Thursday, February 20, 2014
Friday 6th Week in Ordinary Time
February 21, 2014
Friday 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor]
Jas 2: 14-24, 26 / Ps 112: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Mk 8: 34 - 9:1
Reading: Jas 2: 14-24, 26
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, to profess faith without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you. If a brother or sister is in need of clothes or food and one of you says, "May things go well for you; be warm and satisfied," without attending to their material needs, what good is that? So it is for faith without deeds: it is totally dead. Say to whoever challenges you, "You have faith and I have good deeds; show me your faith apart from actions and I, for my part, will show you my faith in the way I act." Do you believe there is one God? Well enough, but do not forget that the demons also believe and tremble with fear! You foolish one, do you have to be convinced that faith without deeds is useless? Think of our father Abraham. Was he not justified by the act of offering his son Isaac on the altar? So you see, his faith was active along with his deeds and became perfect by what he did. The word of Scripture was thus fulfilled, Abraham believed in God so he was considered a righteous person and he was called the friend of God. So you see, a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. So, just as the body is dead without its spirit, so faith without deeds is also dead.
Gospel: Mk 8: 34 - 9:1
Then Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it. What good is it to gain the whole world but destroy yourself? There is nothing you can give to recover your life. I tell you: If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he went on to say, "Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power."
Reflection:
"Then Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."
In this modern world of instant gratification, where "Me! Me! Me! Now! Now! Now!" is the norm. Denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus seem s like a foolish thing to do. Some might question, "Why should we choose to do the hard things through the hard way?" Others might think "Life is not about suffering." Moving through life with the least amount of hardship and achieving fame and fortune are goals we all have. But as Christians, is that what Jesus wants of us? Is this what the little voice inside each of us says? Do we even hear that little voice in the hustle and the bustle of our daily lives?
Take some time to reflect on yourself. What drives you? What does denying yourself mean to you? What is your cross? Are we following Jesus' path, or your own? Pray to Jesus for grace and guidance in your struggle to live the life of a Christian.
Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... for special intentions
* Dave & Yo
... 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!
**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following:
+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
-- Friday 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor]
Jas 2: 14-24, 26 / Ps 112: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Mk 8: 34 - 9:1
Reading: Jas 2: 14-24, 26
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, to profess faith without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you. If a brother or sister is in need of clothes or food and one of you says, "May things go well for you; be warm and satisfied," without attending to their material needs, what good is that? So it is for faith without deeds: it is totally dead. Say to whoever challenges you, "You have faith and I have good deeds; show me your faith apart from actions and I, for my part, will show you my faith in the way I act." Do you believe there is one God? Well enough, but do not forget that the demons also believe and tremble with fear! You foolish one, do you have to be convinced that faith without deeds is useless? Think of our father Abraham. Was he not justified by the act of offering his son Isaac on the altar? So you see, his faith was active along with his deeds and became perfect by what he did. The word of Scripture was thus fulfilled, Abraham believed in God so he was considered a righteous person and he was called the friend of God. So you see, a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. So, just as the body is dead without its spirit, so faith without deeds is also dead.
Gospel: Mk 8: 34 - 9:1
Then Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it. What good is it to gain the whole world but destroy yourself? There is nothing you can give to recover your life. I tell you: If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he went on to say, "Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power."
Reflection:
"Then Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."
In this modern world of instant gratification, where "Me! Me! Me! Now! Now! Now!" is the norm. Denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus seem s like a foolish thing to do. Some might question, "Why should we choose to do the hard things through the hard way?" Others might think "Life is not about suffering." Moving through life with the least amount of hardship and achieving fame and fortune are goals we all have. But as Christians, is that what Jesus wants of us? Is this what the little voice inside each of us says? Do we even hear that little voice in the hustle and the bustle of our daily lives?
Take some time to reflect on yourself. What drives you? What does denying yourself mean to you? What is your cross? Are we following Jesus' path, or your own? Pray to Jesus for grace and guidance in your struggle to live the life of a Christian.
Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... for special intentions
* Dave & Yo
... 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!
**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following:
+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
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# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 4:13 AM 
