FW: Meditation:

[joachim]

Title: FW: Meditation:

The Catholic Calendar for Monday, February 11, 2002     The Fifth Week in Ordinary Time     Our Lady of Lourdes Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:     1 Kings 8:1-7,9-13     Psalm 132:6-10     Mark 6:53-56 A Reflection on Today's Scripture: They began to bring the sick, wherever they heard He was.  (see Mk 6:55) Healing services are popular today, but they seem mainly attended by the elderly and those afflicted by serious physical problems. What many don't realize and what the Church has not emphasized is that all of us in the unrepentant state but in vigorous physical health are in even greater need of healing. The most important healing we can receive, is in our relationships between one another. Constantly we are told in homilies to love each other as God loves us, but they seldom become more specific; so, consequently, few have any understanding of what this means and how we may accomplish it. Essentially, this means we must love one another as Christ loves us; for while we were still steeped in sin, at enmity with God and lacking in His truth and love, Jesus gave His life for us, paid the price of removing from us the guilt and stain of sin. Moreover, He gave us the gift of new life patterned after His very own, a holy life. Yet a vast number of Christians exist from day to day as though they had never heard of living the Christ-life. Mainly, they treat those who please them with civility while delegating to a mental scrap heap those they find unacceptable, treating them coldly if not with open contempt. What God calls us to do, is to accept our "new birth" in Christ and slowly and painfully learn to love as God loves us, with an unconditional, forgiving and self-giving love. We can accomplish this if we see and repent of our own sins and resolve, through the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit of grace, to live in the love and truth revealed to us by Christ in the Scriptures. It will not be an easy road to travel, but our final judgment will be based on how faithfully we reflect Christ's own image in our lives.     Loving Father,          gather and shelter your children; keep us from sin          and make us worthy of the eternal reward You desire to give us.          Amen. - Marie L. Bocko, ocds  ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The Daily Meditations appear online in English & Spanish at: http://homepage.mac.com/ojoachim3/DailyMeds.html ARCHIVED Meditations at: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/dailymed%40saturn.nibcomp.com For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit. All scripture quotes are from the Douay-Rheims edition of the Catholic Bible. Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/