?This is why, after bearing the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.? ? 1 Corinthians 15:49

After months of training, my husband now works as a financial advisor for an insurance company. This was the result of much prayer and thought.
     The reasons being: one, it was a career that depended greatly on God?s Providence and two, it was a wonderful opportunity to service people ? helping them put their financial lives in order and lastly, this was a personal struggle of ours as well, and it would give us the much needed financial discipline we so longed for.
     Anyway, since their work is highly computer dependent, top security and all, my husband was given his code for login purposes. The technician was a man whom my husband met just for claiming his code.
      ?So what?s my code?? he asked. Expecting a typical ?L2YZO3? or something like that, the man looked at him and said, ?FAITHFUL?.
      After the discussion on the ins and outs of the system relevant to his work, my husband?s curiosity got the best of him.
      ?Why did you give me the code ? FAITHFUL?? He asked.
      ?Oh, you can change it if you want,? the technician replied, ?You just struck me as a man of God.? Tisha L.

REFLECTION:
Do we manifest God in our daily lives?

Lord, may others see you in my life today.

G O S P E L
  
Luke 8:4-15

The disciples often failed to understand the parables of Jesus. I sympathize with them. I sometimes find it difficult to understand what Jesus preaches and I have the benefit of 2000 years worth of study and reflection upon His words! The words of Jesus have been carefully chosen so that they will carry the meaning that God wants. Sometimes we have to work to discover what God is saying to us, but then, life would be pretty boring if everything was handed to us on a platter. Let us seek out God?s word for us every day and not be content until we have discovered it.

4 When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable. 5 ?A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. 6 Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.? After saying this, he called out, ?Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.? 9 Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be. 10 He answered, ?Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that ?they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.? 11 ?This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. 12 Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. 14 As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. 15 But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.?

my reflections
think: Let us seek out God?s word for us every day and not be content until we have discovered it.

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God?s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ? S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Nahum 1-3

I think it is important that we recognize the context this parable appears in. It immediately follows a short narrative section that speaks about many of the women who have been touched by the preaching and miracles of Jesus and have responded by providing for the ministry needs of Jesus. Following the parable is the text that says, if someone has a lamp then they set it out in a clear place in the room so that the light it gives off will have maximum effect in the room.
      Whenever God?s grace is at work in our lives, it is powerless to achieve anything unless we choose to cooperate with it. God?s call for me to become a priest would have borne no fruit if I were unwilling to respond to it. God?s work through the lives of the saints is possible only because they chose to allow God?s Spirit to work through them. The same is true for each of us. We are all called by God to one ministry or another. We are all given the opportunity to take hold of extraordinary graces and allow them to bear fruit in our lives. The graces available to each person may be different but they complement one another in order that the fullness of the Church and the work of the Kingdom can be accomplished according to the will of God. This is why Jesus tells us that the person who has received much and been faithful to it will receive even more! If we refuse to work with the grace that God offers us, He will choose to give it to others to ensure that it is not lost to the Church! He never gives up on anyone; He will continue to persevere with us, but while this is happening, the work of the Kingdom of God must proceed.
      All of us are called to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God and to proclaim His saving work in our lives to the rest of the world. The only way we can do this is to avail of the graces that He offers to us and cooperate with the Holy Spirit to fulfill His will in our lives. Fr. Steve T.

REFLECTION QUESTION:
Do I cooperate with the will of God in my life or do I tend to be selfwilled? How can I better cooperate with God?s plan for my life?

Holy Spirit, without you I am doomed to failure. Without you I am incapable of pleasing God. Help me by your grace to open my heart to the fullness of what is possible if I live under the grace of God rather than my own self-will.

St. Padre Pio de Pietrelcina, priest stigmatic, pray for us.