In life, I’ve seen how the universe conspires to give us what we need—big or small. For years now, I’ve noticed that when I need a parking space, it just appears in front of me. When I wanted to create a magazine, I met an experienced editor. When I wanted to learn about finances and building wealth, I met my mentors. I believe we have the power to attract anything in our lives. We can attract money, joy, love, holiness, etc. How? 

Through openness. Ask and you shall receive. By opening yourself to blessing, by working on it, and pouring your energies into it, the conspiracy of grace begins to ork in the background. 

You can, of course, attract misery, debt, anxiety, and conflict in your life just as easily. How? By what you do, how you think, and what you say. It’s really a choice.

My dear friend, grace happens every day. So continue asking God about your biggest wishes, your wildest dreams. Be open to His surprises. Be open to this extreme, excessive, extravagant grace. 

Bo Sanchez (bosanchez@kerygmafamily.com)

reflect

Recall a time when God granted your prayer immediately after you asked for it. If He did it before, believe that He will do it again. 

Dear Father, I open myself to Your grace. May my prayers be aligned to Your best will. Amen.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, virgin, Patroness of Missions, pray for us.

While the reading of the Law by Ezra, the scribe, led the people to a deep awareness of their sins, he did not want them to wallow in self-pity and remorse but to experience the bountiful mercy of God. True repentance always leads us to deep joy and lightness of spirit. It also impels us to serve the Lord in whatever way is necessary at the time.

¹ In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when the wine was in my charge, I took some and offered it to the king. As I had never before been sad in his presence, ² the king asked me, “Why do you look sad? If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart.” Though I was seized with great fear, ³ I answered the king: “May the king live forever! How could I not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been eaten out by fire?” ⁴ The king asked me, “What is it, then, that you wish?” I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵ and then answered the king: “If it please the king, and if your servant is deserving of your favor, send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, to rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king, and the queen seated beside him, asked me how long my journey would take and when I would return. I set a date that was acceptable to him, and the king agreed that I might go. ⁷ I asked the king further: “If it please the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of West-of-Euphrates, that they may afford me safe-conduct till I arrive in Judah; ⁸ also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park, that he may give me wood for timbering the gates of the temple-citadel and for the city wall and the house that I shall occupy.” The king granted my requests, for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R: Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

¹ By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. ² On the aspens of that land we hung up our harps. (R) ³ Though there our captors asked of us the lyrics of our songs, and our despoilers urged us to be joyous:  “Sing for us the songs of Zion!” (R) ⁴ How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land? ⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten! (R) ⁶ May my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not, if I place not Jerusalem ahead of my joy. (R)

Gospel | Luke 9:57-62

Jesus not only shared His gifts and mission with the twelve Apostles but also commissioned seventy-two others to share in the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Jesus reminds us that following Him requires commitment and perseverance. It will not be easy. Are you ready for the challenges ahead?

Gospel Acclamation

I consider all things so much rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

⁵⁷ As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” ⁵⁹ And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” ⁶²  Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Reflect:

What challenges do you face as you fulfill the Lord’s mission for you? 

How do ou overcome these challenges?

Read the Bible in one year! Read DANIEL 4 - 6 today.

The life of St. Therese of Lisieux is all about following Jesus, as she wanted to become a saint from an early age. She was deemed too young to become a nun, so she made a personal petition to Pope Leo XIII to allow her to enter the convent. At age fifteen, she was finally received into the Order of Carmelite. As a novice, she was sickly and considered unremarkable, but as she was resolved to serve God, she developed her “little ways” of doing even the simplest things with great love.

Our Gospel talks about people who wanted to follow Jesus, but when He told them of what it entails to be His disciple, each of them ceded with various excuses. Jesus told one of His would-be-followers, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God.” This serves as a reminder that if anyone wants to follow Jesus, there must be that determination to pursue, no matter what the cost.

Every day, we are called to follow Jesus, but like Jesus’ would-be-followers, some of us are too occupied with many other things. Some may even have that intention of serving Him, but they are too attached to work, activities, and even relationships.

Saint Therese demonstrated such willpower; she did not use her age, her illness, or her mediocrity as excuses “to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” She may have had only served God here on earth for a very short time, as she died at age twenty-four, but her life story and the insights of faith expressed through her writings has inspired many Catholic faithful. 

Fr. Jason Laguerta

reflection questions

What keeps you from following Jesus? What things preoccupy and impede you from serving God? 

Lord, with the inspiration of Saint Therese, may I develop the conviction and persistence to follow and serve You, even in little ways, sans any excuses. Amen.

Today, I pray for: __________________________________________________