Let us Resolve

June 25, 2024


Hi!  How is each and every one?  I am working on this post today, June 24, Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist.  The readings allude to his life and mission and I somehow see your life and mine in his history, identity and mission.  And I find the responsorial psalm a motivation for thanksgiving as well.  “I thank You, Lord, for the wonder of my being” or “I praise you, Lord for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139:14).

Please allow me to share with you the first reading of today’s Is 49:1-6. Reflect on it and see how you can identify your life with what is said in reference to St John the Baptist.

Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest peoples.  The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.  He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand.  He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver. H said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be glorified’; while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God.  I was honored in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength.  And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him:  ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth’.

Think of the mission of St. John the Baptist (Acts 13:22-26) Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal”.

Following is the end of Chapter 4 of Broken Gods, Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart, Gregory K. Popcak, Ph. D.   I thought then that you and I could make the firm resolve to do the proposed exercise that will help us uncover the barriers to satisfying the divine longing for abundance in our life for us to discover the ways to move forward to satisfying it

Satisfying the divine Longing for Abundance: An Exercise

Pray                                                  

Lord Jesus Christ,

I surrender my right to find my own way and I choose instead to follow your way.  You have made me in your image and likeness.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you defer to one another and reverence each other.  Help me to follow your example in my life.  Help me to remember that I can never understand myself or find true happiness if I keep myself apart from you or others.  Help me to open my heart to the needs of others.  Help me to be receptive to the concerns of others.  Empower me to share my gifts with others.  Give me your grace that I might embrace my need for you and for others in my life and that by doing so I will be empowered to discover the path to abundance, perfection, and eternal life in you.  Lead me and guide me.  I am yours.  Amen.

COAL: Fuel for Change

As you consider the ways you might be better able to satisfy the divine longing for abundance in your life, take a moment to consider how COAL can be the fuel for the changes you seek.

CURIOSITY AND OPENNESS

Ask yourself:  Where did I learn that making myself open to serving and listening to the feelings and opinions of others was threatening?

Who taught me this response?

What situations impressed this lesson on me?

Do I want to continue to allow these experiences to rule my life?

Do not judge or edit yourself.  Receive your answers in a spirit of openness and grace.


ACCEPTANCE

Say, “These are the experiences that have shaped my struggle to satisfy my divine longing for abundance.  I accept my past even as I accept God’s call that I change and grow.”

LOVE

Loving myself means working to become the person God wants me to be.  I know that I can fulfill my deepest longing for abundance by responding with humility to the people and circumstances of my life.

In those times when I feel self-protective or threatened, how could I respond in a manner that reflects the healthy humility described in this chapter?

What obstacles would I have to overcome to achieve these goals?

What help, resources, or support might I need to overcome these obstacles?

Say “I will love myself and accept God’s love for me by choosing this path of humility over the temptation to pride.”

University of Chicago Center for Practical Wisdom

 Review these loving resolutions each morning.  Imagine a time in the coming day when you might be tempted to pride.  Imagine responding with humility instead.  Ask for God’s help to remember to respond with love in those times when your humility is tested.


As always with God everything is possible. You and I cannot do without God in our life.  As He is everywhere and in our hearts in grace, let us turn to Him as often as we can during the day and night to adore Him, to thank Him, to ask Him for our needs, to ask for forgiveness for whatever we have done, said, thought, desired that offends Him or others, to simply express our love for Him. Say it often, ‘I love you, Jesus. Stay with me always; Keep me with you at all times’.  And likewise let us turn often to Mary, His mother and our mother.  She will not let us down.

Take care of you relationship with Jesus, Mary and Joseph, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Make time to talk to Him in quiet moments of prayer and dialogue.  This is the only way to satisfy our divine longing for abundance. There is no other way.

See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us together again.”

Affectionately,                    

Guadalupinky   

 


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