A DIVINE HARVEST IN HUMAN HEARTS
Our challenge is to become poor and lowly too, that we come to the
reality that our only hope is in God.
God wants to change
our hearts so that we will show by our actions that we respect His will and do
it. God offers each of us the greatest treasure possible - unending peace, joy,
happiness, and life with Him in our heavenly home. We can lose that treasure if
we refuse the grace God offers us to follow in His way of truth, love, and
righteousness. Jesus encourages us to think and ponder about the journey we are
called to be on with Him. The choices we make now will affect and shape our
future. Actions do indeed speak louder than words, and when the two are in
synch we call that integrity-this is what God wants of us, His children.
Today's readings:
gives us a lot of hope for those who truly hear His voice and respond to His
will. The Responsorial Psalm: "The Lord hears the cry of the poor."
God will accept our offerings, if we are humble and lowly, and that we open our
hearts by repentance. There is always hope with our God. Our challenge is to
become poor and lowly too, that we come to the reality that our only hope is in
God. It is God who will heal our brokenness and forgive all our sins. The
fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Points to Pray and Ponder: These fruits are a divine harvest in human
hearts! This is a great prayer of hope and comfort. This is the Year of Mercy
and Pope Francis invites us to spiritual renewal as we yearn for God's mercy
and love in our daily lives.
Collecting Light
Across the street a neighbor strings white lights
along the eaves of his house.
Across the world they sleep out in the cold, our neighbors
too, wakened by gunfire.
I see the way the chickadees take turns at the
feeder. I watch a woman take her husband's hand,
I see the way the sun will find the only
interruption in dark clouds, to toss this amber light across the pines.
I watch the way a young man lifts his mother from
the wheelchair to the car, the shawl he lays across her lap.
I save up every scrap of light, because I know that
it will take each tiny consolation every day to mend the world.
Deborah Gordon Cooper