Tending The Sheep

Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
John 21:15-19

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father how true these words are. There are many circumstances in life when we are often led where we don't want to go. The elderly come to mind in this instance. They are led to homes that are no longer theirs or they are led on a path that leaves them struggling after a lifetime of hard work. On the other hand we also lead children on the wrong path with wrongful living. O dear God, we don't always have our sensibilites as we age. We make decisions that are often selfish because we don't want to take the time to love and care for those who are too young or too old to care for themselves. But it is you we are to follow and when we do that, those choices often are made with you in our heart and love for others. Many times as we grow older and cannot take care of ourselves in the way we would like to, it's difficult to let go of independence and rely on others. For many it is fear to be led to a place that leaves them alone with strangers while family cease to be a source of comfort. Following you enables them to have strength and to conquer the fear of being abandoned. Peter knew that Jesus would not abandon him, nor should we fear this as well.

Birthing A Thought

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”
John 16:20-23 (NAB)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father we have the technology today that makes childbirthing easier for the mother, without the pain. Imagining all those who have gone before us, have birthed their child naturally. Jesus tells us about the joy a mother has when a child is born. He gave us a normal procedure in the life of a human being when they undergo a change such as the example he gave. Woman most of all can relate to it. How much they endure until the time they birth the child, the elation, not just for the fact that they are now relieved of anguish, pain and suffering, but they now can see the life that was within them. In a sense when we sin we lose part of the holiness that belongs to us, the part where we have Jesus within. As we too grow in faith and at times when we fail, we experience the pain a mother feels when her child is in distress. But as we reconcile our hearts to a loving God and let Jesus be part of our lives we see the beauty and joy of having him part of us as a mother does when the child in the womb is sleeping peacefully. For men it must be hard to imagine this, but as we have read Jesus words, it wasn't hard for him to know this truth. The joy of having him in our lives is a blessing, even he speaks to mens hearts and reveals his presence to them as if they too are about to give birth. When he is truly part of our hearts no one can take him away and I mean no one. Throughout the many years it has been tried with the Saints and Martyrs and look how they have survived.

Life in God

And there came to him some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, and they asked him, Saying: Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he leave no children, that his brother should take her to wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the next took her to wife, and he also died childless. And the third took her. And in like manner all the seven, and they left no children, and died. Last of all the woman died also.
In the resurrection therefore, whose wife of them shall she be? For all the seven had her to wife.
And Jesus said to them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they that shall be accounted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, shall neither be married, nor take wives. Neither can they die any more: for they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now that the dead rise again, Moses also shewed, at the bush, when he called the Lord, The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.
Luke 20:27-38 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer

Dear Father you are the living God and for me it is wonderful to know that. But to know also that you are the God of the living and not the dead. Does that mean that when I live my life and live it for you and with you that when I die I am still alive for then I have attained eternal life. But if I live outside of your will and away from you that when I do die, I will be dead and not have life because you are the God of the living. And in order to be alive one must live in you. Have I then answered my own question, that your scripture has made known to my heart. For you truly are the God of the living just as Moses had said the day he was before the burning bush. Also too, since I once was dead from sin, you have resurrected my heart to life lived in you. You Lord have given me life and I am forever grateful for the grace you have given to my lifeless soul.

Life

When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”
Matthew 8:18-22

Prayer

Dear Father once again we are given the simple reply of Jesus to "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." Jesus is life! You sent him to us so we may live by following him. He leads us to you the source of life giving water. If we do not want to follow your Son or you then we might as well be dead. Let us then find life by following Jesus. When we open our hearts to him he will find a place in which he may rest. May we find in our hearts the desire to follow Jesus all the days of our lives. Amen

Life

A Catholic Life has much to read and to reflect on. A terrific blog by a nice person.

Faith

Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.
Hebrews 11:1-2

Reflection:
Faith is believing that God exists when we cannot see or feel him. It is trusting that what we have is given by him for us to live an honest and holy life.

Have we ever hoped for something special from our hearts and received it. When we pray for help, or for someone else because they need it we trust in the realization that it has been answered. We have faith in God in those moments because we don't see him, yet we believe from all the testimony that has been given from the ancient ones about God. That's a long history of believing if you ask me, even though there is a small handful in the world that would put an end to this history.

It's a shame that evil continues in the way of sacrificing life, because God is love and he has gone on to give this to us so we will no longer sacrifice life as the ancient ones did. That is why he gave us back his Son after we put him to death. To show us that life is precious to him.

Saturday before Epiphany

Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:10-12

Reflection:
We really do not have life if we do not believe Jesus is the Son of God. God gave us so much testimony to verify this, that when we do not believe him we do call him a liar.

That's like you telling someone something important and them not believing you. How does it feel to not be believed when we tell the truth. Think how God feels about now, when we don't believe Jesus is his son. How he has gone to great lengths through his prophets and witnesses to prove to us, that it is the truth. Why would he do that, he is God after all.

Yet we as human beings let so much darkness into our lives, that we forget how to truly trust in God. We doubt so much His love for us that we don't even try to possess the life that gives us life.
Believe me, you do not have life unless you have Jesus fully. I can say that I did not have life until I have fully let Jesus into my life to the point of doing His will and His Father's will. Life is so much sweeter and the hardships are truly not as bad as they once seemed. But life in Jesus is wonderful to have, you would not believe how magnificent it really is. God love you

Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.
Matthew 2:13-18

Reflection:
The innocents have suffered a terrible death at the hands of a man who wanted it all. Herod wanted to be king of everything, including heaven it seems. What a sad day to read of the massacre of the young. To be ripped from their mother's arms. And did the women who were pregnant loose their life too to have their child torn from their body.

Such evil Herod did on that day, and it continues to this day. We tear the unborn from the mother's wombs. Yet we find ways to preserve dead bodies. When it is life we should be preserving. It is the little one's we should be nurturing, not terminating their life like Herod has done.

But we do as Herod, out of selfishness because we don't want more than one or two children for fear that we will not be able to fill our bellies with food or clothe our bodies or get extravagant furnishings. So we make a choice to kill the unborn to control the population in some countries and in our own lives. We are like Herod for certain, we seek power as he did.

It's not pretty when we imitate dead rulers that have killed innocent children out of fear.

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

Advent Prayer

Father, all-powerful God, your eternal Word took flesh on our earth when the Virgin Mary placed her life at the service of your plan. Lift our minds in watchful hope to heart the voice which announces his glory and open our minds to receive the Spirit who prepares us for his coming. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.


She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.
Matthew 1:21-22

Reflection:
And to think Joseph almost let Mary go all because God, through the Holy Spirit, gave her a child to be our savior.

The prophets foretold Jesus' coming long ago. He came, and we have witnessed his saving grace since then. Jesus delivers us from our sins, he restores our faith and brings love to our hearts. This little child of love that the Holy Spirit gave to Mary to entrust within her womb for us has taught us the value of life.

Her womb is sacred for she held within, a life that would save the world from itself. Many mothers today who have born a child know how precious this little life is. How for nine months it was nurtured within a body of love. For Mary to receive this special gift of love from God is an act of love on her part for accepting God's love in a way many of us would destroy a life.

Jesus will born because Mary loved him from conception. This special gift should remind us of how we sin when we destroy a life within, that was put there by the grace of God for us to nurture.

Jesus' coming birth is a reminder that he comes to save. Think about his birth and the grace God gave Mary. What about many out there who did not choose to be pregnant, but are. They are special for the life within them, don't destroy your soul by killing a life that is filled with love from God.