Tuesday, August 29, 2006
TAPS AND REVEILLE
| DAILY BREAD |  |
| Subscribe Unsubscribe Change E-mail View Archive TAPS AND REVEILLE Contributed by Sally I. Kennedy Aug 29, 2006 |
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call
of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4:16
The tiny chapel was packed with people who were there to pay their
respects. Even the old, squishy sofa in the back, along with the two
funeral home wing back chairs, were filled. Dripping umbrellas were
scattered about the floor. Outside, the clouds kept steadily
weeping. B ut inside, the glow from the lights was soft, the rose
drapery soothing, and the beautiful flowers looked peaceful.
There were hugs and smiles, and tears. Whispered greetings were
exchanged. A hush fell, and the memorial was underway. Two young
men, in starched white uniforms, marched in silence. With a precise
90-degree turn, they faced forward, stock still, like statues.
Many people from all stages of John's life, shared words of
remembrance. The music and scriptures were comforting. A kind
gentleness pervaded the atmosphere as we came together to celebrate
the life of our friend, neighbor, father, brother, and grandfather.
The service was drawing to a close. A member of the Honor Guard came
forward, precisely turning. Just before he began the flag-folding
ritual, honoring the deceased for serving our country, the other
Guardsman put his trumpet to his lips.
Taps broke into my solitude. Reverence overtook and engulfed me. As
the haunting, melodious strains of Taps rose and fell, my heart went
heavenward, toward my Creator.
At that moment, the picture came to my mind of our friend, now with
the Lord. A vision of a clear, bright morning in heaven, with
Reveill being played.
Taps: a military signal to turn the lights out; Reveille: a bugle
call at sunrise. One here; one there.
That is good news.
PRAYER
"Lord, you satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts and you feed us with the finest of wheat (Ps 81:16). Fill me with gratitude and give me a generous heart that I may freely share with others what you have given to
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LET GO OF THE PAST
| DAILY BREAD | |
| Subscribe Unsubscribe Change E-mail View Archive LET GO OF THE PAST Author Unknown Aug 29, 2006 |
My child,
Give up! Give up those hurts of the past. It's time to move on. satan
loves to have you live in the past because that renders you ineffective
to live in the present-in the now.
Tell Me, child. What is it that has happened to you? Who hurt you?
What mistakes have you made that you regret? Did what happen to you
change the fact that Jesus loves you, and He died on the cross for you
so you could live in heaven with Him for all eternity?
Can anything or anyone ever change that fact? You know that nothing
can ever nullify what Jesus did for you on the cross. If that's true,
and
it is, then nothing else matters, does it?
There is nothing that can happen to you, nothing anyone can do to you
that can ever change the fact that My Son, Jesus, loves you and died on
the cross for you so you gain heaven for all eternity. No one can ever
take that away from you. No One!
Hold on to that thought. Put things in their proper perspective. When
you do that, you'll see that being loved unconditionally, attaining
salvation and the right to go to heaven is your ultimate goal.
Everything else pales in comparison to that.
Even physical death cannot take heaven away from yo u, for then the real
you-your spirit-just changes abodes. Physical death for Christians is
moving from living in the temple of the Holy Spirit, your body, to
living in heaven.
I know, My child, I know. Your mind is often filled with hurtful
things that happen to you. Sometimes you even say to people "You don't
know
how much it hurt Me when such and such happened." Well, I ask you
again, does what happen to you in the past change the fact that Jesus
loves you and died for you, and now you can spend eternity with Him in
heaven? I don't have to wait for your answer, because I know
immediately your mind said, "No!"
Then, child, nothing else matters! Compared to eternity, all problems
are nothing. Loving Me, being in My family, gaining the right to live
in heaven fo r eternity-that's what's important in life. If you lose
that, you've lost it all. Don't hold grudges. forgive! Nothing you
can gain on earth can make up for that loss, and nothing can happen to
you on earth that can take that away from you- Nothing!
Love,
God
PRAYER
"Lord Jesus, you are my hope and salvation. Be the ruler of my heart
and the master of my home. May there be nothing in my life that is not
under your lordship."
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in either by email in original form or copied from the internet sites.
The work was submitted to us as an item for distribution, and it was
posted solely on the basis of its quality. It's a FREE service.
© 2006 FoodForThought
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Wednesday 21st Week in Ordinary Time
August 30, 2006
Wednesday 21st Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-10, 16-18
We instruct you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not
according to the tradition they received from us. For you know how one
must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor
did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and
drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not
that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves
as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were
with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work,
neither should that one eat. May the Lord of peace himself give you
peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. This
greeting is in my own hand, Paul's. This is the sign in every letter;
this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of
you.
MATTHEW 23:27-32
Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are
like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but
inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth. Even so,
on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with
hypocrisy and evildoing. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you
hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials
of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our
ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets'
blood.' Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the
children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your
ancestors measured out!"
REFLECTION
The thought that Christ's second coming was imminent so disturbed a
number of the Thessalonian Christians that it created a problem for
their Church. Their interest in secular affairs, in the work they did
to earn a living for their families, in their concern for one another
and for the poor, their interest in these matters faded away. They
could think of nothing other than the Day of the Lord.
Paul was always conscious that the eyes of their neighbors were
constantly on the members of this new religious community. Christians
would be judged by the way they lived. He was anxious that their
behavior should give their pagan neighbors no reason to complain about
them or to judge them.
He advises the Thessalonians who have abandoned their this-world
responsibilities because of the oncoming Day of the Lord, that their
life-style is disordered, unlike the sort of life he himself had lived
when he was with them. He worked and he worked hard, not only preaching
the Good News. In addition he worked with his hands, earning his daily
bread, so as not to be a burden to any of them. Paul had also laid down
a rule when he was with them-and of this he now reminds them- "If
anyone refuses to work, he should not eat."
Fr. Joseph Krempa relates Paul's experience to our experience today.
"One can become so preoccupied with the world-to-come as to diminish
any interest in the world in which we live. Zealots obsessed with the
coming end of the world show little interest in human rights, corporate
behavior, or morality in foreign or domestic policy. Paul never saw
faith or hope in the Lord's coming as a rationale for neglecting our
obligations in this world. In fact Jesus' return as Judge requires a
vibrant missionary zeal to transform and change our world in
preparation for his coming."
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- birthday blessings and for the special intentions of Normal B.
Bernal.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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� 2006 Daily-Homily
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