Sunday Wisdom

In today’s gospel Jesus teaches his disciples about the value of surrender and detachment.  The rich man has a sincere desire to follow Jesus and have eternal life. Jesus values this, understands him and then calls him to be more, give more and follow completely.

Wealth and material things are not bad, after all Jesus permits them, but then again when our attachment to possession gets in the way of living more like Jesus then there is a problem. After all Matthew the tax collector was very wealthy when Jesus called him to give up his job and follow.

Jesus wants us all to break free of whatever is holding us back from living as disciples of Christ.  He wants us to find freedom through detachment and surrender so we can truly focus on loving God and one another.

What is our Lord asking you to let go of today? What distracts you from that high calling of freely living as one of his disciples?

Lord help me to surrender whatever is distracting me from you.

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

God wants us to see beyond ourselves, our everyday needs, wants and desires to see the bigger plan.  Have you ever noticed in the gospels when the Pharisees or the High Priests try to trick Jesus, he just redirect them.

I think it is natural for us to think same and see only our personal wants, but God wants more for us. Marriage is not about always doing what is right or wrong; it is an act of faithful and self-giving love.  For the beginning God put together a man and a woman who were obviously both in need of grace.

There is hope for us. We don’t have to always get it right, we just have to allow the light of Christ to shine through our everyday, ordinary, and imperfect love.  There will be times of struggle and doubt, but God always wants to lift our eyes to the greatness of his bigger plan.

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

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.

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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

Mary certainly was a women of great faith and trust. Elizabeth praises her because of her belief and her courage to live in truth. Did you notice how Mary responds? She passes along the praise and gives glory to God.

There is no false humility in Mary’s prayer. It is the true humility of knowing that all that is being accomplished in her is being accomplished by God. She not only accepts the greatness of her mission, but she accepts it fully, joyfully and without hesitation.

It is much like the line in today’s gospel, “The hungry he fills with good things while the rich are sent empty away.” We have come to understand that the hungry are those who are aware that they can do nothing by themselves and that everything is a gift from God. The rich would be those who think they have it all when in reality, they have nothing that lasts.

Let us choose then to put our trust in the Lord and to do His will l joyfully and fearlessly, giving all glory to the one who created us. I pray that you have a blessed week!

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

Amen, Amen I say to you I am the bread of life, whoever believes will have eternal life.

Sounds simple right? Well maybe not so much, for to know and love is to move through life with compassion and as Paul teaches us, there is no room for bitterness or malice, none. Love is kindness through compassion and must always include forgiveness.

Jesus taught us how to love by offering love, mercy and forgiveness to everyone. I have to admit sometimes this is so difficult. To forgive those who have hurt you is tough and may at times seem impossible, but if we are going to imitate Christ, we must first forgive. Without forgiveness our love is conditional.

Forgiveness typically brings more healing to the one forgiving, not the forgiven. Forgiveness is a choice and sometimes depending on the situation, the one being forgiven is totally unaware. We can forgive and be healed without coming face to face with the one who has hurt us. Forgiveness is the key to loving and living fully and compassionately. Don’t wait for someone to ask for forgiveness. Forgive anyway and move on. You will experience the healing power of God’s mercy!

Lord, teach me how to love with a love that always forgives.

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

Today’s gospel is so familiar, we hear it a lot and while it appears that Jesus is taking care of the hunger needs His people are experiencing, Jesus wants to give us so much more.

Yes, He always takes care of our physical needs, but He wants to nourish our souls as well. What is your soul thirsting for? As we look deeper into today’s gospel reading we find that Our Lord and Savior is offering His Love and Mercy to us and is willing to be with us every step of the way.

Jesus is the one who sets up tiny miracles in our everyday lives. He also prepares us to receive these miracles and when we spend time in prayer He gathers us close to him and sometimes we can see His hand in our lives.

So, what is your soul thirsting for?

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