Vindicated

The WORD today (see http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091918.cfm) reminds me that God will vindicate me in due time. 

Sometimes, the values of others makes us re-think our own values. I have a friend  who has good values, however, her officemates have different and more liberal values. They sometimes tease her for being too conservative. And she shared that sometimes it makes her think if she is indeed too conservative, especially with the changing world. Good thing she realized that the values and beliefs of other people should not have an effect on your own values. You may not be able to change their views, but at least you should be able to keep your values intact. 

In the gospel, Jesus is telling us that we should not benchmark on how other people react. Some say John the Baptist is crazy for living in solitude. They say he is possessed by a demon. And others say Jesus is a glutton, drunkard and friend of sinners for eating and drinking with people. The two did not get people’s approval, but they both got the approval of God. In God’s perfect time, he vindicated them.

God fights our battles with us.

We cannot control what people would say, think or do about us. We cannot force them to see our good intentions for our actions. People may try to speak bad of us, or think negative thoughts about us. This is why we should not work for their approval. We should not change just to accommodate and make them happy. Their approval is different from God, and at the end, it is God’s approval that matters. Jesus and John the Baptist knew this, so they continued what they were doing no matter what other people say. They continued doing God’s work in their own different ways. And in the end, God rewarded and vindicated them.

How important do I consider the approval of others? What do I feel when other people don’t get the approval of others? Do I focus more on getting the approval of God, or approval of others? Do I give more importance on the approval of others than of God? Why is God’s approval not enough for me?

May we learn to focus on God, especially when we find out people are saying bad things about us. God’s ways do not change, so we should not change just because people want us to. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. thank you for another chance to love and serve you. thank you for another chance to experience your love. Thank you for the reminder. Lord, sorry for the times I let others influence me and my values. Sorry for being weak and concerned abut their opinions. Sorry for wanting their approval. help me to always focus on you and not on others. When I feel tired and beaten, I ask that you strengthen me. When I doubt my own actions, remind me of your love, of why I am doing these things for you. May I be a faithful servant especially when things are tough, for I know this makes you happy and I know you are fighting the battle with me. amen.

Blessed Day!

In Christ,

-g-

Daily Readings

September 19, 2018

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 445

Reading 1 1 COR 12:31-13:13

Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, love is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

Responsorial Psalm PS 33:2-3, 4-5, 12 AND 22

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
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.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Alleluia SEE JN 6:63C, 68C

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life,
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.