Gospel reflections: Ordinary time/I have not rebelled

Part of my job is to write a section of the Church bulletin. So in between the "Don't forget to turn in permission slips," "Volunteers needed for..." and the typos, I try to share with others what the Holy Spirit has been up to in my thoughts and prayers that week.

And so, I give you, the September 9th and 16th bulletin reflections. 

September 9th: 

In our liturgical calendar, we are in the middle of ordinary time. But the readings continue to remind us of the extraordinary God that loves us and they also call us to respond with extraordinary love to others. The first reading from Isaiah  says “Be strong, Fear not! Here is your God, … He comes to save you.”  Sometimes we forget how wonderfully extraordinary our Lord is. That He comes down from heaven with his divine love to save us. That in ordinary moments of our lives, he comes with extraordinary love to take us up in his hands with his saving grace. In response to the love of God, we are called to act in extra-ordinary ways. The second reading tells us how important it is to act in these out of the ordinary ways. We are reminded to not judge based on material appearance, but to be extra-ordinary and look beyond physical riches to see the richness of faith. During this liturgical season of “ordinary time” let ‘s take the challenge to continue to live extraordinary lives of generosity, love, and forgiveness, so that our lives reflect the extraordinary love of God’s saving grace in today’s world. 

September 16th:

“The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled.”  - Isaiah 50:5. This first line from the reading is a hard one to hear, because for me, it is often untrue. “I have not rebelled.” How many times do we rebel when we hear the Lord God? But now, looking at the Gospel, we find some comfort in the person of Peter. In the Gospel Peter, the rock on which Christ build his church, first answers Christ’s question with flying colors; “Who do you say that I am?” “You are the Christ.” Peter’s ears were open, he heard what God was telling him and proclaimed it. But soon after, he went back to his human ways of thinking, and rebuked the Lord. He stopped allowing his ears to be opened.  We are all a lot like Peter. It is a constant effort to keep our ears open, and to not rebel against what God is revealing to us and calling us to do. Christ recognizes the struggle, and walks with us. He would not call us to deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow him, unless he was willing to do the same thing for us. He followed through - Lord, help us to do the same. 

I'm still marinating a longer blog post on another line from the Eucharistic Prayer. It will come eventually.

has the hibernation ended?

*swipe swipe* 
what do we have here
*continues to dust off*
no it can't be ... it is! my blog!  I thought for sure I lost this thing.

Nope Alexa, You haven't. The inter-webs save everything.

Since this is a blog of general reflections and humble thoughts - and since in my current employment I write these things almost daily - Why not blog them? Posting a few sentences here or there can't hurt right? And besides, I already have a FaceBook, Twitter, and Pintrerest  - what is one more social media outlet? As a communications major - I accept (or re-accept) the challenge of blogging.

In the past, ehh... we'll say 3 months. So in the past 3 months, my life has been busy - even busier than usual, and there is no hope for it slowing down. I have more responsibility at work than I did my first year, and as always, life keeps going and more things get added on no matter how busy you are in the first place. And in all this business - it's left me little time to think.

But how important is thinking! It is so important to make conscious decisions. To chose to act, rather than to react. To deliberately say something, do something, not do something, or to move forward on something in my mind holds more value than to react to what life puts your way. Now take that a step further into personal life and development. How important is it that we choose what and how we are going to continue to improve our lives and grow spiritually and intellectually. Rather than reacting in our spiritual life (when tragedy strikes - draw near to God in response) what if we took our spiritual life by the horns (so to speak) and became conscious initiators.

Starting each day with the conscious intention to draw near to God could radically change how you live.
That's been my challenge for the past few days. To live with the conscious intention that today, right now, I am choosing to draw near to God.

If we truly believe what it is we proclaim - then that conscious decision is the most important decision we can make each day. And to follow through means that we are consciously deciding to accept the grace that the Lord is constantly pouring upon us.

Think this week.

Peace.