Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Ezekiel 47:9
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” John 5:8
Piety
Let us pray. Father God, motivate me to get up and unchain myself from the sin of laziness. Brother Jesus, remind me to keep my life simple and free of too many personal possessions. Holy Spirit, guide my steps in the coming year to go where you want me to go and not to stay in the comfort zone of my own little cocoon. Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030408.shtml
Today marks the second anniversary of Your Daily Tripod. For the past two years, the Word of God has propelled us on our Cursillo Fourth Day wherever the river of its meaning has flowed. The Holy Spirit has provided the directions and it has been up to us to obey and follow. Thank you to Beth, Fr. Joe,
Today’s readings give us an important commission for the upcoming year. Jesus doesn’t give us a menu. There is no choice involved. We must respond to His message on all three levels.
Rise. Stop sitting around waiting for God to come to you because God is as close as your front door. Whenever we have a visitor, we get up to greet the guest. Let us rise and greet God as He enters into our life. Once we have that encounter, it is not time to go back to our comfort zone. Even when the disciples wanted to go back to fishing, Jesus re-entered their lives with the last breakfast. Once we have that encounter, it is time for us to rise and go out into the world and bring God and the Good New to others. In going out to others, God will keep coming back to us.
Take up your mat. Don’t be overburdened with a lot of material goods. Practice the spirituality of enough-ness. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he warned them not to bring a big suitcase full of clothes, books, I-pods, digital cameras, and the like. Pack simply and simply pack. As disciples, we have to make sure that we are not chained to too many worldly possessions which have control over our lives. We should endeavor to go through this year with enough to meet our needs but not too much that will get in the way of Jesus’ commands.
Walk. Jesus asks us to walk in two directions. First, He wants us to walk toward Him, to follow him. To do so, we have to start by putting one foot in front of the other. We are already standing because we got up when the Lord came into our life. Now we have to start walking with him. Be prepared to do your share of climbing to keep pace with Jesus as he ascends
Once we have encountered the Lord, we then must take his message from the sanctuary to the streets. It is not enough to hear His message and keep it to ourselves. We must share it with the community like the woman at the well. We do that through our action. We do that through our faithful citizenship. We do that through our love.
Action
What has you frightened or alone? What do you need to “get over?”
Maybe you are afraid of ministering to people in jail. Then call Sister Connie and go with her to the
Maybe you are afraid of visiting people who are sick. Then call the chaplain at
Maybe you are afraid of sharing your thoughts on scripture with others. Then send an e-mail to the editor of Your Daily Tripod and volunteer to write just one column reflecting on how that day’s scripture passages move you to reflect on the Fourth Day mission of piety, study and action. After all, this is not Pete’s Daily Tripod. Or Cathy’s Daily Tripod. Or even Tony’s Daily Tripod. It is YOUR DAILY TRIPOD. Rise. Pick up your Bible and Read. Then pick up your keyboard and Type.
Go beyond whatever has paralyzed you. Get outside the prison of your boundaries and reach out to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world today.
1 comment:
DE COLORES!!! From a pescadore in Indiana
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