Todays Inspirational Snippet: Rely on the Holy Spirits inspiration rather than on personal emotions and agendas. Good News Reflection Friday of the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time November 21, 2014 Todays Memorial: Presentation of Mary Pray for Gods plans in your life Todays Readings Revelation 10:8-11 Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,131 Luke 19:45-48 usccb.org/bible/readings/112114.cfm USCCB Podcast of the Readings: ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/14_11_21.mp3 Sweets and a sour stomach My husband, Ralph, is good at cooking up fun birthday cakes. When the kids were little (and our waistlines, too), he would bake the cake and then slice two layers into at least four, then plaster each together with his favorite snacks: jelly beans, chocolate chips, pudding, marshmallows, coconut, colored sugar sprinkles, and hmmmm..... I think he wouldve included ice cream with hot fudge if he could. When I was pregnant with my first child (1980), my birthday came in the middle of the nauseous stage. Ralph begged me to let him bake a cake. As my stomach churned, I suggested angel food cake; its light and airy, has no icing, and is therefore easy to digest. He agreed. Then he layered it with jelly beans, chocolate chips, pudding and I think I know how Saint John felt when the angel told him in todays first reading, Here, take and eat this scroll. It will taste sweet but will sour in your stomach. Todays responsorial Psalm says, How sweet to my taste is your promise! The Good News from God is always wonderful, but when we have to share the truth with those who will reject us, it churns in our stomachs. Jesus spoke the truth in the Gospel passage, and the chief priests, leaders and scribes plotted to destroy him. Who can stomach that kind of rejection and then do it again? God told John, You must prophesy. Through our baptisms, we all share in Christs divine role as prophet. We must prophesy! But not as fortune tellers; that is Satans twisted warp on it. And not by nagging someone with the truth; thats casting pearls before swine, which Jesus warned against. To be a prophet means to speak the truth to those who need to hear it, but only when God chooses the timing and gives us the words to speak. We are held accountable for every word that we use or misuse. We are also held accountable for every word he asks us to utter that we do not speak because were afraid that someones reaction might upset our stomachs. To be Gods voice here on earth, we must first live the truth, learning it from scripture and Church teachings, letting it change our own lives, and humbly going to Confession for the times weve rejected the truth. Since we can never fully grasp the truth, we must continually study, learn, and live the truth. Secondly, we must stay in prayer to discern Gods will, and thirdly, we must rely on the Holy Spirits inspiration rather than on our personal emotions and agendas. And when the sweet taste of his Word turns sour in our stomach, we have the satisfaction of knowing that it has united us to St. John and to Jesus. © 2014 by Terry A. Modica
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 13:45:18 +0000
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