More Than Knowing

The WORD today (see http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070418.cfm) reminds me that God wants us to know him beyond the superficial level. 

Knowing someone is not the same as being friends with that person. An Acquaintance is different from a friend. You need time to be friends with someone. You need a relationship. You should invest your time and get to know the person. This is what God wants from us. 

God wants us to know him beyond the superficial level. 

When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes,

two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him.
They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.
They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?"

Yes, they knew who Jesus was, before other people did. They knew the power of Jesus. This reminds us that knowing Jesus is not enough. Knowing him, his love and his power does not necessarily mean we are his followers. Knowing Him alone does not guarantee salvation. It is easy to know who Jesus is. The harder part is living a life recognizing it. Th harder part of getting to know him and building a relationship with him. 

Knowing God is different from making him God in our lives.

Nowadays, it is easier to know God more. We have technology we can use for that. There are a lot of credible internet resources that would help us know God more. Question is, are we willing to spend time and make an effort to know him more. However, more than that, what is important is what do we do with that knowledge. We should live that knowledge of who God is. We should live our lives knowing and acknowledging that He is God. We should build and invest in a personal relationship with God, and we should tell others about him. 

Do I know who God is? Do I proclaim who God is, not just by mere words, but by how I live my life? Is my life consistent with what I say? IS what I say consistent to what Jesus says? How can I improve the way I proclaim the gospel?

May we be challenged that knowing God is not enough, we should live our lives as a testament of that knowledge, of that faith.

Dear God,

Thank you for the sun today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another chance to get to know you more. Thank you for giving us another day to improve ourselves, and to serve you better. Lord, sorry for the times I do not make an effort to know you more. Sorry for the times I get contented with merely knowing who you are. I should do more. I ask that you help me get to know you more. Help me build my relationship with you, and out of that relationship, may I do what is good in your eyes, for your glory. May my life be a proclamation of my love for and faith in you. Amen.

Blessed Day!

In Christ,

-g-

Daily Readings

July 4, 2018

Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 379

Reading 1 AM 5:14-15, 21-24

Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts,
be with you as you claim!
Hate evil and love good,
and let justice prevail at the gate;
Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
will have pity on the remnant of Joseph.

I hate, I spurn your feasts, says the LORD,
I take no pleasure in your solemnities;
Your cereal offerings I will not accept,
nor consider your stall-fed peace offerings.
Away with your noisy songs!
I will not listen to the melodies of your harps.
But if you would offer me burnt offerings,
then let justice surge like water,
and goodness like an unfailing stream.

Responsorial Psalm PS 50:7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16BC-17

R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Hear, my people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"For mine are all the animals of the forests,
beasts by the thousand on my mountains.
I know all the birds of the air,
and whatever stirs in the plains, belongs to me."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"If I were hungry, I should not tell you,
for mine are the world and its fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?"
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Alleluia JAS 1:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 8:28-34

When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes,
two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him.
They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.
They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?"
Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.
The demons pleaded with him,
"If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine."
And he said to them, "Go then!"
They came out and entered the swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
The swineherds ran away,
and when they came to the town they reported everything,
including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.