Whom will I serve?

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This morning’s Gospel commentary is a blessing for all, but especially for those who consecrated or re-consecrated themselves to Jesus through Mary, yesterday, on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Each time I renew my Consecration, I begin the next day thinking “How can I LIVE the words I prayed in my Act of Consecration?” Today’s commentary on the Gospel helped:

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary by Saint Basil (c.330-379), monk and Bishop, Doctor of the Church - “God calls us unwearyingly to conversion”

How long are we going to put off obeying Christ, who calls us into his heavenly Kingdom? Aren’t we going to purify ourselves? Won’t we resolve to forsake our customary way of life to follow the Gospel radically?… We claim to want the Kingdom of God yet without bothering to concern ourselves with the means of obtaining it.

What is more, in the conceitedness of our souls, without taking the least trouble to obey the Lord’s commandments, we think ourselves worthy to receive the same reward as those who have resisted sin to the death! But how could anyone sit and sleep at home at the time of sowing and then gather in sheaves by the armful at harvest? Who has ever brought in the grapes without having planted and tended the vine? Fruit is for those who have toiled; rewards and crowns for those who have conquered. Has anyone ever crowned an athlete who did not even strip to fight his opponent? And yet, not only must we win but we must also “fight according to the rules”, as the apostle Paul says, that is to say according to the commandments we have been given…

God is good; but he is also just…: “The Lord loves justice and right” (Ps 32,5); that is why “Of kindness and judgement I will sing” (Ps 100,1)… See how wisely the Lord exercises kindness. He is not gracious without consideration, nor does he judge without mercy, for “Gracious is the Lord and just” (Ps 115,5). So don’t underestimate God: his love for men should not become a pretext for negligence on our part.

Our Blessed Mother Mary never “underestimated God” nor was she ever “negligent”. When Mary said “Behold I am the handmaid ( some translators use the word “slave girl” of the Lord; let it be done to me, according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary LIVED by God’s Grace, true to the word she said.

So, by God’s Grace, and through Mary’s intercession, I open myself today to the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in my soul. I renewed my Baptism promises yesterday in praying the Act of Consecration written by St. Louis de Montfort. I’ve renounced satan and all his pomps and works and all his empty promises. I belong to Jesus and Mary as their slave of love and I serve God our Father through Jesus, with Mary and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

[GLam8833]

Very well posted! If we would exercise our Faith
more, we would not be weak in a REAL battle!!
Also we have spiritual sloth in the form of acedia,
we LOVE fleshly comforts rather than the discipline
of Christian life!!!

Our Father, who is in heaven,
Your name be held holy,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

 

[MariaChristi]

Very well posted! If we would exercise our Faith
more, we would not be weak in a REAL battle!!
Also we have spiritual sloth in the form of acedia,
we LOVE fleshly comforts rather than the discipline
of Christian life!!!

Our Father, who is in heaven,
Your name be held holy,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Dear Glam,

Thanks for your reply and for the words of the Lord’s prayer as given in Matthew’s Gospel.

In that Gospel, Jesus teaches the Lord’s prayer within the Sermon on the Mount. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part 4 - on Prayer, has a beautiful section explaining the the petitions of the Our Father.

**CCC - 2764 ** The Sermon on the Mount is teaching for life, The Our Father is a prayer but in both one and the other the Spirit gives new form to our desires, those inner movements that animate our lives. Jesus teaches us to ask for it by our prayer. The rightness of our life in Him will depend on the rightness of our prayer.

I underlined the last sentence of that paragraph because it impressed me so much. We can “rush through” the words of the Lord’s prayer with very little attention and devotion. Is it any wonder our lives are not right?

However, if we pray the words slowly with attention and devotion, as I’m sure Our Mother Mary prayed, then we truly pray for what we need – for “rightness of life”. The Lord’s prayer is more than words it is “formative”; Jesus’ words teach us how to live!