Devotion
Two Apostles
Frances Taylor
This weekend we celebrated the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, two men who were called by Christ to go out and bring the Good News to the world. Two very different men, called in different ways.
Peter was once a disciple of John the Baptist who was directed by John to follow Jesus. Paul was against this man Jesus who was, in his mind, turning people away from God. Yet we have benefitted from the preaching and teaching of them both. Peter is the "Rock" upon whom Jesus built his church and Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, the non-Jews, who might never have heard about Jesus as their Savior. They each had different stories of conversion – Paul's considerably more dramatic! They had different styles, different communities of believers, but they had one purpose – to preach Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead.
Jesus, the Messiah and Lord sent to save the world from death due to sin and to open the gates of heaven to all who would believe. Just before his ascension, Jesus tells his followers to go out into the world making disciples of all nations. Peter and Paul, as well as the other apostles and his other disciples did just that.
We, too, have been called by virtue of our baptism to go out and make disciples. We have different stories of conversion – and some of us may not even know we have a story because we have always believed. Some of us may have a dramatic story of realizing that Jesus is Lord in our lives. The question is, "How do we let people know the Good News?"
Are our lives a witness to our beliefs? Are we embarrassed to admit we are believers? Would any of us be identified and then cast into prison because our faith is so apparent to others, as was the faith of Peter and Paul? My hope is that at the end of my life I can say with St. Paul, "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith."
Prayer
Lord, thank you for the gift of these two apostles as without them the Good News of Salvation might never have spread so far. Amen.
We are under a MASS EXTINCTION EVENT akin to an ice age or global flood.
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Devotion
Teach Your Children
Frances Taylor
God, through Moses, tells us that it is our responsibility to pass on our faith to our children. It's not the job of others although others certainly will help you and can add to what you have taught them. But, the primary job is ours. We do this in words and by our actions. We talk to them about God, we tell of the glory of creation that the Father has given us, we talk about the salvation earned for us by the Son, Jesus, and we talk about the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and all who believe. We let them know that we are all God's children and we have a responsibility to love others as Jesus loved us, that we have a responsibility to care for all of God's creation and that includes not being wasteful or destroying the land. It's telling them that God comes first and that sports or money or pleasure are not gods to be worshipped. And this message goes beyond just the telling, these words are to be written on our hearts, carried ...
Morning Prayer
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.
Inspiration
Paul does not here reject God's Law and claim that nothing he could possibly do would be sin. He speaks about using the things of the world and of doubtful matters. He speaks about the believer's freedom, but he makes it clear we should choose what is edifying and what is beneficial to the welfare of others.
Prayer
Help me to not use my freedom as an excuse to walk uncharitably or to live for myself. All things must be done so as to serve God and serve others, not simply to serve myself. Give me godly discernment, I pray, to know what will edify and what will needlessly offend others. Give me a spirit of love that seeks good for others instead of just claiming my own rights. Amen.
