"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."
Matt 22:37
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Prayer is, in the strictest sense, a humble religious petition of man to God to seek divine benevolence and benefits he needs for life, both temporal and eternal. It is a conversation with God, either by accepted prayer forms, or from the heart. Consider these words as if God were speaking them to His children...
"It is not necessary my child, to know much in order to please me much; it is enough that you love me fervently. Speak here to me then, as you would speak to your most intimate friend, to your mother, to your brother." ~God your Father~
He Gave His Only Son
"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
John 21:29
Quotes to Live By- There should be less talk. A preaching point is not a meeting point.
- The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved-- they are Jesus in disguise.
- In the West there is loneliness, which I call the leprosy of the West. In many ways it is worse than our poor in Calcutta. (Commonweal, Dec 19, 1997)
- It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.
- The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. and they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.
- I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?
- I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness.
- Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.
- If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
~Mother Teresa~
by Mike Caldwell
This past week we celebrated the feast day for St. Matthew. In the Gospel of Matthew, 4 explicit "statements of purpose" are outlined for Christ's mission.
1. Jesus declares that he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets
2. Jesus declares that "I have not come to bring peace but rather division"
3. Jesus declares that he did not come to call the righteous but sinners
4. Jesus declares that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give life as ransom for many
In these statements of purpose, Jesus is outlining his plan to fulfill and confirm the past to the present so that we can have life in the future. I think we can look at Jesus' purposes or mission to examine our own purposes. For instance, Jesus stated that he came to fulfill the law. Jesus gave much credence to the Ten Commandments but he also wanted to summarize these laws into two laws: Love of God and love of neighbor. Here are four brief examples of how we can incorporate Jesus' mission into our own.
1. Examine how you have incorporated love of God into your life.
2. Have you taken a tough stand vocally when you have observed grave injustice?
3. Do you treat all people with respect recognizing that we are all sinners?
4. How do you serve your sisters and brothers?
All of this presumes that you want to incorporate Jesus' mission into your life. Make the call now, embrace Jesus' mission now.
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