Reflections
Psalm 123: 1-2, 2, 3-4 (Read)
“Our eyes are fixed on the Lord.”
We are called to serve God and to do
His will, as Jesus did. And so our eyes
must be on God, that we may know His
will for us, and that we may serve Him
and our neighbor as well.
Where else would we turn?
To be measured by men?
To get direction from anyone else?
Like the prophet Ezekiel, our success is
measured by doing God’s will and
following His direction in our
lives. (Ezekiel 2: 2-5)
Our psalmist says, “We have our fill of contempt;
we have our fill of insult from the proud.”
For it is the arrogant ones who rely only on
themselves, giving little thought to God.
Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was not
respected in his home town; he was rejected
by his townspeople and neighbors. (Mark 6: 4-5)
Is that what we face from family or friends,
when we do the Lord’s work or proclaim his
Gospel? If so, then we are united with Christ,
and like St Paul, we can be content with insults,
hardships, persecutions and constraints.
The Lord's grace is sufficient for
us. (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist calls for us to fix our eyes on the Lord.
Describe how you focus on the Lord in your faith journey.
Tell how you are able to discern God's will for your life.
2. Our psalmist says he is fed up, having been the object
of contempt and mockery from the arrogant ones around him.
Even Jesus was mocked in his native village. Tell of how you
deal with insult and persecution when you proclaim the Gospel.
What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between them? We are all the temple of the living God.
ReplyDeleteAs matter of fact, there were numerous times when I have encountered persecution and been mocked by our Protestant brothers and sisters who think their Protestant faith is best and true. Without full knowledge of God's Word and because of lack of discernment, I'm afraid to say that I was astray from my faith for a while. I doubted whether I would obtain salvation through my Catholic faith.
At those moments I cried out to God to ask Him to show me His wisdom so that I would be able to discern God's will, mercy, and salvation for all people who hold the Catholic faith. I started to focus on His Words. My fears have been dismissed by reading this scripture, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)
Therefore, St Paul confirmed for me that there is Salvation in the Catholic faith. Even if l am insulted and held in contempt by my fellow Christians in the future, I will not stray any more. I will stand firm on my faith, fixing my eyes on the Lord who is the one, true God who saves me from eternal condemnation. Thank you for bringing me victory in my faith! From now on I want to tell all my persecutors, "By the grace of God I am what I am -- a Catholic."
I believe we must continue to focus on the Lord, and stay straight on the path. Today is the 3rd of July, and tomorrow will be the 4th of July, 2015. What will tomorrow bring? There are enough extremely serious scenarios in Asia, the Middle-East, Greece, the Ukraine, Russia, terrorism and weather in our own country, to write a book. IF we stay focused on the Lord, our worries are over. Do not stray during “these interesting, yet turbulent times!"
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