We learn from the Lord’s lips, that complete happiness does not consist in the abundance of wealth and material possessions.
Our world associates happiness with feelings of self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency. This week many will be praying to win the lottery so they can “find” happiness. But in the midst of desiring money do we so much as think or thank God for what we have?,Or do we even think of using our earnings in helping the poor. The Lord teaches us that selfishness can never lead to happiness. When we have no regard for God or for our fellow human beings we are as Jesus put it, fools. We must not fall for into the trap of finding our happiness on material wealth, eating and drinking. So if you win the lotto, see it as the responsibility to be dispensers of God’s gift to the needy. And if you don’t win, no worries- our happiness comes from God not in worldly goods.
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Let us reflect today on one of the most moving Gospel stories recorded exclusively by Luke – the story of the Good Samaritan. In it, Jesus reminds us on who our neighbor is and how we ought to live in fraternal charity and solidarity towards others.
Christ’s life and ministry was a continual therapy for wounded humanity, a remedy for mankind’s spiritual and material deficiencies. He, therefore, enjoins you and I to emulate the Good Samaritan in the parable, to exercise the same kind of compassion towards others. We must never be indifferent or unconcerned about a suffering person’s plight or misery. We have to learn to stop and spend time with one who may be in need of physical or spiritual solace. Let us lovingly and deliberately practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Our neighbors suffer from varied lacks and needs; their wounds may be caused by loneliness or lack of love, their needs may be material – food, clothing, shelter, employment – or they could also be grave suffering resulting from ignorance or the moral wound of sin. We sure can do something by showing genuine compassion, mercy and love. Through this attention and affection given to others, by spreading love, the world may experience the healing touch of Christ. We learnt that the legitimacy of Christianity can be deduced from the message of Christ which focuses on himself as God, and stands out as a clear distinction between Jesus and other religious leaders who have through the ages offered some new found knowledge of a transcendent pathway to God existing outside of themselves. Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Christ, documented claims of miracles performed by Christ with particular reference to his resurrection, eye witness accounts in the New Testament and historical documentation on Christ and the deaths of the apostles/the church fathers as a consequence of their zeal to spread the message of our Lord further gives credence to Christianity and tells of a conviction that could only come from “the truth”: “That Christ is the Messiah That He came, died and rose from the dead and in doing so, gave us a new life That all those who believe in Him, through the ministry of the Church, receive this new life through repentance and baptism This new life provides graces which prepare us for the coming judgment at the end of time”
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AuthorWe are always looking for Jornadistas to write for our website. If interested please see our Vice President Daniel Estrada or our Spiritual Director Father Kuroly Archives
March 2019
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