Inspirations at your Fingertips!

Friday of week 19 in Ordinary Time Matthew 19:3-12 It's evident how despite our sinfulness, God renews his covenant with us, his people. This covenant is like the marriage vows of husbands and wives.  The only difference in a Catholic marriage is that this covenant is binding and what God has put together no man can separate. For us personally, what does this covenant imply? 1. First, it implies total, unconditional, and undivided faithful commitment from God who is our partner in the covenant.  For his part, he will insure our well-being, forgiveness, and life. 2.  Second, it demands a definite response from the other party: us.  There may be various responses: marriage, priesthood, single or religious life.  But remember: even our response demands a special grace only God can supply.  Thus, everything is God's action in us.  Even our response which is love is a gift from Him.  We only need to say "Yes" each day and each moment of...

The covenant John 8:51-59 Just as God changed Abram's name to Abraham, so too God gave us our names when we were baptized. When God changed Abraham's name and He made a covenant with him, so too God made a covenant with us that we would His sons and daughters of God and He would be our Father. When God made a covenant with Abraham, he promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and that he would be blessed forever.  When God made a covenant with us, remember that God promised us eternal life and blessings.  What happened to us? Do we still feel we are living up to the demands of the covenant?  Do we realize that it is God who gave us our meaning here on earth? Let our lives reflect our total obedience to Jesus who is the way to the Father.

Decide once and for all After yesterday's event that Jesus is calling us to a relationship that is deeper each day, he wishes us to rekindle the new covenant by which we know that God now calls us in the most intimate way possible through the calling of our names. In today's reading, Jeremiah is subjected to the most violent rejection possible that only God remains his stronghold. Jesus too in John's gospel is faced with the most terrible rejection of all - the rejection of being God's Son. In this gospel, there are no more grey areas.  Man on one side has lost all his sensibilities to God's presence by wanting to kill the Son of God.  Jesus on the other hand has been constantly pleading for man to open his eyes, mind, and heart to recognize him even in the least of what he does. Where are we in this battlefield?  We cannot stay forever in the middle.  Even for the lukewarm, God has this message:  "I will spit you out of my mouth!" Either we ar...