Thursday, 8 January 2015
What Are Your Loaves and Fishes?
Mark 6: 34-44 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
34 As he Went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he HAD compassion for Them, Because They Were like sheep without a shepherd; and he Began to Teach Them Many Things. 35 When it Grew late, His disciples to Him and cam Said, "This is a deserted place and the hour is now very late; 36 send 'em away so That They May Go Into the surrounding country and villages and buy something to eat for Themselves. " 37 Purpose Them Answered he, "You give 'em something to eat." They Said To Him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii [ a ] worth of bread, and give it to 'em to eat? " 38 And he Said to Them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see. "When They HAD found out, They Said," Five, and two fish. " 39 Then he ordered 'em to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So They sat down in groups of . Hundreds and fifties of 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he Looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and Gave Them to His disciples to set Before the people; . and the two fish he Divided Among them all 42 And all ate and Were filled; 43 And They Took up twelve baskets full of broken parts and of the fish. 44 Those Who HAD eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Today's First Reading-Christianiity IS Different
1 John 4: 7-10 1 John 4: 7-10 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
7 Beloved, let us love one Reviews another Because love is from God; . everyone who loves is born of God and knows God 8 Whoever does not love Does not Know God, for God is love. 9 God's Love Was Revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son Into the world so Abebooks web might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God That goal he loved us and sent His Son To Be The atoning sacrifice for our sins.
74% Considering Leaving France
74% of Jews polled here are onsidering leaving France after yesterday's horrific massacre. In 45 minutes, I shall join with the millions of French people for a moments of silence at 12, Noon, as this is a day of National Mourning.
Read this,
Some Islamists are celebrating leader and one cam out praising thesis babarous actions.
Catholics, wake up!
If my posts end up looking odd, it Is That it is illegal for public websites in France to work in English.
Read this,
Some Islamists are celebrating leader and one cam out praising thesis babarous actions.
Catholics, wake up!
If my posts end up looking odd, it Is That it is illegal for public websites in France to work in English.
Reliable People
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When I was in college a million years ago, there was a girl who was late for every class. All the students knew this and all the teachers. She was reprimanded by many of the instructors, but these corrections did not change her habit.
She got a job and was late constantly and fired. Whether she had a psychological problems, or merely bad habits, we who knew her never discovered.
I have met people since then, who are not reliable. If one makes a date to meet them, they are very late or do not show up for no serious reasons.
One states he will take one to the store and does not, always promising to help with shopping, but never does.
Another states she will have friends over for dinner, stating again and again, this will happen, and it never does. Another one tells his friends he will help out with a task and he never shows up. Sometimes, a person is so full of anxiety that that person cannot even manage his own life, much less be involved with others. Sometimes, people create a world of deceit about what one can and cannot do. Another may merely be so caught up in the self, that others simply do not orbit into the self-contained world.
I have been thinking of these human failings on a larger level. Christ gave us a parable concerning this type of person.
Matthew 21:28-32Douay-Rheims
28 But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and coming to the first, he said: Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
29 And he answering, said: I will not. But afterwards, being moved with repentance, he went.
30 And coming to the other, he said in like manner. And he answering, said: I go, Sir; and he went not.
31 Which of the two did the father's will? They say to him: The first. Jesus saith to them: Amen I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came to you in the way of justice, and you did not believe him. But the publicans and the harlots believed him: but you, seeing it, did not even afterwards repent, that you might believe him.
This Gospel has been quoted many times under the papacy of Pope Francis, but Christ's words have been misunderstood.
Christ refers to conversion here in these words. He is not stating that sinners enter heaven, but that they repent, late in the day, perhaps, but they do not say one thing and do another.
Notice verse 32, the "publicans and harlots believe him", which means they repented.
Those so-called faithful Jews did not repent, even though they had the Prophets and teachings of the Scriptures from which to know Who Christ Is.
The Father's Will is what? Helping in the vineyard....this is hard work and one must be reliable in order to work in a vineyard as a laborer. We are all called to do this work, which is that of evangelizing, planting, caring for, gathering in the harvest.
Reliable means that one can be trusted, has good and consistent behavior
One is true, solid, genuine, and dependable if one is reliable. God can trust that sort of person.
But, without grace, none of us are reliable. Humbly, one must ask God to be purified in order to be genuine. I have also discovered through teaching that the reliable ones have a good work ethic, good work habits, and discipline. But reliability also means being focused on a goal and our goal is eternal life with God.
The spiritual life demands the same care, which is the meaning of Christ's words for us
in Matthew's Gospel.God created us to be responsible, realiable people and the Church needs such types. Being a good Catholic is not easy, and in fact, a daily challenge.
The key to being trustworthy has to do with being an integrated, truthful person, willing to face one's own limitations and sins.
One cannot do this without God's grace and the community of the Church. We might find ourselves in a situation where being reliable means standing up for the Faith in the most trying of circumstances.
I have just spent a day with reliable people, those who take responsibility for their spiritual life and who love God first. What a treat. And, what a treat to know a couple like this. Rare gifts.
Discernment Exercises
One of things I am learning is how to discern God's Will in an extremely difficult and immediate situation. Something happened today which I shall use as an example.
Three times in the past month, God warned me in prayer that something for which I was preparing and working towards was not going to happen. The first time I thought I heard God in prayer, I merely thought that this warning was my imagination, a warning growing out of my own self, based on anxiety.
The second time I hear this message, I thought that perhaps it could be God talking to me, but I doubted the message which I was hearing, and again thought that this message was from my own imagination.
The third time I heard this message, I began to listen and wondered, is God telling me this and if so why? Then, I asked for a sign in order to determine whether what I was hearing was true or false.
I did not get the affirmation I needed for the counter-decision not to do something I had planned for months. As I did not get the affirmation, I doubted the message.
Then, this morning, the thing for which I was planning blew up in my face. What I had heard came true and I was in the state of amazement that what I had heard had been, all these weeks, from God.
I am learning discernment at a different level. This level is one which demands listening, reflecting, but responding.
My spiritual director is out of the country, otherwise I would have discussed these stages with him.
Here is the situation.
I heard three times that I would not be flying out of Malta today. I heard that this would not happen and that I should listen. I did not trust myself or God well enough.
When I was at the check-in, I was told that my travel agent had made a mistake on my ticket, putting the wrong name on the ticket, using only my middle names and not my last name. I was not allowed on the plane and had to buy another ticket.
I do not know whether I shall get a refund from the travel agent or not, but I am not getting a refund on the fast train or the hotel, as I cancelled on the same day.
Thank God I had enough money for a new ticket-just.
So, what am I suppose to learn from this?
One, to know that God indeed "speaks" to me about things ahead of time to be able to change, to plan, to respond.
Two, to know that I am not trusting myself, but in God, and that I can trust Him, especially in Adoration.
Three, that God did not intend to change this situation of fault or even carelessness, or even mistakes, because people all have free will. But, what He wants to teach us is that He can train us to respond quickly to a situation even ahead of time.
If I had trusted in God and listened, I would have my two fees returned, the hotel and the train ticket refunded, and, also, I could have had my ticket taxes refunded.
But, more than that, God did not want me to fly out today, for some reason. I do not know the reason, except I did use the day to discuss Godly things and pray with a friend. Perhaps, God thought this was more important than my leaving today.
We need to learn to react quickly to situations which are awkward and even expensive, but according to God's Plan. God does not care about comfort or money or situations which we think are odd. He tests our obedience
His Divine Will shall be done. Can we discern early enough to respond properly?
Can we learn to trust in God and not our own self?
Three times in the past month, God warned me in prayer that something for which I was preparing and working towards was not going to happen. The first time I thought I heard God in prayer, I merely thought that this warning was my imagination, a warning growing out of my own self, based on anxiety.
The second time I hear this message, I thought that perhaps it could be God talking to me, but I doubted the message which I was hearing, and again thought that this message was from my own imagination.
The third time I heard this message, I began to listen and wondered, is God telling me this and if so why? Then, I asked for a sign in order to determine whether what I was hearing was true or false.
I did not get the affirmation I needed for the counter-decision not to do something I had planned for months. As I did not get the affirmation, I doubted the message.
Then, this morning, the thing for which I was planning blew up in my face. What I had heard came true and I was in the state of amazement that what I had heard had been, all these weeks, from God.
I am learning discernment at a different level. This level is one which demands listening, reflecting, but responding.
My spiritual director is out of the country, otherwise I would have discussed these stages with him.
Here is the situation.
I heard three times that I would not be flying out of Malta today. I heard that this would not happen and that I should listen. I did not trust myself or God well enough.
When I was at the check-in, I was told that my travel agent had made a mistake on my ticket, putting the wrong name on the ticket, using only my middle names and not my last name. I was not allowed on the plane and had to buy another ticket.
I do not know whether I shall get a refund from the travel agent or not, but I am not getting a refund on the fast train or the hotel, as I cancelled on the same day.
Thank God I had enough money for a new ticket-just.
So, what am I suppose to learn from this?
One, to know that God indeed "speaks" to me about things ahead of time to be able to change, to plan, to respond.
Two, to know that I am not trusting myself, but in God, and that I can trust Him, especially in Adoration.
Three, that God did not intend to change this situation of fault or even carelessness, or even mistakes, because people all have free will. But, what He wants to teach us is that He can train us to respond quickly to a situation even ahead of time.
If I had trusted in God and listened, I would have my two fees returned, the hotel and the train ticket refunded, and, also, I could have had my ticket taxes refunded.
But, more than that, God did not want me to fly out today, for some reason. I do not know the reason, except I did use the day to discuss Godly things and pray with a friend. Perhaps, God thought this was more important than my leaving today.
We need to learn to react quickly to situations which are awkward and even expensive, but according to God's Plan. God does not care about comfort or money or situations which we think are odd. He tests our obedience
His Divine Will shall be done. Can we discern early enough to respond properly?
Can we learn to trust in God and not our own self?
Sliema Has Sides
Malta proves to be a small but complicated island. I just discovered, because I got lost walking twice in the past few days, that Sliema has "sides". When one is in the habit of walking the same ways daily, but then must travel out of one's habitual ways and find things, places, people, one discovers the sides of Sliema.
Look at the map here. If one is coming from the northern part of the bay at the top, one can either walk up straight into Sliema, or walk around the coastline, for example, on Tower Road. Because Sliema is built on a penisula, the city has "sides". When one is asking for directions, and the streets are so higgeldy-piggeldy, this sometimes is a necessary thing to do, the person may answer, "Well, you are on the right side," or "You are on the wrong side". I was on the wrong side this week and the right side this week.
Thankfully, I walk rather fast so that if I get lost, I am not late. Plus, being of Luxembourg stock, I am always early.....even if I find myself on the wrong side.
Look at the map here. If one is coming from the northern part of the bay at the top, one can either walk up straight into Sliema, or walk around the coastline, for example, on Tower Road. Because Sliema is built on a penisula, the city has "sides". When one is asking for directions, and the streets are so higgeldy-piggeldy, this sometimes is a necessary thing to do, the person may answer, "Well, you are on the right side," or "You are on the wrong side". I was on the wrong side this week and the right side this week.
Thankfully, I walk rather fast so that if I get lost, I am not late. Plus, being of Luxembourg stock, I am always early.....even if I find myself on the wrong side.
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