Do not love the world or the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all
that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious
life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its
enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains
forever. 1 John 2: 15-17
[There was a prophetess, Anna…] She never left the
temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming
forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to
all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:37B-38
Piety
Father, help us to
internalize our attraction and identity with you over the world of distractions
and its silver pieces of false promises.
As we end another year, our minds and bodies are weary. Some are overcome by the grief for lost loved ones. Some are physically sick, emotionally spent, and
aging. Only you can refresh our spirits
with newness. Your perfect loving grace
and forgiving mercy is perfected in our weaknesses. Let us begin again as your chosen daughters
and sons in the New Year as we realize that Christ is counting on us as much as
we are counting on Christ. Amen.
Study
Did you have a December to
remember? If so, what made it
memorable? Was it your time spent in the
Temple or in Target? Was it your new
Lexus in the driveway with the big red bow on it or the baby in the manager in
Bethlehem?
Introducing the world
class prophetess Anna. Experience her
life in the cold, dark temple. Hardly
the kind of experience that a car manufacturer would tout to get you behind the
wheel (and 72 months of payments) for its latest offering.
“But the will of God remains forever.”
If you did any shopping at
all in department stores since Thanksgiving, you probably have heard of the
theft of 40 million credit and debit card numbers from the computers of Target,
the retailer owned by the Dayton-Hudson Company.
“But the will of God remains forever.”
Of course, the Prophetess
Anna never had to worry about identity theft.
There were not too many people in all of Palestine who would want to
take her place in the temple from morning, noon and night.
“But the will of God remains forever.”
With the prospect of our
credit history and personal identification numbers stolen, many people are
taking steps to protect themselves. They
are putting credit alerts on their files.
They are cancelling credit cards used at Target. They are changing PIN numbers on debit cards.
Over the weeks since this event took place, the company has been (I am being as
polite as possible) slow to reveal how it happened or the extent of what was
taken from its customers. However, it
has not been slow in offering major discounts to get people back in its stores.
“But the will of God remains forever.”
Jesus just does not work
that way. He does not make us false
promises. He does not bribe us to the
Cross with 10 percent discounts. He
tells it like it is. He adopts us as His
own. He takes away all our burdens on
his back. Just as Anna waited in the Temple
for redemption, we get that saving grace freely. All we have to do it take up our cross daily
and follow Him.
Action
What have you done lately
to protect and project your Catholic Christian identity? Are there enough threads out there that such
an identity could be revealed if not outright “stolen?”
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