Peace on Earth

Friends of Faith:

It’s probably not often enough that I pass on the writing and intellect of someone who  speaks so eloquently the truth of Catholic teaching. I hope many of you will take the time to read this in it’s entirety.

PEACE ON EARTH

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
July 6, 2015
“Thomas More is more important at this moment than at any moment since his death, even perhaps the great moment of his dying; but he is not quite so important as he will be in about a hundred years' time. He may come to be counted the greatest Englishman, or at least the greatest historical character in English history. For he was above all things historic; he represented at once a type, a turning point and an ultimate destiny. If there had not happened to be that particular man at the particular moment, the whole of history would have been different.” -- G. K. Chesterton, 1929

Catholics celebrate the feast of St. Thomas More, the great English statesman and martyr, on June 22. But the actual date of his execution was 480 years ago today, July 6, in 1535. Henry VIII had him beheaded two weeks after the judicial murder of his friend and bishop of Rochester, St. John Fisher. Both men died for refusing to accept the king’s debasement of marriage in divorcing his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and adulterously “marrying” Anne Boleyn – who later followed them both to the execution block.

The difference in their deaths, of course, is telling. More and Fisher died for principle and kept their integrity. Boleyn was simply disposed of.

It’s easy to sentimentalize More’s life. Robert Bolt’s great play, A Man for All Seasons -- later a wonderful film – captures much of the saint’s humanity, intellect and warmth. But he was also a tough public official in a bitterly conflicted time alien to the modern temperament.  More did not die, as Bolt suggests, for the sovereignty of personal conscience. That idea would have been foreign to him. Rather, More died for the sovereignty of Christian truth as taught by the Catholic Church, which he saw as accessible to all persons and obligating all consciences. In that, he very much remains a saint for our times.

Others have already done a good job of deconstructing the Supreme Court’s June 26 Obergefell v. Hodges decision forcing “gay marriage” onto the nation. Legally incoherent and impressive in its abuse of judicial power, it will have huge implications for the way Americans live their lives. Anyone who wonders what “marriage equality” really means need only watch the fallout in our laws, courts and public policies over the next decade.

Persons innocent enough to imagine that the Church might be allowed to continue her social mission without growing government interference will have an unhappy encounter with reality.

Christians have a privileged calling to respect the God-given dignity of all persons, including those with same-sex attraction. That’s fundamental to Christian love and justice. We are accountable to God for the way we treat others.

But Christians also have a duty to think clearly, and to live, teach and work for the truth about the nature of human sexuality, the purpose of marriage and the integrity of the family. No court ruling can change that. And the last thing we need from religious – including Catholic – leaders in the face of this profoundly flawed Supreme Court decision is weakness or ambiguity.

 

Half a century ago, during the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII – now St. John XXIII - - wrote a powerful text on the nature of peace. In his 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris (“Peace on Earth”), he stressed that “peace on earth -- which man throughout the ages has so longed for and sought after -- can never be established, never guaranteed, except by the diligent observance of the divinely established order" (PT, 1; emphasis added).

 

We need to consider his words carefully. No political power can change the nature of marriage or rework the meaning of family. No lobbying campaign, no president, no lawmakers and no judges can redraw the blueprint laid down by God for the well-being of the children he loves. If men and women want peace, there’s only one way to have it – by seeking and living the truth. And the truth, as Pope John told us more than five decades ago, is this: "The family, founded upon marriage freely contracted, one and indissoluble, must be regarded as the natural, primary cell of human society. The interests of the family, therefore, must be taken very specially into consideration in social and economic affairs, as well as in the spheres of faith and morals. For all of these have to do with strengthening the family and assisting it in the fulfillment of its mission" (PT, 16).

 

We cannot care for the family by trying to redefine its meaning. We cannot provide for the family by undercutting the privileged place in our culture of a woman and a man made one flesh in marriage. Nations that ignore these truths -- no matter what their intentions -- are laying the cornerstone of war and suffering. And this is not what God seeks for anyone.

 

It’s a good day, this July 6, to remember Thomas More and his witness. In the years ahead, may God give us a portion of his integrity, courage, and perseverance. We'll need it.” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. July 6, 2015

 

May all of us draw strength and courage from knowing and sharing the truth to others—so that we may find true “Peace on Earth.”

Blessings,
Charlotte

Community of Support

Friends of Faith:

I could say that the past three weekends have been an insight into the meaning of“community of support,” but what I realize is that it isn’t just one day, or one weekend, but rather it is everyday and every hour that my “yoke is made easy and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30) by the community of support God has placed around me.

Three weeks ago at the Valentine’s Date Night Archbishop Jackel’s instructed us as couples that it is our vocational calling as married individuals to “do whatever we can to help our spouses become holy.” Over the past two weekends”new CEW (Christian Experience Weekend) candidates were summoned to “go, make a difference.”

 

‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ …He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ Mt 25: 31-46

 

Daily I am reminded that I couldn’t be who I am without the help of those around me: Stan, family, my co-workers, customers, neighbors and friends who lend a helping hand and those who I don’t even know that pray for my spiritual, emotional and material needs.

 

God’s original and ultimate call to us as Christians is simple: to help and support each other – in every way possible – no matter what it takes, including our own sacrifice and suffering – just as He himself sacrificed by giving us His only son, Jesus who in turn suffered death on the cross for our sins (not his own).

 

Jesus Christ knew that his words alone would not carry forth without the Institution of the Church, and the Institution of the Priesthood—without the support of community.

 

“Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness….The Commissioning of the Twelve. Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” Mt 10: 1-8

 

And in nearly every passage of the New Testament it is not just Jesus, or just one disciple who went forth to teach or preach, but rather they went together in small groups to share the message and to help one or another. Jesus is often heard asking the Apostles, “Come, follow me.”

 

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Mt 18:20

 

So too are we called to ask so that we may receive: First for God’s help – but then also for the help of the faith community around us – to gather two by two – in His name.

 

I know from not only the recent 10 months but from many times in the past I could not have survived or achieved without the help of God and others: first I call upon the gifts of the Holy Spirit which sustain me; next I have been given the gift of a spouse, Stan, who supports and serves me as much as humanly possible through the vocational calling of our marriage vows; and thirdly I have been placed by my baptism within a community of support—the Church—where together in faith we are joined with each other, and with the Saints and all who have gone before us (Rev 8: 3-4), to support each other in prayer, by listening ears and with helping hands.

 

Heavenly Father, Your creation of “two” is infinitely powerful. Thank you for each and every person you have placed in my community of support. Help me to also become more like you by being willing to give up my time and talents for those around me. May I become yours to serve in this community of support. Amen.

 

God in his infinite wisdom joins us together by our baptism into the Church, teaching us how to become reliant on one other.

 

From the creation of Eve as a helpmate to her spouse, Adam; to Christ’s search for and commissioning of the apostles as Priests; to our Christian community today –without each other we cannot survive (quite literally through the procreation/birth of humanity). And without the love and support of God and those He has created for us to help us we will wither and die.

 

So as individualistic as society seems to want us to be—we survive because of what God (divinely) and someone else (humanly) provides since none of us would be here without at least two others, our parents (so God created marriage).

 

I am called to make it my mission to share and become a part of His community of support by answering God’s call: to know Him, to Love Him and to serve Him (through you) rigorously and continuously.

 

I pray in hope that each of You will continue to grow to become a bigger part of His mission daily,

Blessings,

Charlotte

God's Turntable

Friends of Faith:

I find it interesting how “all roads lead” to a destination, and while some weeks it feels like I am on a turntable, I find that with God’s gift of grace no matter which road I decide to take, God keeps pointing me to the same destination. Call it coincidence or God’s providence, in either way I believe God’s hand is definitely at work if I choose to pay attention to Him.

I know though that I can let obstacles get in the way and get tired out by being on a turntable which is spinning uncontrollably or I can make the choice to realize God’s hand and allow Him to steer me to the destination of His desire.

And I believe this to be the case not just for those of us who actively know and listen to him, but for those who either only have some knowledge of him or for those who have never even heard of him because for them he asks us (His faithful) to be His missionaries and guides.

I started the morning with a quote sent to me regarding the Synod of Families taking place in Rome this week to formulate the Church’s formal response to issues facing families today. And then I went to today’s first reading which is from Galatians.

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Gal 1: 11-12

"If we assume His way of thinking, of living and of relating to others, we will not tire of translating the Synodal works into guidelines and courses for the pastoral on the person and on the family." (Pope Francis homily 10/4/14 to open the Synod of Families in Rome)

“Brothers and sisters: I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed!” Gal 1: 6-8

Stan and I often talk about the ruts we get in, how we can be led astray, where like the movie “Ground Hog’s Day” the same problems and stumbling blocks seem to keep getting in the way day after day. And like the turntable we don’t seem to be able to change enough to get off.

And that what seems to put one person into an unchangeable “awful” situation with the turntable spinning faster and faster out of control, for another person with a very similar situation there becomes an opportunity and a change which converts their life overnight spinning them off of the turntable and directly into God’s waiting hands.

Life is a turntable of choices, opportunities and obstacles. How fast or hard or even how difficult the turntable spins depends on whether we recognize God’s presence and intentions for us, and whether we allow God to join us on our journey. It depends on our willingness to allow Him to steer and our readiness to make a leap of faith by jumping off into His waiting arms.

It means that we must choose to think, live and relate to others not in human standards but in the untiring standards set by God: for His way is not our way.

Heavenly Father, you have chosen us as your people. Help us to choose You as our God and to push aside those who try to pervert Your word and Christ’s deed which are meant to guide us. Help us to see only You when the turntable is spinning out of control. Thank you for giving me the perseverance not to tire of searching for Your heavenly destination. Amen.

If we choose to make our turntable God’s then His hand will guide it, slow it, even stop it on occasion. You will not tire if you assume His way of thinking, of living and of relating to others.

Blessings,

Charlotte

In God we Trust

Friends of Faith:
This is what was posted today on the Hobby Lobby site... worthwhile reading and prayerfully it is the way we should and do "work" everyday...trusting God. He has certainly been our reliance, our strength and our joy.

Especially over the past two weeks we have thanked him for every blessing we have received... your prayers, the firemen's hands who fought and saved paperwork, the many willing hands we have called upon and those we have yet to call upon, answers to prayers for tools and a more current answer to office space for our sales and parts departments. And we ask for mercy for all the prayers of thanksgiving we didn't offer up because we didn't see the gifts before the fire.

Why is it that something has to be taken away from us to be able see the blessings of the gifts being given to us before they are lost? Not only is it evident by a fire (or any storm) which only destroyed/s replaceable "stuff," but also in terms of our marriages (in divorce and death); in our families (through the separation of unforgiveness and illness); and in our children who grow up too quickly.

We are still unable to access the building, but the blessing here is that this week we were able to focus on getting our service and sales departments up and running as well as settle into my new office space uptown. We are taking this long holiday weekend to regroup mentally by rest, prayer, and family time.

On Monday, with the help of your prayers we will be open for full service, sales and parts at the ZLine 9 Building just to the south of our former location. I have been operational all week at my new location 108 E High St. (formerly Doyles Family Pharmacy). Many thank you's continue for the Zimmerman's and Doyle's who have been so accommodating to our needs.

We would ask your continued prayers for the patience of our team, and our customers--especially those in any way impacted by some loss of equipment in the fire; for our insurance company to remain fair in their settlement with them and us; for the Fire Marshall to release the building for inventory and demolition; and for your willing hands when we call with a specific need.

Again, many, many thanks for your continued prayers.
May we not only be a nation, but a people who places our trust in God.
Have a Safe and Enjoyable 4th of July with family and friends,
In God we Trust!
Charlotte

Hungry and Thirsty

Women of Faith:

Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? By what, whom or how are you being nourished? Is it lasting, or are you constantly looking for more?

I was fed this past week by family, by spending time in Colorado with our new grandson, Caleb Joseph (born 3-9-14 to Sara and Luke, on his big sister Karolina’s 4^th birthday, and joined by a very proud big brother, Colby.) Kristy, Tyler and Avery also joined us.

So we had two babies who very vocally made known to us like clockwork just how important it was to eat and drink, of our need to be fed.

And I was watered by this week’s readings and through our travel time, which allowed us silence and time to listen to God’s teachings in Scripture, on the radio and by visiting another church community.

Without food and water we could not survive—they are both necessities of life: physically, spiritually, even emotionally.

Symbolically the readings, especially this week were loaded with spiritual “living water”and the food provided by Jesus’ example—physically in His teachings (Scripture and Church) and spiritually by the nourishment He left us in the Body of Christ (grace and Sacraments.)

"In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” The LORD answered Moses, …“Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” Ex 17: 3-7

 

"A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jn 4:5-42

 

In Exodus the people physically threatened Moses because they felt as if they were being left in the desert to die without food and water—which God provided through the power of miracles where he allowed water to flow from rock, and justenough manna each day for a daily serving. (Ex 16:4) (These verses prophetically tie to the need for water (Baptism) and to be fed daily by the transformation of bread into the Eucharist celebrated daily—the Jewish root of Mass.)

 

In the story of the unnamed Samaritan woman at the well she represents the lost, the lonely, the spiritually malnourished, the outcast, and the sinner—all of humanity. It is her “thirsting”for more and then her response in faith which gives her spiritual fulfillment.

 

Her encounter with Jesus ties us to our eternal salvation through the Sacraments of Baptism (by Christ’s grace poured out we are given new life), Eucharist (Jesus is the ”living” food and through our reception of the sacrificial meal we will never die), Reconciliation (although she was a Samaritan and a sinner forgiveness is offered to everyone), and Marriage (despite the guy she lived with and the five previous “husbands” Jesus is the perfected seventh—a representation as her one true and only eternal spouse. (In those days when a man met a single woman at the well she often became his spouse.))

(For more listen to: “I’m Not Being Fed” by Jeff Cavins available at ww.lighthousecatholicmedia.org)

When I thirst and hunger, when I feel spiritually lost or lonely, when I recognize my sin, I am fed and I am watered through simple prayer (a response in faith) or by going to the well’s of reception, the Sacraments: attending church (seeking the fulfillment of His community) and by physically and spiritually being fed by Him in the Eucharist, or by seeking His forgiveness thru the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

And I am fed by the grace received in my vocation, marriage, through serving and through being served by my spouse—by sacramentally fulfilling my call, in the Spirit of sacrifice (doing for another) and in the joy of being lifted up, encouraged and accepted, by another.

Lord, I thirst and I hunger for the washing of my soul and food that strengthens my Spirit. Help me to respond to my deepest needs in faith. Take away the junk food of “happy meals” and shallow societal thoughts and allow me to be nourished by the deep well you have left in the teachings of the Church Fathers and through Your offering of daily, healthy food , the Eucharist. Amen.

Fill your body AND your soul with more than junk—search for the living water and the Body of Christ,

Blessings,

Charlotte

www.morningreflection.blogspot.com

What did you Go Out to See?

Friends of Faith:

What did you go out to see?

“When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Mt 11: 2-11

 

John the Baptist told the people that Jesus was coming, but the people thought Jesus would come as a king, as a ruler, who wore fancy clothes and lived in a royal palace. They were looking for someone who would give them the physical things they desired.

 

Instead Jesus came in much more common clothes, as a much more common person and with a gift of giving to all who asked for him in faith, eternal and everlasting love. And he gave us a gift of love that served without any expectation and that if we accepted would give us eternal life, eternal joy.

 

So what is it that I am looking for, searching for or expecting to find? And what is it that I have overlooked?

 

Am I looking for happiness provided by fun, entertainment, or personal pleasure? Or am I looking for eternal joy found by simply being in God’s presence? My most requested and fulfilling gift is to be able to attend mass together as a family on Christmas morning.

 

Am I looking for someone to serve me, or am I looking to give a gift of service?It truly is better to give than to receive.

 

Am I looking for presents, or am I looking for presence? I have always been happier with a pile of family than with a pile of gifts under the tree.

 

And do I look for the fleeting happiness created by others outside of me? Or do I look for the joy of Christ within me to share with those around me?

 

Heavenly Father, As we await the arrival of your most royal package, Your heavenly son, keep Your loving arms are wrapped around me. Help me to see You in those who seek and those who offer Your presence in my life. Thank you for the gift of a guiding star to light my way. Amen.

 

The truly great gifts are not those wrapped in glitter and bows, but those wrapped in blankets who travel the distance to be with us.

 

What are you going out to see? Search for the gifts of love, joy, hope and peace offered by Jesus Christ.

 

And accept his presence....it is our greatest present,

Charlotte

Proclaim the Beauty

Friends of Faith:

Proclaiming the Beauty, Goodness and Truth of Christ.

Christ lived it. Pope Francis proclaims it. Are we doing our own part to live and proclaim it?

What does our life, our marriage, our family, our speech and our choices, say about the beauty, goodness and truth of being Christian? www.thealexanderhouse.org (Proclaiming the Beauty, Goodness and Truth of Marriage)

Do you have that one large family that you admire that doesn’t seem to have a lot of “rich” ie money, but always seems to have it together by just being together, by the way they take care of each other?

I often say I give credit for many of my behaviors and attitudes to my grandparents, parents and aunts and uncles. It is because they showed me what it means to help out a neighbor, to serve within our family and community, and to forgive those who hurt us in anyway. They showed me the beauty of having Christ thru the Church in our family and in their own marriages because being together as a family in church was always an important part of our gathering together.

It was important for us to gather not just on holidays, but whenever possible. Traveling and vacation meant visiting cousins, playing cards, flying kites and Grandma’s walnut cookies and kolaches. We enjoyed just being together. And we were taught that peace and joy was found in giving instead of receiving by being active volunteers in our neighborhoods and communities.

We went to church every week as a family and often as an extended family, looking forward to the next time we would gather. Church was a priority and a central gathering place, a treasure that we looked forward to, especially when we traveled and got to visit someone else’s parish.

Have you ever tried to “hide” what is important, good or bad? Have you ever noticed that it is the church steeple that rises above other buildings in your community, and the bad news which gets all the publicity? But dark (bad) can be hidden, extinguished, by just a little light. And the beauty of Christ is that light.

Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, or will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.” Lk 8: 16-18

Light or darkness, there is no in between; for Christ or against him, there is no in between.

'The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God's creation, says this: "I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,' and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. "'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne. "'Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" Rev 3: 14-22

Hot or cold, not lukewarm; rich or poor—in God’s view; light or dark; open door or closed—It is our/my choice to see and proclaim the beauty.

God is standing outside our door with a light that is the truth. Do I see the beauty and proclaim the truth? Will “I enter his house (church) and dine with him, and him in me” (receive His body in the Eucharist)?

Or have I hidden the light, become lukewarm (through misguided priorities), or for any reason completely closed that door (through sin), so that all that is seen from the outside is a lukewarm hypocrite. (Do I proclaim my Christianity but do nothing to live it?)

In his goodness and mercy God will wait forever for me to turn the handle and reopen the door to arrive at His beauty. He will not leave, if I repent—he will forgive, AND His grace through the sacraments will help me get back up and come back in. That is the beauty of His proclamation to us.

So, am I “hot” for my faith? Have I opened the door to beauty and to proclaiming the Church teaching on marriage, love, relationships and life? Am I seeking to learn more and to be educated in God’s light?

Do I look forward to visiting Church, remaining in His presence, and proclaiming His good news? Am I regularly seeking nourishment (through prayer) that is full and fulfilling: Scripture, the Eucharist, and truth?

Or am I eating cultural lies and societal junk food (happy surface stuff) which only keeps me warm for a little while?

Christ, You are the Light of the World. You hold the keys to the heavenly kingdom, to the door of hope, healing and forgiveness. Help me to proclaim your beauty and goodness by showing all I meet how opening your door has given me peace and joy. Give each person the grace to open the door for themselves and the gifts of courage, wisdom and knowledge to make others curious enough to open the door for themselves. Amen.

Be Hot for Christ!
Proclaim the Beauty, Goodness and Truth of the one holy, apostolic and Catholic (universal) Church, of Christ, of marriage, of life and of unending joy by the way in which you live this week.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Focus on the Better Part

Women of Faith:

I have focused this past week yet again on my family. My co-workers probably think I have deserted them, but I know work will still be there when the grandkids return to Colorado to start school in what will be just a short time.

It is always difficult and a mind struggle however to be torn between “hanging out” and playing when you know there is work to be done. My focus is divided, but I often remind myself when I am divided—division equals the devil’s intrusion.

So what is the right answer, the better part, the choice that God would choose for me?

I find my solution in this question: “If I only had a day to live, or if I had one regret, what would it be?” I don’t want my own answer to be what I think is often the most regretful answer, and that is: “I didn’t spend enough time with my spouse or/and my family (or I mistreated them in some way, by some lack of forgiveness, or through some misunderstanding.)”

And I think this is a part of what God tries to tell us that in the famous Mary/Martha story: “Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Lk 10: 38-42

Will we regret not having spent enough time with God? Someday will we ask ourselves: “Would I have received more answers to life’s challenges if I had prayed and listened more to God, instead of listening to the classic “everyone else is doing it” answer?”

God’s ultimate gift is forgiveness and mercy—to whom do I fail to give the same better part? Who is my first neighbor? Does my family come before work, or does my desire to be noticed in the world out rank the better part?

I hope that my focus is always on God first. For with God: all things are possible, God is the bearer of all good gifts, and God’s will for me is always the right choice for me.

There is a fine line between working to do God’s will and working to do what I want to do for myself. Without prayer (asking AND listening) to God it is difficult to know what the better part is that God wants me to chose.

Heavenly Father, You are the best part. Thank You for giving me the gift to know and trust You. Help me to always have the courage to allow you to be the better part of my decisions. Teach me to pray and to listen to Your call instead of answering the world. Help me to always choose the better part by following You and by serving those whom you place in my path. Amen.

Today and every day let us focus on the better part: the all powerful, the all truthful, the all knowing, wisdom, strength, courage, forgiveness and mercy that is the Spirit of God.

In the Spirit of Christ,

Charlotte

www.morningreflection.blogspot.com