Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
By Melanie Rigney
If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been
entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach,
I offer the Gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the
Gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16-18)
How
lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God! (Psalms 84:2)
“Can
a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple
is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like
his teacher.” (Luke
6:39-40)
Piety
Lord, it is
a challenge indeed, attempting to offer the Gospel in all I do and say. Please
provide Your gentle correction in the times that I fall short.
Study
“I can do what I wanna do, be who I wanna be … I don’t
have to be me ‘til Monday,” the old country song by Steve Azar says. Ah! We all
know that glorious sense when the weekend comes or the kids go off to camp or
something else happens that allows us a few precious hours to do and be whatever
we want.
Do you ever long for a “break” in your spiritual life,
for a few hours or moments of not having to be a model of the Gospel to your
family, friends, and coworkers, when you can just be angry or mean or gossipy,
when you can just be who you wanna be?
We all have those moments, and sometimes we give in to
them. It feels great for a few fleeting seconds. Then the guilt and the sadness
set in. We realize that while living the Gospel message of love and redemption
is difficult and nigh onto impossible to do 24/7, the alternative to trying to
do this hurts the Lord, those we have wronged, and ourselves. We realize the
price of not preaching the Gospel by our words and actions and thoughts is too
great to bear… and we start anew. And while it can be costly to us to do this,
we know in our hearts and souls that the alternative may mean the loss of our
salvation.
Action
Make amends
with someone you have quarreled with—if possible, make it a situation where you
are quite sure your position was correct. Listen. Preach the Gospel in your
example of forgiveness.
1 comment:
It is the rare instance when either party bears an unequal portion of the wrong which begs forgiveness and healing. My ego tells me differently...that I have been unjustly offended. In moments of quiet reflection, I have often come to realize that I was the man who started the ball rolling. As I sat self-righteously poised to offer forgiveness, it came clear to me that I was the one in greatest need of forgiveness.
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