1 Thessalonians 5: 4-5 Darkenss and Light

1 Thessalonians 5: 4-5

But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for the day to overtake you like a thief.  For all of you are children of the day.  We are not of the night or of darkness.

We are children of day and of light, blessed with the Lord's goodness and truth.

So why do we so often mope around, complain and always see the worst in a situation?  Why do we act as if our life is doomed when we know that the Lord has plans of greatness for us?

We have the joy, the truth and the goodness that many people around us don't have but yet on the outside we often look like we are in darkness.  We have the light and we need to share it with those in darkness.  When we act gloomy and depressed instead of spreading the light we are spreading the darkness.  

This can be as simple as finding and sharing the positive sides when something goes wrong at work to cheering someone up when they receive bad news.  

What are some other ways that we can spread the light in a world with a lot of darkness?

Dear Lord, Help me to always have a positive attitude and to share that with others.

The Third Commandment- The Lord's Day

I have been thinking a lot about how to better follow the third commandment to keep holy the Lord's Day.  This has gotten me to reading articles about this topic, reading about this topic in the Catechism, and finding this topic in scripture and I realized that there was a lot more that I needed to learn about how to follow this commandment.  This lead me to my first question:

Why don't we observe the Sabbath on Saturday?

(More questions to come!)

Join me as I farther explore this beautiful commandment.

Why don't we observe the Sabbath on Saturday?

Exodus 20: 8-10

Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.  Six days you may labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God.

Deuteronomy 5: 12-14

Take care to keep holy the sabbath day as the Lord, your God, commanded you.  Six days you may labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God.

According to the Catechism "A Traditional Catechetical Formula" of the 3rd commandment is:

Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

It is clear that we are meant to keep one day holy but which day is it?  According to Exodus and Deuteronomy, the sabbath is the seventh day or Sunday.  This was they day that the Lord rested after creation and this is the day that the Jews still observe as the Sabbath.  But we know that as Catholic's we now celebrate Sunday as the Lord's day and a day of rest.

When did this change happen?  How did it happen?  Is this change ok?

In the old testament the Sabbath was observed on the seventh day (Saturday) because that marked the day that the Lord rested after creation.  The focus changed after the Resurrection of the Lord.  Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week or Sunday.  Celebrating the Lord's day on Sunday represented the new creation that the Resurrection of the Lord brought.  Just as Jesus brought new life to many of the teachings from the Old Testament he also brought a new creation and a new day to celebrate that creation; Sunday.

Dear Lord, Help me to keep holy your day.

Here are some really good resources on why we celebrate the Lord's day on Sunday instead of Saturday:

Sabbath or Sunday

http://www.catholic.com/library/Sabbath_or_Sunday.asp

Why is Sunday the Christian Sabbath?

http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-is-sunday-christian-sabbath-john.html

Joining in with Soli Deo Gloria

 

Romans 12: 2

Romans 12: 2

Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

The beliefs and actions of our society are often times not aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church.  How do we handle that?  Do we change our way of thinking and sacrifice some of our beliefs to fit into society?  Do we conform as a result of the pressures that are placed on us?  Or do we transform ourselves and those around us with the truth?  

There are so many examples of this in my daily life.  I am at work and everyone is sharing funny stories and jokes, most of which were either gossip or simply inappropriate.  I could conform to this situation; listening, laughing and even sharing stories myself.  Or I could be transformed by truth to remove myself from the situation or say something to stop it from happening.  

But it is so much easier to be conformed by what is around you then to transform it.  

There are countless ways that our society needs to be transformed but that is not going to happen if we continuously let ourselves be conformed to what is wrong.

What are some times when you have let society conform you?  How can we stop this from happening and cause a transformation?

Dear Lord, Help me to not be conformed by society.  Give me the strength and the courage to transform myself and those around me.

Matthew 4:2

Matthew 4:2 

He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.

First of all I think to say that "he was hungry" was quite an understatement.  But on to my point...

Why did Jesus fast for all this time?  Why did he put his body and him mind through all this?  Was there some purpose to it? 

For this lets look at what occurs right after he fasts.  In versed 3-10 of Matthew chapter 4 Jesus is tempted by Satan three times and each time he is able to resist Satan.  

Jesus prepared to be tempted by fasting and praying.  After 40 days and 40 nights of discipline he was able to resist the temptations that were placed before him.

We also need to prepare for the temptations that are placed before us.  If we practice a life of prayer and discipline we will be better prepared to withstand the temptations that we come across in our daily life.

Often times there are sacrifices that we make that might not seem like they have any purpose (like abstaining from meat on Friday's in lent.)  But are they really without purpose or are they helping to prepare us for temptations?

Dear Lord, Help me to live a disciplined life so I can better withstand temptations and serve you.

Praying when you don't want to

The past few days I have found it hard to pray.  I have found it hard to read scripture.  I have no problem going through the actions of praying or reading scripture but I feel I am not getting any joy out of it.  I am distracted and constantly thinking about something else that I could/should be doing that would bring me more joy or comfort.  For example I could be struggling through prayer and I think to myself that I could better use this time to go for a run.  I feel like I'm not getting anything out of praying and if I went for a run I would feel better and get some exercise.  According to this way of thinking it makes perfect sense.

But is this the way that I should be thinking?  Do I pray just so I can feel better?  Should I only read scripture so I can feel joy and comfort.  Am I Catholic just because it makes me feel happy?  

This is not the way I should be thinking!  I should not be living by the rule that whatever feels good must be good for me!  

Sometimes it is hard to pray.  Sometimes it is difficult to read scripture.  Sometimes it feels like you don't need to build a relationship with the Lord, you are doing just fine on your own.  These are the times that you need it the most.

Even when I feel like my praying is not important or fruitful I need to remember that my relationship with the Lord is the most important part of my life and not just because it brings me joy at that moment.

Any advice?

Dear Lord, Help me to find joy and comfort in prayer but also to continue to pray even when I don't want to.

Joining in with Soli Deo Gloria

Matthew 16: 17

Matthew 16:17

Jesus said to him in reply,

"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.

For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

"Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you," Peter did not come to realize who Jesus was from other men.  He didn't learn this through his own accord.  He came to this understanding through the heavenly Father.  He needed the graces and faith from the Lord to be able to make the statement that Jesus is the Son God.  He had to have faith he could not come to this answer on his own.  

Just like Peter needed faith from the Lord to truly follow Christ, we need the Lord to help us follow Christ's teachings today.  We could just go out on our own and try to be good people and follow all Christ's teachings but it will be awfully hard.  But we don't have to do it alone.  We have the help and guidance from the Lord to support us along the way.

If we try to understand everything on our own we are neglecting the amazing gift of faith that the Lord has given us.

Dear Lord, Help me to trust in you even when I can not understand on my own.

Matthew 3:3

Matthew 3:3

If was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: "A voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'"

John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord.  He prepared the people for the coming of Jesus.  He did this by preaching, telling the people to repent and by baptizing them.  These preparations help them be able to welcome and accept Jesus when he arrived.

We need to prepare ourselves to welcome Jesus into our hearts as well. 

How can we do this?

We need to pray and read scripture.  We need to keep ourselves pure and holy.  We need to learn about the Church and her teachings.

We can't just assume that Christ is going to be able to enter our lives and change us if we don't prepare ourselves for him.  

How do you prepare yourself for the Jesus to enter your life?

Dear Lord, help me to prepare myself for you.