Only The Best

The WORD today (See http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032116.cfm) reminds me that I should give God my best. 

We always want the best for our loved ones. Parents work hard to be able to provide the best education for their children. They save up to be able to give their children the best life they can give. We give our special someone the best that we can. However, sometimes we fail to give our best to the most important one – God.

God deserves our very best.

In the gospel, we see Mary giving Jesus her best service. They prepared for him, and she gave him the best oil she had. Not only that, she served him and anointed his feet with it. She did not withhold anything from her service to Jesus. This inspires me to do the same.

We do not always give God our best. Some of us do not give him the best and first fruits of our labor, and just give him whatever extra we have from our other expenses. Some of us don’t give him the best service we can, and just serve him through others when we have nothing better to do. Some of us don’t give him the best time of the day to pray, and just pray before we sleep when we are tired and cannot focus anymore. Some of us don’t give him the best days of our lives, and just serve him when we are old, retired, and have nothing else to do.

God wants the best from us because only when we give him the best can we receive the best from Him. Not because he will only give us the best when we serve him with the best, but because we will only be ready to receive, appreciate and recognize the best from him when we are fully committed to give him the best we can give

May we be inspired to give God our best starting today and for always.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another week. As we start the Holy Week, thank you for the reminder. Lord, I am sorry for the many times I give you just the excess in my life. Sorry for not giving the best of me. Help me start this today, this week. From now on, I will give you the best I can give – my best time, my best fruits, my best attitude. Help me become the best version of myself for you so I can show you how much I love you. That's what you deserve from me and I will do my best to give that to you. Amen.

Blessed Holy Monday!

In Christ,

-g-

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March 21, 2016
Monday of Holy Week
Lectionary: 257

Reading 1 Is 42:1-7

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spreads out the earth with its crops,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Responsorial Psalm PS 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14

R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies
themselves stumble and fall.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King;
you alone are compassionate with our faults.

Gospel Jn 12:1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.