Are my possessions safe? - Thursday, March 31st

Readings of the Day

Gospel: Luke 11: 14-23
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

• against: in opposition to; in competition with; in an opposite direction to
• How do I guard the "palace" of my own soul, of the souls of my loved ones?  Am I aware of the many influences around me that are "against" my faith and morals?  How do I respond to the culture without closing myself off?  How do I teach my children to have this security in their convictions?
• gather: to bring together (harvest, pick); to assemble from various places or sources; to draw about or close to something; to collect
• What tools are at my disposal to bring together and bolster my faith, and the faith of others?  Do I take comfort in knowing that I am gathering with Christ - that He is present with His grace in all I do for Him?
• scatter: to fling away heedlessly; to divide into ineffectual small portions; to separate and go in various directions
• How often do I, myself, feel scattered?  Is this a consequence of not "gathering with Christ" - of allowing myself to be bombarded by temptations and influences stronger than what I can handle on my own?  Do I know that Jesus is always there, just waiting to help me? - I just have to ask.

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.

What will I be called in the Kingdom of Heaven? - Wednesday, March 30th

Readings of the Day

Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

• fulfill: to perform or do, as duty; to develop the full potential of; to put into effect; to convert into reality.
• The law was given to the Israelites as part of their covenant with God - how do I "develop the full potential" of the commandments in my life?  Or is my sense of fulfillment legalistic and mere duty?
• obey (obeys): to comply with or follow the commands, instructions or guidance of; to comply with or follow; to conform in action to
• The commandments are given to us not because God wants to "ruin our lives" and take all the fun out of life - do I see them for what they are, instruments of God's fatherly guidance to live a truly happy life?  How much true happiness have I found in breaking the commandments?
• teach (teaches): to impart knowledge or skill; to instruct by precept, example or experience.
• Teaching the fulfillment of the commandments leads to being greatest, teaching to break them leads to being least - through my words and actions, at home, at work, among friends - will I be least or greatest in the Kingdom?

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.

Forgiveness from the Inside Out - Tuesday, March 29th

Readings of the Day

Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

• patient: bearing trials or pains calmly or without complaint; steadfast despite opposition or difficulty; bearing misfortune or hardship with fortitude.
• Did the Master forgive the debt because the payment really didn't matter to him?  Was it rather that he saw the servant/debtor saw him as a fellow human being, and moved by his humility in asking for understanding?  How often do I humble myself before God and ask for his mercy, in forgiveness, in prayers of petition and intercession?
• pity: sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed or unhappy, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy.
• Do I have a sense of just how much God has forgiven me?  And moreso, how freely and unconditionally his forgiveness has been given?  How can I imitate this better with those I struggle to forgive, wanting, on some level, to receive retribution?
• heart: one's innermost character, feelings or inclinations; the essential or more vital part of something; the center of the total personality.
• Does God's forgiveness change my heart?  How can I let his love and mercy "sink in" deeper and affect my feelings and inclinations towards those who hurt or frustrate me, from the inside out?

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.

My Accepted Prophets - Monday, March 28th

Readings of the Day

Gospel: Luke 4: 24-30
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

• prophet: a person who speaks for god or a deity, or by divine inspiration; a person who foretells or predicts what is to come; a person regarded as, or claiming to be, an inspired teacher or leader.
• Is Jesus Christ more than a prophet to me?  What other "prophets" - or inspired "teachings" (moral, historical, cultural, political, religious...) - do I adhere to?
• accept (accepted): to take or receive (something offered); receive with approval; to agree or consent to; to regard as true or sound; to make a favorable response to.
• If I look at my daily life, which "teachers" am I consenting to with greater frequency?  Are my actions in accord with truths, or the passing "prophet" proclaimed as such by the popular culture?
• fury: unrestrained or violent anger; violence; vehemence; intense, disordered and often destructive rage.
• How do I react to truth proclaimed about my own life?  Am I able to honestly look at myself, and calmly be honest about where and when I follow my convictions, and where and when I don't?  Are my insecurities such that they don't allow me to accept the truth about myself (both positive and negative), and rather force them out as unacceptable? 

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.

A Spring Welling up to Eternal Life - Sunday, March 27th

Readings of the Day

Gospel:  John 4: 5-42
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her,
“Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.”

At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?” They went out of the town and came to him.

Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

• thirsty: deficient in moisture (parched); having a strong desire; eager.
• What do I thirst for?  How do I satisfy this thirst?  What is Christ thirsty for?  How do I satisfy His thirst?
• spring: a source of supply, especially a source of water issuing from the groung; an ultimate source of action or motion; fountainhead of something.
• What is the "water" Christ is speaking of that will be a spring for eternal life?  Do I see His grace in my life as such?  How do I foster and care for this spring?
• believe: to accept something as true; to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something; to have confidence in the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.
• Is my belief in Christ my own, or based on others' beliefs?  Do I really believe?  Or do I seek and demand too many proofs?

Definitions from http://www.merriman-webster.com/ and http://www.dictionary.com/.