The WORD today reminds me that I should choose God daily.
In the first reading, we are reminded of what God wants from us. God wants us to act. To do good. As we saw, faith without works is dead. Simple. It is not enough to say we have faith in God. It is not enough to say we love God. We should prove it. We should do it. And the gospel further tells us that we should do these things daily.
We make a lot of small decisions everyday: what to eat, what to wear, where to eat, what task to do, how to do it, etc. However, we sometimes do not realize that these small decisions are part of a “bigger decision” of following God. The gospel tells us that if we want to follow Jesus, we must do so everyday.
Our little everyday decisions contribute to our decision to follow Jesus daily.
They say that your thoughts become your words, and your words become your actions, and your actions become your habits, then your habits eventually determine your character. This has a lot of sense into it, and following it, we are reminded that we should start our decision to follow God with our thoughts, for they eventually shape us. We should start our decision to follow God through our simple everyday decisions for they contribute and eventually determine the kind of life we are living.
No decision is too small that it is trivial.
What we wear shows if we are following God and treating our body with the dignity it deserves as the temple of the holy spirit. What we eat shows if we follow God, if we nourish our bodies properly and keep it healthy so we can continue to serve God. How we react during situations of stress or even traffic shows if we are following God. How we treat others shows if we are following God.
Following God is not a one time, major decision. It is a conscious, everyday decision, just as Jesus said in the gospel. And as we are reminded to live our faith, we should do so daily.
How do I live my faith in God? Do I love God? How do I show him? Do I live my faith with my life? Do I live right and choose what God wants for me in little decisions? What is he challenging me to do today?
May we make everyday decisions to love God, to serve Him through others, and to do our love offerings or sacrifices for him. Daily.
Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another day to experience your love. Thank you for the reminder of how you want me to live and how I can follow you. Lord, sorry for the times I ignore these things. Sorry for not giving you the importance you deserve. Help me live pleasing to you. Be with me and guide me as I live my life. May I grow closer to you as i choose you daily. May I praise and glorify you through my acts, through my life. Amen.
Blessed Day!
In Christ,
-g-
Ps
See related reflection:
https://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2017/02/take-up-his-cross-and-follow.htmlDaily Readings
Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 339
Reading 1
The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words.
While the people were migrating in the east,
they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another,
"Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire."
They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in the sky,
and so make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth."
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower
that they had built.
Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people,
all speaking the same language,
they have started to do this,
nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do.
Let us then go down and there confuse their language,
so that one will not understand what another says."
Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel,
because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world.
It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth.
While the people were migrating in the east,
they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another,
"Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire."
They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in the sky,
and so make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth."
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower
that they had built.
Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people,
all speaking the same language,
they have started to do this,
nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do.
Let us then go down and there confuse their language,
so that one will not understand what another says."
Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel,
because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world.
It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I call you my friends, says the Lord,
for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I call you my friends, says the Lord,
for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
He also said to them,
"Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
He also said to them,
"Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."
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