#MyMassTakeaway - Shake it off.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us haters gonna hate.
And if their hearts are closed, there's no need to stick around. Get outta town and shake the dust off your feet.
Sometimes it's better to walk away from the argument.
Don't let yourself get dragged down. Don't get so emotionally embroiled that you can't think straight. Don't get tunnel vision.
Instead, look for opportunities to spread the Gospel to those who are open to hearing it.
Evangelize in a way that lifts you up and gives you energy. Makes you come alive in grace.
It's not your job to change hearts. It's Jesus' job. Our part in evangelization is to announce His coming. Prepare the way.
Sometimes, evangelization includes rejection. Even Jesus went through it.
But rejection isn't failure. Not on our part. In fact it can be a sign that we're doing the right thing. It's a hard message we send - repentance and turning from our sins.
So, in the face of rejection, shake it off.
Move forward to the next opportunity God places in your path.
#catholicsonline #Catholicinspiration #newevangelization #mycatholiclife
A great night for Smores in the backyard!
We listened to the thunder rolling in the distancr and eatched the squirrels playing in the trees. We felt the breeze roll in as the heat of the day melted away.
Have you ever stopped to look at nature as if seeing it for the first time? Next time you go for a walk, or step out into your backyard, or drive down a country road, take a moment to notice where civilization meets wilderness.
Look at raw nature. Imagine what it was like before humans carved a path through it. Before we filled in holes and leveled the way for roads and blasted the rock and cut down trees.
It was wild. Raw. Organic. Beautiful. Look at the way the plants grow around each other. Some giving way and others taking over. Notice the undergrowth in a sunny area, and the bare floor of the dense woods.
Isn't it amazing, God's crration in its original glory?
Now, look at a garden. An orchard. A freshly mowed lawn. A manicured rose bush. A tree won't grow good fruit unless it's pruned. A bush will lose its shape of not tended. Vines will overrun a healthy plant unless cut back.
God gave us the earth. To tame and cultivate. To care for. To help it reach its full potential in a way it may not on its own.
Isn't it glorious, God's plan?
Isn't it amazing how God's creation is beautiful in its natural state, and beautiful when cultivated. The wild and free growth of nature. And its subdued and cultivated counterpart.
Thank You, God, for creation. In all its flavors.
#catholicsonline #Catholicinspiration #mycatholiclife #omnipresent
#MyMassTakeaway - A Thorn in My Side.
I've been a bit of a crabbycakes lately. Everything is "a thorn in my side." All of life's little annoyances are like a bunch of tiny little pricks. I get St. Paul, in today's readings. He begged the Lord 3 times to take away his burden. I've been moping at God, too. Why don't You just fix all of these little problems for me? Not yet? Well how about now. Or maybe now.
My eyes have been fixed on me and how every little thing is getting in my way. I've become, as Paul said, "too elated." Too proud. I have been looking for God, not to transform me, but to transform everything around me to fit into my perfect little worldview.
But St. Paul reminds me that God's grace is enough for me. It's in these times of (very small) adversity that He wants to draw me closer to Him. It's in these moments of (very small) sacrifice that I have the opportunity to enter into the greater sufferings of the Universal Church, and Christ's suffering on the Cross.
These annoyances open the door to small trickles of grace. If I allow them, the trickles will run together, and grow into a stream, a brook, a river. They will flow and rush and erode the nasty corners of my personality. They will carve away all that's weak in me, and transform me into the person God wants me to be.
These moments of weakness, when I'm unhappy with myself, with others, with life. When it seems like thorns are pricking me with every step, these are the moments where God wishes to make me strong. Not by changing my circumstances, but by changing me.
During Mass today, I realized my complacency in the offertory. I write my little check and throw it in the basket while the priest prepares the gifts. I wait for him to get the offering ready - the bread and the wine. And I wait for Jesus to take over with His offering - His body and blood, His very life on the Cross.
Once again, I'm looking for Him to change everything, to suffer everything, to endure everything, to fix everything for me. But I'm not called to be a bystander at the Mass... ***To be continued on the blog***
