Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.

Lots of good stuff in our Gospels this week. Let me highlight just a few for you to contemplate this weekend.

Sunday: Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

Monday: Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Tuesday: Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Wednesday: But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Two days in a row we are told the greatest among us will be the least; the least among us will be the greatest. Those with ears ought to hear…

Thursday: Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Friday: Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’

Saturday: He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”

Now that is truly a week of Wisdom given to us in the Gospel. Take a few minutes today and tomorrow listening to what is being professed to us. We start the week hearing that we are to LISTEN to Jesus and then we spend the next 6 days being taught some remarkable things from the mouth of the Son of God. Humility, Service, Forgiveness are some of the simple yet oh so complex ways we are to live. Jealousy, Hatred, Death, Ignorance are some of the ways that pull us off that narrow path to eternity. So again, those with ears ought to hear. We have the gift to see what beauty comes from living a life following God. We have the words of those prophets; those who witnessed Christ and His mission of Mercy; the saints who have gone before us and the Holy Men and Women who lived marked with the sign of Faith. Let us not be like Lazarus who didn’t understand what the prophets foretold. Let us not seek forgiveness after it is to late to do so. Let us be humble; let us live to serve and not to be served; let us forgive; let us believe in the Gospel – the good news revealed to us by Christ Himself.

Do something great for our Lord today – live a life of service; live a life of forgiveness; live as if you are the heir to THE kingdom. Christ gave us the instructions and example on how this can be done – it is high time I/we follow them.

I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy Grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.

God’s will, not mine, be done.

Be not afraid; just have faith.

Jesus, I trust in You.

He must increase; I must decrease.

Lord, if You wish, You can make me clean.

But you man of God chose righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Compete well for the faith.