Catholic Daily Reflections

Read Online“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Matthew 9:37–38What does God want of you? What is your mission? Some fervent Christians may dream of becoming a popular evangelist. Some may dream of doing heroic acts of charity that are praised by all. And others may wish to live a very quiet and hidden life of faith, close to family and friends. But what does God want of YOU?In the passage above, Jesus exhorts His disciples to pray for “laborers for his harvest.” You can be certain that you are among the “laborers” of which our Lord speaks. It’s easy to think that this mission is for others, such as priests, religious and full-time lay evangelists. It’s easy for many to conclude that they do not have much to offer. But nothing could be further from the truth.God wants to use you in exceptionally glorious ways.  Yes, “exceptionally glorious!” Of course, that does not mean that you will be the next most popular YouTube evangelist or enter the spotlight like Saint Mother Teresa did. But the work God wants of you is just as real and just as important as any of the greatest saints of old or who are alive today.Holiness of life is discovered in prayer but also in action. As you pray each and every day and grow closer to Christ, He will exhort you to “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons” (Matthew 10:8), as today’s Gospel goes on to state. But He will call you to do this in the unique way within your own vocation. Your daily duty is not to be ignored. So who in your daily encounters are those who are the sick, the dead, the lepers and the possessed? Most likely they are all around you, to one extent or another. Take, for example, those who are “lepers.” These are those who are the “rejects” of society. Our world can be harsh and cruel, and some may find themselves feeling lost and alone. Who do you know who may fall into this category? Who needs a bit of encouragement, understanding and compassion? God has given you a daily duty that He has not given to another, and, for that reason, there are some who need your love. Look for them, reach out to them, share Christ with them, be there for them.Reflect, today, upon this exceptionally glorious calling you have been given to be Christ to another. Embrace this duty of love. See yourself as one called to be a laborer for Christ and commit yourself to the full and glorious fulfillment of this mission, no matter how it is to be lived out in your life.My dear Lord, I commit myself to Your divine mission. I choose You and Your holy will for my life. Send me, dear Lord, to those who are most in need of your love and mercy. Help me to know how I can bring that love and mercy to those entrusted to me so that they will experience in their lives Your glorious and saving grace. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured image above: Jesus teaching his disciples By Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, via Wikimedia Commons

Read OnlineAnd their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land. Matthew 9:30–31Who is Jesus? This question is much more easily answered today than it was at the time Jesus walked the Earth. Today we are blessed with countless saints who have gone before us who have prayerfully and intelligently taught much about the person of Jesus. We know Him to be God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Savior of the World, the promised Messiah, the Sacrificial Lamb and so much more.The Gospel above comes from the conclusion of the miracle in which Jesus healed two blind men. These men were overwhelmed with their cure, and their emotion overtook them. Jesus instructed them to “See that no one knows about this” miraculous healing. But their excitement could not be contained. It’s not that they were intentionally disobedient to Jesus; rather, they did not know how else to express their sincere gratitude other than to tell others about what Jesus had done.One reason Jesus told them not to tell others about Him is because Jesus knew they did not fully understand Who He was. He knew that their testimony about Him would fail to present Him in the way that was most truthful. He was the Lamb of God. The Savior. The Messiah. The Sacrificial Lamb. He was the One Who came into this world to redeem us by the shedding of His blood. Many of the people, however, wanted a nationalistic “messiah” or a miracle worker alone. They wanted one who would save them from political oppression and make them a great earthly nation. But this was not Jesus' mission.Oftentimes we can also fall into the trap of misunderstanding Who Jesus is and Who He wants to be in our lives. We can want a “god” who will save us only from our daily struggles, injustices and temporal difficulties. We can want a “god” who acts in accord with our will and not vice versa. We want a “god” who will heal us and free us of every earthly burden. But Jesus taught clearly throughout His life that He would suffer and die. He taught us that we must take up our own crosses and follow Him. And He taught us that we are to die, embrace suffering, offer mercy, turn the other cheek, and find our glory in that which the world will never understand.Reflect, today, upon whether Jesus would caution you about speaking too loudly about your vision of Who He is. Do you struggle with presenting a “god” who is not actually God? Or have you come to know the very Person of Christ our Lord to such an extent that you are able to give witness to Him Who died. Do you boast only in the Cross? Do you proclaim Christ crucified and preach only the deepest wisdom of humility, mercy and sacrifice? Recommit yourself to a true proclamation of Christ, setting aside any and all confused images of our saving God.My true and saving Lord, I commit myself to You and pray that I will come to know and love You as You are. Give me the eyes I need to see You and the mind and heart I need to know and love You. Remove from me any false vision of Who You are and replace within me a true knowledge of You, my Lord. As I come to know You, I offer myself to You so that You may use me to proclaim Your greatness to all. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured images above: Christ Healing the Blind Man, via flickr

Read Online“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”  Matthew 7:21It’s frightening to think of those of whom Jesus is speaking. Imagine arriving before the throne of God upon your passing from this earthly life and you cry out to Him, “Lord, Lord!” And you expect Him to smile and welcome you, but instead you come face-to-face with the reality of your ongoing and obstinate disobedience to the will of God throughout your life. You suddenly realize that you acted as if you were a Christian, but it was only an act. And now, on the day of judgment, the truth is made manifest for you and for all to see. A truly frightening scenario.To whom will this happen? Of course, only our Lord knows. He is the one and only Just Judge. He and He alone knows a person’s heart, and judgment is left only to Him. But the fact that Jesus told us that “Not everyone” who expects to enter Heaven will enter should grab our attention.Ideally, our lives are directed by a deep and pure love of God, and it is this love and this love alone that directs our lives. But when a pure love of God is not clearly present, then the next best thing may be a holy fear. The words spoken by Jesus should evoke this “holy fear” within each of us.By “holy,” we mean that there is a certain fear that can motivate us to change our lives in an authentic way. It’s possible that we fool others, and maybe even fool ourselves, but we cannot fool God. God sees and knows all things, and He knows the answer to the one and only question that matters on the day of judgment: “Did I fulfill the will of the Father in Heaven?”A common practice, recommended over and over by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, is to consider all our current decisions and actions from the point of view of the day of judgment. What would I wish I had done in that moment? The answer to that question is of essential importance to the way we live our lives today.Reflect, today, upon that important question in your own life. “Am I fulfilling the will of the Father in Heaven?” What will I wish I had done, here and now, as I stand before the judgment seat of Christ? Whatever comes to mind, spend time with that and strive to deepen your resolve to whatever God reveals to you. Do not hesitate. Do not wait. Prepare now so that the day of Judgment will also be a day of exceeding joy and glory!My saving God, I pray for insight into my life. Help me to see my life and all of my actions in the light of Your will and Your Truth. My loving Father, I desire to live fully in accord with Your perfect will. Give me the grace I need to amend my life so that the day of judgment is a day of the greatest glory. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured images above: Ascension of the Lord, via flickr

Read OnlineThen he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.   Matthew 15:36–37This line concludes the second miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes as told by Matthew. In this miracle, seven loaves and a few fish were multiplied to feed 4,000 men, not counting the women and children. And once everyone ate and was satisfied, seven full baskets remained.It’s hard to underestimate the effect that this miracle had on those who were actually there. Perhaps many did not even know where the food came from. They just saw the baskets being passed, they took their fill, and passed the rest on to others. Though there are many important lessons we can take from this miracle, let’s consider one of them.Recall that the crowds had been with Jesus for three days without food. They were amazed at Him as He taught and continually healed the sick in their presence. They were so amazed, in fact, that they showed no sign of leaving Him, despite the obvious hunger they must have been experiencing. This is a wonderful image of what we must seek to have in our interior life.What is it that “amazes” you in life? What is it that you can do hour after hour without losing your attention? For these first disciples, it was the discovery of the very Person of Jesus that had this effect upon them. How about you? Have you ever found that the discovery of Jesus in prayer, or in the reading of Scripture, or through the witness of another, was so compelling that you became engrossed in His presence? Have you ever become so engrossed in our Lord that you thought of little else?In Heaven, our eternity will be spent in a perpetual adoration and “amazement” of the glory of God. And we will never tire of being with Him, in awe of Him. But too often on Earth, we lose sight of the miraculous action of God in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Too often, instead, we become engrossed in sin, the effects of sin, hurt, scandal, division, hatred and those things that lead to despair.Reflect, today, upon these first disciples of Jesus. Ponder, especially, their wonder and awe as they stayed with Him for three days without food. This draw of our Lord must take hold of you and overwhelm you so much that Jesus is the one and only central focus of your life. And when He is, all else falls into place and our Lord provides for your many other needs.My divine Lord, I love You and desire to love You more. Fill me with a wonder and awe for You. Help me to desire You above all things and in all things. May my love of You become so intense that I find myself trusting You always. Help me, dear Lord, to make You the center of my entire life. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured image above: The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes By Jacopo Tintoretto, via Jacopo Tintoretto, via Wikimedia Commons