Thursday December 15, 2022

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“When anyone does a caring deed for you, it is God doing it through them.”

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Good News Reflection for:

Thursday of the 3rd Week of Advent
December 15, 2022

Today’s Prayer:

My Lord, may my human criteria and the desires of the flesh not interfere with the work You want to do; rather may I be an evangelizing instrument in Your hands. Amen.

Subscribe to Today’s Saint Quote & Prayer:
gnm.org/SaintQuotes/

Today’s Readings:

Isaiah 54:1-10
Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-13
Luke 7:24-30
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121522.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2022-12-15-usccb-daily-mass-readings-0

Who has forsaken you?

Who has stolen your joy by forsaking you? In today’s first reading, God says, “For a brief moment I abandoned you….” How could God abandon us? Haven’t we been told again and again: “I will never forsake you”?

Isaiah was writing to the Israelites who had abandoned God and, consequentially, had been captured by the enemy. God was promising that their time of salvation was nearing.

Have you strayed into captivity? What bad habits do you have? What sins are enslaving you? What codependent relationships are controlling you? What sorrow is blocking your joy? While you’re in that prison, the Lord does not share your captivity, although he never stops loving you and he never stops caring about you. Thus, it feels like he has forsaken you.

Your escape from captivity is as near as the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Then, as you exit the confessional, you will once again feel the joy of friendship with God. And if that’s not enough to restore your joy fully, find a Christian therapist who can help you heal the wounds that were inflicted on you during your captivity.

The Lord calls you back. With great tenderness he takes you back. With enduring love he has pity on you and redeems you.

Who has grieved you in spirit? God? He always loves us and does good for us, but when we can’t feel it, we mourn. Our spirits grieve over the loneliness of befriending an invisible God. Well, he has a cure for that, too. He gave us a Christian community — the Body of Christ dwelling on earth — to provide us with his touchable love.

When anyone does a caring deed for you, it is God doing it through them. He inspired it. God is reaching out to you.

All good things come from God, and most of the time he delivers them through human beings. If we say “no” to the gifts of goodness that are offered by others, we’re rejecting God’s help, just like those who rejected the gift of God offered by John the Baptizer in today’s Gospel story.

When we feel cast off, rejected and uncared for, as if God has hidden himself from us, it’s because we’re not embracing him in the Christian community that he’s given us. We must prepare the way of the Lord by making ourselves available to his blessings.

And when people fail to be Jesus for you, take your eyes off of them and put your focus back on Jesus, who redeemed you and never stops loving you.

For more help on this topic, see our WordByte called: “Why go to a priest for confession?” @ wordbytes.org/faqs/why-priest-confession.

© 2022 by Terry A. Modica

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