[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

<< Wednesday, January 28, 2004 >>

St. Thomas Aquinas

2 Samuel 7:4-17

Psalm 89:4-5, 27-30

Mark 4:1-20

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LIVING OR DYING EXAMPLES?

“To you the mystery of the reign of God has been confided.” —Mark 4:11

Throughout the history of the Church, the Holy Spirit has made many Christians holy by leading them to pray the Mass frequently or daily. However, when daily communicants didn’t appear that holy, the practice of daily Mass waned, and the Church weakened.

Many of you reading this book pray the Mass daily or at least frequently. If your holy Masses make you holy, the practice of daily Mass will grow, and the Church will become stronger. If, however, you are not holy, a de-emphasis of daily Mass may well contribute to the Church being further victimized by the culture of death.

Your holy Masses will probably make you holy if you listen to God’s word at Mass, take it to heart, and yield a great harvest (Mk 4:20). For example, after God’s word burned in the hearts of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they recognized the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread (Lk 24:30ff). We too will probably recognize Christ and become holy as He is holy, if we let God’s word penetrate our hearts. Thus, Jesus warns us to guard against choking God’s word by “anxieties over life’s demands, and the desire for wealth, and cravings of other sorts” (Mk 4:19). Guard and mortify your senses and worldly desires. Don’t be an example of the non-importance of daily Mass. Rather, be an example of eucharistic holiness.

Prayer: Father, may daily communicants be free from the sins of racism, impurity, and laziness.

Promise: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before Me; your throne shall stand firm forever.” —2 Sm 7:16

Praise: St. Thomas Aquinas loved the Word of God, both the written and living Word. He memorized many books of Scripture as a young adult.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	It’s Dangerous to Believe Our Own Press Releases
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Wednesday, January 28, 2004

2 Sam 7:4-17 / Mk 4:1-20

None of us has any greater enemy than our own egos, which lie and lie to us, just as the snake did in the story of Adam and Eve. “You can be God’s equal,” says the ego. What a lie that is, but we fall for it again and again, and it gets us in terrible trouble.

A raging ego running rampant is what we see in today’s Old Testament story about David. The little shepherd boy had become a king and he seemed to have forgotten who put him on the throne and guaranteed victory in all his battles. David proposed to build a house for God. It seemed like a nice gesture; even the prophet Nathan thought so.

But God who reads all hearts understood David’s heart all too well. David didn’t recognize his own radical poverty in the face of God who made the whole universe. What could he give to God that wasn’t God’s already? What would God need a house for if he already had a whole universe? These thoughts hadn’t occurred to David. His ego had silently shrunk God down to David’s own size!

That can happen. We can shrink God, and we can inflate ourselves. Both will lead us into foolishness that delays our getting on with the real business of life, which is building God’s kingdom not only around us but within us. The core of building the kingdom is the endless process of transformation whose goal is a heart shaped in God’s likeness.

So don’t get distracted by delusions of grandeur. Remember who you are and what your real work is. And be assured that the God who made you will at every turn provide you with what you need to complete your journey.