Month: November 2024 (Page 3 of 3)

Eugene Haas writes about what it means to be selfless, and he describes such a person as being open to God and doesn’t have an obsession with self-concern, self-image, and self-gratification but each moment is celebrated as God invites them to empty themselves so others can be enriched.  A beautiful example is Mary who didn’t count the cost, for after the angel told her she would bear the Son of God, she said, “Behold I am a servant of the Lord; let it be according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

God wants all of us to grow in selflessness and move beyond ourselves to show His unconditional love to others. Freedom in the Lord is not simply to do what we want without restraints but to be free from our egos and consider others. The apostle Paul was so focused on the law and all the rules and when he was set free in Christ, he ends up saying he has made himself a slave to all, so he might win them to Christ. Let us all desire to be set free from our ego to live a self-emptying life for Christ and for others.

Hope you had a great weekend.  We were glad for the Viking win last night but didn’t stay up for the whole game. Today I am going to Aldi’s and Exercise class and then Ann and Leif are coming for dinner so we can celebrate Leif’s birthday.

Of course, we should always be open to praying with other believers, and it is good to have communal prayer, helping us realize we are not alone but part of the family of God. We pray Sunday mornings as we say the Lord’s prayer together, and also join in praying for those on the prayer list etc. There is much power in those prayers when we pray together. Of course we are to pray alone as well, and I often pray the Jesus Prayer, “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me a sinner.” It was also the prayer of the blind beggar in Luke 18:13. Some like to pray the rosary and others like Lectio Divina where scripture is read 4 or 5 times, first to get the gist of it, then to meditate on it and see what seems to jump out, then to pray in response and then to just sit in silence and reflect on it. Some also move on to act in some way on the passage. Another way that Albert Haase, a Franciscan priest mentions, is how he reads the scripture several times and then asks what the passage speaks to his history, and to his head, to his heart and finally to his hands to take some action.

Imaginative prayer is also done by those who read the gospel and put themselves in the story of a certain character and scene. What would it feel like to be the prodigal or the elder brother and it may trigger feelings from the past to share with a spiritual director. Or you may like to pray what I remember by the acronym ACTS. Start with Adoration and a prayer and then proceed to Confess our sins of commission and omission before going on to Thanksgiving as we remember God’s gifts to us and conclude with Supplication. That is a time to ask for prayer needs and intercede for others. There are many more ways to pray but it is up to us to find our own unique ways that open us up to a closer relationship with the Lord.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and don’t forget to turn your clock back an hour tonight! 

It’s not healthy to stuff our emotions and deny them but we need to welcome them and deal with them and share with the Lord. Only thereby can we let them go can and say goodbye to them. We just come as we are to the Lord and tell Him how we feel. Maybe as we read a Psalm it is David or another expressing to God what we are feeling in our heart now and we can make his prayer our prayer. So often David is in a tight spot and fleeing for his life and he calls out to God to be his shield, his refuge, his safe place. Psalm 103, “O Lord many are my foes! Many are rising against me…. But you, O Lord are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.”  It is helpful to memorize some of the Psalms and they can become our words to the Lord of what is in our heart. Maybe we have experienced a wonderful blessing from the Lord and we are filled with such thankfulness that we turn to Psalm 103 and “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

Let us pray from where we are at the time, not gloss over things, but speak to the Lord what is in our hearts. Sometimes it doesn’t seem very pretty, but it is real and when we give the Lord those things He will sort them out and bring us to a new place.

We need to discover God in the present moment, not having a fixation on the past or thinking only of the future. Let us experience the NOW and know that God is present in it where we are at. We are also to be full of gratitude, realizing everything we have is a gift from Him. That should help us to live with open hands to help and serve others who God brings into our lives, knowing they have unique gifts for us in return also.

Let us be humble to know our brokenness but also aware of God’s grace He offers daily. He knocks at our heart’s door and desires to transform our lives, so we see things in the colors of grace and are open to the wonder of His presence.