Daily Reflection – 7/26/2023
Sacred Scripture
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13-1-9)
Reflection
Each one of us has lived through a situation where we really did not want to hear what was being said. Sometimes because we felt the words would be hurtful. Or perhaps because we were too busy. Or perhaps because, at that moment, we did not want to hear the truth.
In our faith life, there are times when our ears are deafened to the words of Jesus and even to the very presence of Jesus in each of us. Many times we may not even be aware that we are doing so.
We do that when we ignore and refuse to speak out on the evils around us.
We do that when we don’t acknowledge the gift he gave us – the power to change
.When you and I look at our lives, we see many things we would like to change. We would like to believe more deeply, forgive more easily, love with fewer conditions. But when we try to move in that positive direction, we often fall short. Despite our best intentions and honest efforts, we remain stuck in our flaws. Like the house of Israel, we are helpless and hopeless.
This is why it is crucial for us to believe that God can change us, that God is able to alter the terms of our relationship, that God can make us new.
We believe in God, but when it comes to changing ourselves, we try to do it ourselves. We think that our strategy and efforts can break a habit of sin or make us more generous people. But that is seldom the case. What we need is not different plans or more willpower. What we need is a new relationship.
The good news is that is exactly what God wants to give us.We enter that new relationship when we entrust ourselves to God, when we admit our weakness and inability to change, and ask God to transform us.
When we say Lord, “I have been so hurt by that person that I cannot bend to forgive. I need you to bend me, so that I can let go of this hate.
“Lord, I have put such high expectations on my spouse and my children, that they are harming my relationships. I need you to loosen my expectations, so I can love the people in my life as they are, rather than how I want them to be.
“Lord, I am so quick to judge others because of their race, sexual orientation, or political viewpoint, and that fills me with anger. Lord, I need you to quiet those prejudices, so that I can live in peace again.”
When we are helpless and hopeless, God promises to change us. God promises to write, in a new way, on our hearts. God’s word offers us the chance to make our lives richer, to orient our lives closer to him, to recognize that the greatest gift we bring to God is ourselves and our desire to live the words he gave us.Now, then, is the time to open our hearts, and let God in, so that we can become the people we are called to be.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord Jesus, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder your divine plan is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and my ears to the sound of your call, that I may understand your will for my life and live according to it.”
Daily Note
The gift of God’s love has a specific purpose. God is a personal God who desires relationship with each one of us and has proven his love to us by sending his Son to save us. Because of our brokenness we are often reluctant to receive this gift of love. We desire to remain independent and to try to solve our problems on our own. Perhaps we even think we can save ourselves by being good. But the truth is that we can only be saved by exercising living faith and receiving God’s unmerited gift. We must turn to him and allow him to be the center of our life. We must surrender to him. This is the living faith that saves.
