The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith
As we tune our satellite dish to Jesus, tell him how much we love him and want to follow him, we can be assured that he will bring us to be with him in his eternal glory of heaven. If he does not call us now, we still have more work to do down here to spread his love, hope, peace and joy as evangelists and ambassadors.
Wednesday, Fifth Week of Lent What Do We Idolize?
They have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” EXODUS 32:8
The people in the Old Testament often created golden calves or other images to worship. Instead of praying to God, they’d bow down and pray to these idols instead. They believed they’d help their crops grow or bring them victory in battle.
Wednesday, Fourth Week of Lent Making God Proud
Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. PSALM 128:1
Our neighbor is a retired Secret Serviceman. I asked his adult son, David, what it was like to be raised by someone who protected the President of the United States. David described it like this: “He demanded I always do my best. When I didn’t, I wasn’t afraid of the punishment; he always made sure that was equal to my mistakes. I was afraid of losing his respect. His opinion meant the world to me. The best was when I did well. The look of pride on his face made me feel like a hero. It made me want to try harder every day.”
As Moses struck the rock in the desert with his staff to provide water for his people fleeing Egypt, God can and will save us if we turn back to him begging him for an outpouring of his merciful love for us. A few of us as ambassadors and evangelists are like modern-day Jonahs preaching repentance to our country and the world as modern-day Ninevites. This is a strong warning for us and for the world.
Wednesday, Second Week of Lent A Fraction of Gratitude
Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” LUKE 17:17-18
Leprosy is a terrible and contagious skin disease. In Jesus’ day, when someone got leprosy, others feared it would spread. Lepers had to leave their families and live in caves outside of town. When they did come into town, they had to yell, “Unclean!” so everyone could run away.
Our God makes and keeps his promises. He gave Abraham and Sarah numerous descendants, a new land and worldwide blessings. All Abraham had to do was trust that God would be faithful. God did test Abraham’s faith several times. With all the mess and unfaithfulness of humanity, God has not abandoned us.
Wednesday, First Week of Lent
Getting Creative
And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. MARK 2:4
“It’s pouring outside!” Brendon groaned. “I promised my friends there’d be s’mores at my sleepover tonight. We’ll never get a campfire going now.”
“We can solve this,” Brendon’s mom said. A minute later, she exclaimed, “I’ve got it!”