?And if any place will not receive you... shake off the dust that is on your feet.? ? Mark 6:11

I have an approval addiction that I?ve been battling for years.
      Let me introduce you to my crazy world. For years, when I wake up in the morning,   these would be the first thoughts in my brain: Is Juli angry at me? Oh no, maybe   she misinterpreted my talk and thought I was referring to her. And how about   Mario? I feel he?s mad at me. I need to talk to him. Oh, and there?s   Karla. Why isn?t she attending the prayer meeting? Doesn?t she like me anymore?
      And like poison, I?d feel drops of deadly shame seep through every nook and cranny of my soul. I felt ashamed that I even existed in the world.Now you know how insane I was. I was sick.
      Healing has happened over time. Not completely, mind you.
      But I?ve now learned the important art of shaking the dust off my feet.
      I?ve also learned to befriend my shame and laugh at how silly it all is.
      Do you need to learn to reject rejection too? Bo S.

REFLECTION:

When you do what?s right, some people won?t like you. So if everyone likes you, something?s wrong!

 Lord, teach me to live my life based on Your love, Not on whether people accept me or not.

P S A L M

Psalm 48: 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 9, 10-11

R: O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.

1 [2] Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, 2 [3] fairest of heights, is the joy of all the earth. (R) Mount Zion,?the recesses of the North,? is the city of the great King. 3 [4] God is with her castles; renowned is he as a stronghold. (R) 8 [9] As we had heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God; God makes it firm forever. (R) 9 [10] O God, we ponder your kindness within your temple. 10 [11] As your name, O God, so also your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Of justice your right hand is full. (R)

G O S P E L

Mark 6:7-13

Let us learn to put our trust in the Lord for all the things that we need, particularly when it comes to preaching the Gospel. Let us pray for the faith to trust that when we are called to share our faith with others, God will give us the words to speak. Ultimately it is not up to us to convert anyone ? that is the job of the Holy Spirit. God just calls us to be instruments in His service, channels of His grace and love to His people.

7 He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick ? no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 9 They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. 10 He said to them, ?Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. 11 Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.? 12 So they went off and preached repentance. 13 They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

my reflections
think:  We ought to stand in awe of the gift of his unconditional love and pray for the grace to be faithful to it this time around.

________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

God?s special verse/thought for me today________________

________________________________________________________
  
T O D A Y ? S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

_______________________________________________________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Numbers 1-3

One of the most awesome mysteries of the Christian life is that we are called to come into the presence of the living God. God does not want to keep us at a distance, but wants to embrace us to himself and invite us to welcome His presence in our lives. Unfortunately, all too often, it is we who refuse this invitation for one reason or another ? perhaps because we have sins that we are unwilling to deal with in our lives or perhaps we simply want to assert our independence from anyone and everyone including God and go about living our lives as we please.
      Jesus has been sent to us by the Father as the mediator of a New Covenant. We should take time out to reflect upon what this means in terms of our relationship with God. One aspect of its meaning is that we are invited into a whole new level of relating to God in terms of our personal lives. God wants to be intimately involved in all that we do and say. He wants to guide our thoughts, words and actions. At times this seems to be a bit intrusive; however we are not ?laws unto ourselves? or even ?independent beings? free to decide what we will and will not do or even should or should not do in anywhere near the absolute sense that most of the western world seems to believe today. The deepest truth of our being is that we are created by God and thus our lives will be meaningless in the eternal perspective if we live them without his presence!
      It is important for us to realize and then act upon the truth that Jesus has redeemed us from sin and given us a new opportunity to open our lives to his Word and Will and thus achieve a state of fulfillment both in this world and the one to come. If we do not accept this truth we will be living lives that will be eternally frustrated. Now we all know what it feels to be frustrated because something is not working out the way that we want it to. Well try to conceive what it will feel like to be eternally frustrated! I do not want to have to go through that or anything remotely approaching it. What about you? Fr. Steve T.

REFLECTION QUESTION: God has created us for himself and we will not be complete until we direct our lives towards his will for us. What can I do to better walk down this path?

Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life; help me to realize this and act upon it in my life so that my life will be lived within Your presence and according to your will.

Blessed Andrew of Segni, pray for us.