Do we really always believe that the Lord hears the cry of the poor? Or confronts evildoers? Often it seems that evil goes unchecked. Even though it may be difficult to recognize at times, the Lord does hear our cries. He well knows of the injustices. When we are striving to live as whole-hearted disciples of Jesus, we may even be called to suffer or die for our faith. Generations of Christians have borne witness to this truth. A number of our Capuchin friars were imprisoned and tortured during World War II. We may find ourselves ridiculed or criticized for our religious beliefs and practices. But we continue to draw spiritual strength from holding fast to them, trusting in the power of Christ’s love. We will be heard. We will be rescued. Even if, like Jesus and so many faithful witnesses, we are rescued through death rather than from death.
- Fr. Martin Pable, O.F.M. Cap.
The first reading is alarming! What is alarming? The city! What city? Rebellious, polluted, and tyrannical! (Zephaniah 3:1) How? "She hears no voice, accepts no correction; In the LORD she has not trusted, to her God she has not drawn near." (Zephaniah 3:2) So what is God going to do? "1) I will change and purify the lips of the peoples 2) I will remove from your midst the proud braggarts 3) I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly!" (Zephaniah 3:9a, 11b, 12a) ***I want to be part of Your remnant, Lord Jesus!!! "1)They all may call upon the Name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord! 2)They shall bring Me offerings! 3)Who shall take refuge in the Name of the LORD! 4)They shall do no wrong and speak no lies! 5)Nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue! 6)They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them! 7)Shout for joy, be glad and exult with all your heart!" (Zephaniah 3:9b, 10b, 12b-14) My takeaways: 1)Remnants: humble and lowly! 2)Call on the Name of Jesus and serve Him! 3)Take refuge in Jesus! 4)Do no wrong and speak no lies! 5)No deceitful tongue! 6) Care for His sheep! 7)Be joyful and glad! ***So am I ready to do the Father's will? Even when I initially didn't want to? You want me to do what, Lord? Matthew 5:44-45a, "But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven!" Amen! Only with You, Lord Jesus, that these things are possible :-) So I can't wait to see what enemies and persecutors You bring to my path...I can't say I look forward to them, 'but God!' May my words and actions be pleasing to You, Lord Jesus, as the Holy Spirit works with me on my heart and thoughts during the process :-) Amen!
It is very interesting for me to read the whole passage in Nephaniah 3:3-7 not listed in today's reading, "Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The Lord within her is righteous; He does no wrong. Morning by morning He dispenses His justice, and every new day He does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame. “I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. Of Jerusalem I thought, ‘Surely you will fear Me and accept correction!’ Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did." ***This looks more like Headlines News for the last 9 months!!! As I have always known, "But God!" Listen to the conclusion in Nephaniah 3:8, "Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them—all My fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealous anger!" That sounds bad, right? But not to me :-) As I have mentioned before that I see 2020 is the year of God's favor! And 2021 is the year of repentance! This coming New Year is the year when God gathers His remnants :-) Will you be one of His remnants? My last BSF lesson #12 aim is "God’s judgement of our sin is sure, but all can seek His mercy!" I for one am grateful for You , Lord Jesus! I will wait for You :-) Amen!
I haven’t been on this site for quite a while since I purchased the LF devotional Kindle version but I had to thank LF and Father for today’s meditation. I find such strength in this Psalm but Father’s eye opening comment that we may be rescued thru death rather than from death spoke loudly to me. Thanking God for the encouragement through LF!
Amen! Thank you Holy Father for this beautiful day and for this Gospel today. Thank you Lord for my faith, my life and for my family. Thank you Holy Father, most of all, for your great sacrifice and for the opportunity of forgiveness and reconciliation. Please Lord have mercy. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Praise to you Lord Jesus Chris, now and forever. Amen. Thank you Thank you Thank you Holy Fatjer
“When will you come to believe”. Jesus has come for all of us, but only a few hear his voice. One of my dreams is that every year we gain more and more believers . What do we feel are keeping others away from believing. Maybe we are harvesting where there are harden of hearts that might never change, should we give up, no. We should also reach out to the less fortunate. The poor, the sick, the needy. They need our help to hear the message that they are always welcomed back to Jesus who is there for them, with much mercy and forgiveness. Lastly, let your yes be yes and your no be your no so, when your deciding to come back to follow Jesus, there needs to be no hesitation, not in the middle and not fully committed . We Should all use this time period of readiness to get our affairs in order, so we can leave our sinful ways and be able to hear and follow Jesus where he is leading us. He is always there, we just might be too far to hear his voice. Put God First. Be messengers to the poor, lonely, sick, lost and even the harden of hearts so that my dreams may be fulfilled, that every year we will gain more souls for his kingdom. Praying for the one who have no one to pray for them, praying for the Living Faith Family and for the souls in Purgatory, ready to be reunited to their God in his Heavenly Kingdom. Amen.
Amen, Tim!!! Your comments reminds me of ***"They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!" ***Revelation 3:15-16, "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I (Jesus) will spit you out of my mouth!" *** Mark 1:15, "The time promised by God has come at last!” He (Jesus) announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!"
Dad's positive, and asymptomatic. They are monitoring everybody closely. More residents than staff now have the virus. But from what I could find out those that do have symptoms, they are mild and they are able to treat them there so far. Continued prayers for the entire Care Center residents and staff. And I pray for the healing of the entire world. May this vaccine prove effective.
:-)
Thanks father for today's devotion. God listen to the humble. So long as we are proud, self-reliant and arrogant, the lord will not come to us. All god wants from us is humility and repentance. When we turn back to Him with a contrite heart, our sins are forgiven us. Prayer for all the living faith family members. Have a great day everyone.
Thank you for highlighting this fact. Our hearts are deceitful - we _.. most of us are Pharisees, and me don't know it! In my experience, we are going to be self reliant unless we are purposely calling out to Jesus daily, and repenting and thanking him daily! Guard your hearts! Self reliance is our default mode because of the Fall. We have to walk very closely to him. Cling to him. Come to my heart and centre Lord Jesus!
Thank you Lord for giving your decent these words and helping our family. We claim the healing of a little 8 year old girl who has a high fever of 102.4. There is to be no Covid-19 on her tests Thank you everyone. Amen
Amen.
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Thank you Fr. Martin for your inspiring devotion. * What Fr. Martin wrote spoke to me also: "We may find ourselves ridiculed or criticized for our religious beliefs and practices. But we continue to draw spiritual strength from holding fast to them, trusting in the power of Christ’s love. We will be heard. We will be rescued. Even if, like Jesus and so many faithful witnesses, we are rescued through death rather than from death." With so many people dying from the coronavirus, it makes me think that maybe all those people are actually being rescued through death. Jesus still needs witnesses, "whole-hearted disciples", followers here on earth to continue to do His will, to be obedient to Him and spread His word, His truth. Jesus knows our hearts, He know us and He chooses His disciples. * God Bless our Living Faith Family and continued prayers for all.