I pray you will have a blessed and faith-filled week.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time, be blessed, Renae