Catholic Words

Reading 1 Acts 11:19-26
Responsorial Psalm Ps 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel John 10: 22-30

Excerpts:

Acts 11:25-26

25
Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
26
and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

Psalm 87:7

7
So all sing in their festive dance: “Within you is my true home.”

John 10:27

27
My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Reflection: I chose the Acts excerpt because it mentions the first time the disciples were called Christians–a significant event in the history of our faith. The Psalm and the Gospel show me to remember that God is within all of His believers and followers. Whatever we do in our day-to-day lives, God is not only with us as we do it, but also within us. Everything we do represents our Lord. That helps me remember to always think of Him because I would not want to do something that doesn’t approve of. Although, we are not perfect. There will be times of weakness, but the Lord knows that. Don’t be discouraged. Be sorry and ask for forgiveness and then work towards being better, just as we do in other things in our lives. We work at it.

There is something else I’ve been thinking about recently. The more we recognize or admit our faults, the sooner and better we can work towards dealing with them and becoming better children of God. living more holy lives. I have been focusing on the common 7 cardinal sins or 7 deadly sins as they may be referred to in some contexts. If one could only avoid these sins, it seems one could almost guarantee living a holy life. I have noted these 7:

Envy
Greed
Gluttony
Sloth
Lust
Wrath
Pride

Of the 7, the worst and root of them all is pride. It is rooted in self-centered concerns. I thought how could I battle this sin.
My current solution: Humility. That is simple enough, right? If pride is being self-centered directly or indirectly, I thought to remove oneself from the equation. Don’t we always pray and know that all we do is not possible without the Lord making it possible? So what could we possibly be proud of, except for the pride we have in our God for giving us our lives and everything in it. Our only concern should be the things that concern God. If we focus on pleasing Him as in living a Holy life, then our concern would be only for impressing Him and no one else. We will not care what others think of us nor would we care what other are doing.

I think this also ties into a movie I recently watched. The movie was called The Joneses. It reflects our society today with the on-going chase to obtain the newest and best material things and living the best and wealthiest lifestyle–to please ourselves or others, but not to please God. Do those things concern God? Remember

Luke 16:13-14
13
No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
14
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him.

–Peace Be With You