by Angela Lambert

August 23^rd, 2015; 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel of John 6:60-69 NAB

Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Meditation Reflection:

The psalmist exhorts us to “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 34). He does not say, “see then taste”. Rather than requiring scientific evidence to support the miracle of the Eucharist before receiving it, Christ pleads with us to believe in Him and receive the Eucharist after which we will see its power to give life. Belief in the Eucharist should not be predicated upon whether it satisfies our natural reason or whether or not we feel like it. Instead, Christ’s word alone, His teaching as Lord and Savior of the world forms the basis for belief in the supernatural miracle of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Because of its supernatural quality, it necessarily exceeds our natural experience and reasoning. This makes it difficult for any person to believe in such a transformation based on merely human experience.

The Catechism discusses this common problem, writing:

“The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ (Jn 6:60) The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. ‘Will you also go away?’ (Jn 6:61): The Lord’s question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only He has ‘the words of eternal life’ (Jn 6:68) and that to receive in faith the gift of His Eucharist is to receive the Lord Himself.”

In this passage the followers of Christ divide between those who “returned to their former way of life” where their faith wasn’t challenged and those who, with Peter, can only say “We have come to believe and are convinced that You are the Holy one of God.” The passage seems to indicate that everyone present experienced confusion and found Christ’s teaching difficult to accept. Many of us share this same experience. We follow Christ and marvel at His actions in our life. Then we come to a point where one of His teachings, whether in Scripture or through His Church, seems too difficult. We are tempted to rationalize that no one could really believe it and then go on living as we were. Christ challenges us to respond instead like Peter by putting our trust in Him. If we are convinced that Jesus is the Christ, then we should be convinced that everything He says and promises is true.

Consider:

• What makes you convinced that Jesus is God and Savior? Are you convinced?
• What teaching of Christ do you struggle with the most? Do you follow Christ always or only when it makes sense to your natural reason?
• Which is more reliable – Christ’s wisdom or your own? Why?
• Do you find it hard to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist? If yes, why? If no, why not? If you have a deep belief in the Eucharist, consider how you might share that belief with someone else. Pray for a providential moment.

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Faith is a gift. Pray each day this week for an increase in the gift of faith. You could share the prayer of the man in Mark 9:24 who said to Christ, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”
• Make an effort to deepen your belief in the Eucharist. Spend time praying at Church or adoration, go to a daily Mass, read about the Eucharist in the Catechism (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm), read John 6 again, read about Eucharistic miracles. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind and heart.

~ Written by Angela Lambert © 2015

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.

 

by Angela Lambert

August 16^th, 2015; 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel of John 6:51-58 NAB

Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Meditation Reflection:

When I have old friends over for dinner, it is never merely a meal. It’s always an anticipated event, an encounter with people I dearly love at a deep level. It’s an exchange of conversation flavored by our shared history, values, and mutual respect. When I have new friends over for dinner, it’s never merely a meal either. It too is an encounter, a sharing of ourselves and opening up to discover common values as well as the excitement of hearing a person’s different perspective or experiences which can open up new horizons.

The great modern theologian, Fr. Romano Guardini (1885-1968), makes the beautiful insight that the Mass too is both a meal and an encounter (from his book Meditations before Mass). He asserts that Christ makes this connection when He talks about Himself in the passage above as both “bread” (meal) but also as “come down from heaven” (encounter). In the Mass Christ invites us to a dinner He has prepared that we might both be nourished by the food and refreshed in spirit by the personal encounter with Him either as a new or old friend.

Deep friendship is one of the greatest pleasures one can experience in life. Even the philosopher Aristotle considered it one of the highest virtues. To find someone who shares the same “vision of the Truth” as C.S. Lewis puts it, is a real joy. Scripture reminds us that “Faithful friends are beyond price” (Sirach 6:15) and we all know that for something to be expensive it must be rare. To spend time with that friend in person is even more delightful. To have that kind of friendship in marriage can result in an exchange of love and unity at the very depths of our humanness.

Christ desires this kind of friendship and union with each of us. That is why the image of a wedding feast is used to represent the culmination of the Christian life. Christ the bridegroom and the Church His bride are united body and soul in the Eucharist. Celebrating the Lord’s Supper presents the opportunity to encounter Christ at every level, from the surprises of a new friendship to the deepest and most intimate of relationships. The more dinners, the more the friendship can develop.

Consider:

• Who is your closest friend? How did the friendship develop?
• How would you describe your friendship with Christ? How has it developed?
• Consider the role of meals in developing friendships. Whether it is as simple as coffee, drinks, lemonade, cookies, grilling, eating out, or cooking a full meal, or family dinners. How does food somehow enrich the experience and open people up to each other?
• Consider why Christ would desire to be present to you in Person, in the flesh, in the context of a meal. Consider how personal it is and bonding. Also consider the addition of other people – how does eating with others add to the experience?

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Next Mass, approach the Lord’s Supper the way you would a dinner with a close friend. Prepare yourself for the encounter and treat it with the same attention and respect you would give your dinner guest or host.
• On the way up the aisle to receive the Eucharist try to push away any distracting thoughts. Reflect on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. After receiving Christ, try to remain silent and focus on Him for a few minutes before talking, singing, or thinking of anything else.
• Offer hospitality to someone. Make them dinner, or take them out for coffee and treat them as if they were Christ Himself visiting with you.

~ Written by Angela Lambert © 2015

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.

 

 

by Angela Lambert

August 9^th, 2015; 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel of John 6:41-51 NAB

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say,‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Meditation Reflection:

During times of stress, anxiety, or packed schedules, we often do not feel like eating. Like the angel who ordered a weary and despairing Elijah to “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you” (1Kings 19), good friends will make sure we do anyway urging that we will need it to “keep up our strength.”   Obeying the angel’s command and eating the food God provided, Elijah was enabled to “walk forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God.” In this chapter of John, Christ pleads with us to eat the living bread (whether or not we feel like it) that we may eat it and live forever.

Unfortunately we tend to give the Eucharist only a superficial glance. Like the Jews in this passage who murmur “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? …Then how can He say “I have come down from heaven’?”, we think to ourselves, “it really just looks like bread, it’s a wafer, and not even a tasty one at that.” Other times we may say, “I believe it is Christ but I have a busy day. How much of a difference will it really make for me to go to a daily Mass, or how bad would it really be if I did something else today instead of going to Sunday Mass.” In the first example we judge by appearances, in the second we underestimate the transforming power of union with God incarnate.

To say going to Mass won’t add much to your day or week is to say that seeing your dearest friend or spouse wouldn’t improve your day any either. I too sometimes struggle with these thoughts about Mass, especially when it requires getting up early, but from what I have “tasted and seen,” I can confidently say that my day is remarkably different based on whether or not I have received the Eucharist. I receive so much strength and peace in Christ and find it easier to feel close to God or practice the virtues (especially patience!). We all get much more out of time spent with real friends than with acquaintances. Friendships take time to develop though and an investment of oneself. The more you invest in your friendship with Christ, the more you come to Him in the union of the Eucharist, the more you will taste the delight of His love and see transformation in your life. Consider these words of Fr. Lagrange from The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life:

“The reception of the Eucharist is called Communion, or the intimate union of the heart of God with the heart of man.”

Consider:

• Have you ever had a powerful experience of God after receiving the Eucharist?
• How could you be more fervent in your prayer at Mass? What would help you be more present to Christ and less distracted?
• Reflect on the humility and love of Christ that He gives Himself to you in such an intimate way.
  • What does this say about His love for you?
  • How does sin cheapen this encounter?
• Reflect on the lives of the saints – all of them centered their spiritual life on the Eucharist. What do they have to say about communion and Mass? What is the fruit of their love for the Eucharist?

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Pray to the Holy Spirit to prepare your heart to receive Christ. Pray for greater fervor and passion for Christ in the Eucharist.
• Read about Eucharistic miracles.
• Attend one daily Mass this week.
• Go to confession if you have committed a serious sin.
• Treat the encounter with Christ in the Eucharist with the same reverence and respect as you would your spouse in marital union.
• Try to increase your awareness of any growth in virtue that you experience from frequent reception of the Eucharist. Although the transformation will take time, note what improvements you notice.

~ Written by Angela Lambert © 2015

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.

 

 

 

by Angela Lambert

August 2, 2015; 18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel of John 6: 24-35 NAB

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Meditation Reflection:

Jesus instructs us to “work for the food that endures for eternal life.” The people respond wisely  by asking a follow up question, which in modern language could be phrased “tell us the job description.” The task seems simple enough – “believe in the one God sent.”

How is believing in Christ work though? If believing in Christ were merely an intellectual assent then it wouldn’t be much work at all. However, believing in Christ means believing He is the Savior sent to transform our hearts and lives. This requires not merely an assent of the intellect, but the arduous work of aligning our will with His and allowing Him to change our lives. In his famous book, What’s Wrong with the World, G.K. Chesterton astutely states the reason why so many people forsake believing in Christ and the reward that comes with it. He writes,

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”

Jesus does not say “I am the bread of life who will force feed you”. Rather, He states that those who come to Him will never hunger. Still, you may ask, how hard is it to come to Christ? Well, how hard is it to make it to Mass every Sunday? How difficult is it to attend one or more daily masses a week? How hard is it to find 30 minutes to pray with Scripture? How hard is it to listen, with your full attention, to your child, spouse, or friend in need? How difficult is it to turn to Christ in prayer when you are feeling anxious, frustrated, or angry rather than escaping through t.v., drinking, or shopping?

Coming to Christ and believing in Him is work, but like any job it gets easier as you get the hang of it. Imagine the career satisfaction you could experience in a job with that kind of reward. We all want happiness and we go to great lengths to achieve it. Christ promises that if we are wise enough to put all of our efforts toward relationship with Him, we will be guaranteed an abiding happiness we can find nowhere else.

Consider:

• In your daily life, what is the biggest challenge to seeking Christ?
• What do you hunger for most? How do you try to fill that hunger? How long does it last before feeling hungry again?
• Do you seek Christ for the joy of relationship with Him, or do you seek Christ so He will just answer your petitions?
• When was a time you experienced delight, satisfaction, peace, or happiness from God?

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Choose one way to come to Christ this week that has been difficult in the past. (wake up 30 minutes early to pray, spend 10 minutes with each of your kids, download a bible app to your phone, attend a daily Mass, make a holy hour at adoration)
• Start a gratitude journal for God’s gifts to you each day. Before bed think back on your day and identify God’s grace at work in your heart and life.
• The next time you feel anxious, frustrated, or angry, stop and sit in silence with God for 5 minutes. Find a quiet spot (even if it’s your car or bedroom), set a timer, and just turn your heart and ears toward God. Gently push away distractions and be in God’s presence. Let Christ fill your hunger and soothe your thirst.

~ Written by Angela Lambert © 2015

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.

 

 

by Angela Lambert

July 26^th, 2015; 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel of John 6:1-15 NAB

“Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.”

Meditation Reflection:

A friend of mine has a gift for including others and making them feel a part of things. In observing him these past few years I realized that he does this by asking whoever is around for help with whatever project or task he is doing. If he is working in the garage or the yard and you happen by, be assured that a tool will be handed to you or a job assigned. His talent is most evident in the way he even includes his kids and their friends. The result is not the feeling of slave labor however, but rather the experience of being important, included, and an integrated part of what’s going on. It forms bonds and knits everyone together. The truth is, he doesn’t always need help, but he does enjoy people and being together.

Christ’s miracle in this passage reveals what I find to be one of the most remarkable mysteries of our faith: that God includes us in His work of salvation. It wouldn’t surprise me that Christ did something amazing. It does surprise me when He does something amazing with a small contribution from me. When we look at the needs of the world, we can be overwhelmed like Philip. Like Andrew, we may consider what small resources are available to us but in contrast to the need they seem pointless. The critical question for you and I is whether we will make the contribution anyway, with faith that Christ can work wonders even today. If the contribution is small it can seem worth the gamble and it makes us feel like good people at least. However, in the case of the child in this passage, it required all the food he had. Our faith is most tested when our contribution requires real sacrifice and real risk. Though it may seem like a lot to give up for what would seem to be a very small effect, the Gospel reveals that Christ’s miracles require precisely this gift. In his spiritual classic, Abandonment to Divine Providence, Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade exhorts us to make these acts of faith with confidence that Christ still works miracles today. He writes,

“It is this same Jesus Christ, always alive and active, who continues to live and work fresh wonders in the souls of those who love Him.”

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman articulated the importance of this proof of faith in the Christian life, or “venture” as he called it, when he preached:

“As regards individuals, then, it is quite true, that all of us must for certain make ventures for heaven, yet without the certainty of success through them. This, indeed, is the very meaning of the word “venture;” for that is a strange venture which has nothing in it of fear, risk, danger, anxiety, uncertainty. Yes; so it certainly is; and in this consists the excellence and nobleness of faith; this is the very reason why faith is singled out from other graces, and honoured as the especial means of our justification, because its presence implies that we have the heart to make a venture.” (Sermon 20)

Faith requires a risk for a reward that can only be calculated supernaturally. According to Christ’s math, five loaves and two fish can feed five thousand people with leftovers to boot. Like my friend, Christ does not necessarily need our particular contribution, but He does desire us and working with Him results in an experience of being bonded, knit together, and the satisfaction of being a part of something amazing.

Consider:

• Do you believe Christ still works miracles today? Have you experienced one in your own life?
• What sacrifice is Christ asking you to make for His work?
• Is there a need that keeps tugging at your heart? Is there anything you can do to help, no matter how small the effect might be?
• Consider Christ’s love and friendship for you; that He desires to work with you and to include you in His mission.

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Each day this week, offer to Christ the work of your day and entrust Him with the results.
• Identify one thing about your life or work that you know is Christ’s will but you often get discouraged about because it’s seemingly so small in the world’s eyes. Ask Christ for faith and encouragement.

~ Written by Angela Lambert © 2015

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.

by Angela Lambert

July 19^th, 2015; 16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Mark 6:30-34 NAB

“The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”

Meditation Reflection:

This passage describes so well the spiritual life of a parent. As a mother I feel that call of Christ to come away with Him “to a deserted place” away from the busy activity of everyday life to “rest a while”. For me, this tends to be my cozy living room chair where I curl up with coffee, my bible, and prayer books to spend a tranquil and quiet moment with my Lord. For this to happen of course, my children need to be sleeping. In family life however there are no deserted places, at least not for long and children do not necessarily stay sleeping as you would hope. I have had more success now that my kids are older, if I get up very early at least. However, there have been many times, especially when my kids were little, that my refreshment with the Lord was interrupted by one of my children. They have the keenest ears or some kind of child sixth sense that no matter how quietly I tiptoe, even taking acrobatic steps over the creaky stair, they see me “leaving…and come to know about it.” Then they “hasten” to get to me. My heart would then be “moved with pity for them,” and I would tend to their need or let them sit with me. When all three of my kids were younger I felt like giving up on finding time alone with God altogether and just substituting serving God for sitting with God. Yet, Christ truly desires us to make this time with Him. He knows we need rest and that we need it with Him, alone and removed in some way from the world. This passage reminds me to make time with Christ a priority, and at the same time not to get frustrated if it is interrupted by one of my beautiful children needing me.

Consider:

• Reflect on how Christ’ desires time alone with you, sometimes above anything you can do for Him. Consider His love for you personally.
• Relate Christ’s example in this Scripture passage to your own life – who are the “sheep” in your life that call forth your pity? How might you care for them in a similar way as Christ did? What attitude do you want to take toward them?
• When do you make time to be alone with Christ?
  • When you do make that time, how does it refresh you?
  • When you don’t make that time, what often prevents you? What excuses do you sometimes make?
• Do you ever substitute serving Christ for sitting with Christ? How might you find balance between the two?

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Think about your day and your obligations. Choose a time that you will set aside just for Christ. If you are married or have kids, discuss it with them as well and ask them to help you have those minutes alone. Start with 15 minutes.
•  Ask Christ for the gift of joy and patience toward the seemingly constant needs of your children and family life so that you may imitate Him as the loving, Good Shepherd.

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.

by Angela Lambert

July 12^th, 2015; 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel Mk 6:7-13 NAB

“Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

Meditation Reflection:

I would like to focus on how “the Twelve drove out many demons.” Satan and his demons, even if they do not take total possession of a person, can and do take possession of pieces of us whenever we allow ourselves to be bound by their lies and their allurements. Christ came to conquer sin and death that we might experience freedom and the “fullness of joy.” In this passage we see that He does this by giving His own authority to those He had chosen and sending them out to us. Christ gave His saving Truth to His Church, not because of the apostles’ perfect character but simply because He willed it and wanted to personally extend His Gospel throughout the whole world. He continues to do this through the apostles’ successors today, who are also flawed human beings, and yet still messengers of the authoritative and saving word of God. This Truth confronted the recipients’ sin, thus the call for repentance before being able to receive healing. Oftentimes our response to being convicted of sin is to become defensive, attack the messenger, or walk away. To this response Jesus tells the apostles to “shake the dust from their feet” and move on to those who are open to His Word. Yet, sin is precisely where the demons have a foothold in our heart and deprive us of true joy. You may not feel strong enough to overcome a sin, but by acknowledging your sin and inviting Christ in, and His Body the Church, He can drive the demons out and fill you with His peace. The choice is up to you.

Consider:

• Think of one sin you struggle with the most.
• What are the lies and rationalizations that keep you tied to this sin?
• People were free to accept or reject the apostles. Consider how receptive or defensive you are toward those Christ sends to you. Who specifically are those persons in your life?
• Invite Christ to free you with the help of His grace, to accept His Truth and to detach from the lie or sin you are struggling against. You don’t have to do it alone, He gives you the whole Church, infused with His own authority and grace, to strengthen and support you.

Make a Resolution (Practical Application):

• Identify one specific, practical way you will reach out to accept the support of Christ’s Church to help you overcome your sin and receive freedom and healing.
• (Examples: talking openly with a spiritual friend or your priest; receiving grace through attending a daily Mass; meditating on Scriptures or spiritual books that address your particular struggles; going to the sacrament of Confession…)

* These Sunday meditations are intended to engage the heart and imagination in prayer and include a practical application (resolutions) to your daily life. In our presentation on prayer I offer a more detailed discussion of ways to pray with Scripture that can take 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour and vary in depth depending on your time-frame and prayer goals.