Jail Break March 14

Piety

Jesus, help us not to neglect what you have revealed as truly the important tasks for us in life. Keep up from the trivial pursuits of today. Keep us from going through life like we are on some game show or participating in a so-called “reality show.”
Show us the reality of people fighting poverty, help us ease their plight.
Show us the reality of people fighting disease and illness, help us bring them to health. Show us the reality of people who are buckling under the stress of the modern world, help us to free them from anxiety.

Jesus, this is no game. As we are tested to bear our cross, give us the serenity to focus on where we need to be in our Fourth Day so we can be “reasonably happy in this life and eternally happy with you in the next.” Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/031406.shtml

The Word changes everything.

Though your sins be like scarlet,they may become white as snow;Though they be crimson red,they may become white as wool.If you are willing, and obey,you shall eat the good things of the land;

Sins and people. People and sins. All are changed in the presence of the Lord. Just like the wine at Cana changed when it was in the presence of Jesus, we change, too. Is it any wonder that many programs to free people of addictions are rooted in faith in God? If people expect to free themselves from whatever prisons have ensnared them, then God holds the key. The Prison of Drugs. The Gulag of Alcohol. The Jail of Indulgence. We are trapped by many external substances but also by many internal feelings…anger, lust, greed, laziness, arrogance. And for all these and more, the sentence of the Good News is to be loved – to openly accept God’s grace – in order to love others are God commands.

Once again, Jesus points out how the hypocrite and the arrogant need to leave their tendencies behind and become humbled in order to do as God commands. The Good News specifies that the order of the world will be turned upside down.

The greatest among you must be your servant.Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Action

What simple steps might you be able to take to focus on what is really important? Can you turn off the television for an hour? A night? A weekend? A week? Or even longer? Can you pass up the weekly poker game or tennis match and send the money you save to charity? Can you pass up that dessert? That extra glass of wine? The impulse purchase in the Mall?

What prison are you locked inside? What can you turn over to Jesus in order to unlock that door?