Thursday February 2, 2023

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“We’re called to evangelize by acknowledging God and glorifying him in our everyday activities.”

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Good News Reflection for:

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
February 2, 2023

Today’s Prayer:

May your Grace, Lord, grow in me. And may all the plans and projects You have designed for my good be fulfilled in me. Amen.

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

Today’s Readings:

Malachi 3:1-4
Ps 24:7-10
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020223.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-february-2-2023

The Presentation of the Lord in our lives

Reflecting on today’s Gospel reading, think back to a time when someone presented Jesus to you in such a way that it changed you forever.

Do you do the same for others? In today’s first reading, see yourself as the messenger. Are you noticing the opportunities God gives you to present Jesus to the people around you? Angels are messengers sent from God, and the word “evangelist” has an “angel” in the middle: You have at least one angel assisting you when you evangelize!

We are called to work with angels every day. I personally believe (but only God can judge) that it’s a horrid sin to toss away evangelization opportunities. People’s eternal souls are at stake! The Lord drove this point home to me one Sunday when my family and I took some friends with us to Mass. The mother was an ex-Catholic and her kids had grown up without any church, but they said yes to our invitation to come to Mass.

We were so excited for them! But to our great dismay, the priest spent the entire homily time trying to guilt people into increasing donations for a fundraiser, without one word about the scriptures or Jesus or faith. I realize how necessary it is to spend time asking for donations, but his message was not a homily. He could easily have tied it into that Sunday’s scriptures and explained how our faith grows when we trust God with our gifts of generosity. He missed the opportunity to evangelize, which would have increased donations more effectively than scolding the congregation.

I suspect that Jesus was also dismayed. Let us pray earnestly for the souls of priests when their homilies aren’t faith-building, because they’ll be held accountable for every opportunity that God gives to them.

We are all accountable. What will you say to Jesus when you die and he shows you the opportunities that you ignored? We all have the calling to evangelize using the unique situations of our lives, our gifts, our talents, our jobs, our personalities, our experiences, and even our sufferings.

We’ve been commissioned in our baptisms and at the end of every Mass to share the Good News. We’re called to evangelize by acknowledging God and glorifying him in our everyday activities, saying with the psalmist of Psalm 24:7-10: “Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!”

We, like Mary and Joseph, are carrying Jesus into the temple of other people’s hopes and dreams and heart-felt needs. Right?

A prayer:
Loving Father, I ask for the grace to present Jesus to the people around me, sometimes by talking about him but always by proving his love in the way I live my life. Make me more aware of opportunities, and make sure that I do what You want me to do as your messenger, especially when I am around ___________. Amen!

For more on this subject, read our WordByte “Your Christian Vocation” @ https://wordbytes.org/evangelization-ministry/your-christian-vocation/

© 2023 by Terry A. Modica

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