|
The Catholic Calendar for Monday, June 24, 2002 The Twelth Week in Ordinary Time Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: Isaiah 49:1-6 Psalm 139:1-3,13-15 Acts 13:22-26 Luke 1:57-66,80 A reflection on today's Scripture. . . . "What, then, will this child be?" (Luke 1:66) Good teachers know that prior to introducing new ideas, students must be prepared to receive them; for a thorough preparation helps their understanding and assimilating the concepts to be presented. Over two millennia, from Abraham's time (2000-1500 BC) until the time of Christ, God prepared His own particular people chosen to make Him known to all the world. Through glorious victories and dismal failures and with the help of Moses and the prophets, God meticulously prepared the Israelites to receive their Messiah. He made it clear that apart from Himself, His truth and healing love, there could be no hope for a true and lasting peace in this world. John the Baptist played a final and unique role in this preparation process, in salvation history. God used him to raise the Israelites' awareness of their personal sins, how these sins brought misery to them and the rest of the world. He preached repentance, since the first step toward salvation is the recognition and seriousness of sin leading to a true sorrow that prompts the reforming of one's life. John introduced these ideas through the cleansing water of Baptism and his speaking of their need to surrender their lives to God in Christ who would then Baptize them with the fire of His Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, leading them to holiness. Great harm has come to Christ's Church through modernist theologians downplaying sin; their error is teaching that because God loves us, He will automatically overlook or forgive all our wrong-doing. This is blasphemy against God, for it is saying that we have no need of a Savior, that His having sent Christ to die for our sins was an empty act, one of needless cruelty. Blessed Lord, restore our belief that "the wages of sin is death." Help us, by Your grace, to desire being made holy and acceptable to You, our all-holy God. Amen. - Marie Bocko, ocds ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The meditations are in English & Spanish at http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html (case sensitive). ARCHIVED Meditations: 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. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms (c)1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. 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/ |
Title: Meditation: Monday, June 24, 2002
