Daily Meditation - Wednesday 23July 2008 - WE WERE ALWAYS KNOWN PERSONALLY BY GOD / ROLE OF FAMILY & PARENTS

[BarbaraTherese]

**Optional Memorial **
St. Brigid - religious
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Mass Readings & Meditation
Readings

Meditation

Jeremiah 1:1,4-10

God’s words to Jeremiah are the same words he speaks to each one of us:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I dedicated you” (Jeremiah 1:5).

• God knows us—our strengths and weaknesses, dispositions,
• constitution, and preferences

—better than we know ourselves.

• He even knows what we will freely choose to do with our lives. God has a plan for us,
• yet in every moment we are free to go our own way or to embrace his grace
• and the marvelous works he has prepared for us to do.
  In Jeremiah’s case, God’s plan was that he be a prophet.
  Jeremiah could have ignored the call and refused God’s grace.
• What inclined him to accept?
• Though Scripture doesn’t explain, we can imagine that Jeremiah’s formation by his parents played a part in his accepting the challenges of a prophet’s life.
• Like Jeremiah, you are called to accept God’s call for yourself and to proclaim his gospel to the next generation, so that they too will be open to God’s call.
  Especially if you are a parent, grandparent, or educator, you have a special role here.
• God wants you to honor and respect the young people in your life.
• He wants you to acknowledge their gifts and reverence the truth that they are made in his image.
• He knows that the more you do,
• the more seriously they will think about what God wants them to do with their lives.
  Are you a parent? Think about how your home life can reflect and support God’s plan for your family.
• The Christian home is a sort of “mini-church,”
• and parents are consecrated to bring the good news of salvation to their children.
• Do you talk to your kids about the Lord and tell them stories about Jesus?
• Do you look for clues as to what God is doing in their hearts?
  They are often quite subtle, but God can give you eyes to see.
• He wants to do great things through and in your children.
• Foster an atmosphere of spiritual openness at home,
• and you will enable them to hear and respond to God’s call whenever it comes.
  “Lord, it is so easy to feel inadequate when it comes to sharing your word with the young people in my life. But I trust that your grace can empower me to persevere and succeed.”