Sunday December 31, 2023

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“We need to ponder in our hearts what we don’t understand, while doing what Jesus wants us to do.”

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Good News Reflection for:

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
December 31, 2023

Today’s Prayer:

Beloved Father: May the truth of your Holy Spirit fill my mind and my heart. Give me a spirit of listening to help me understand everything You want to show me and teach me. Amen.

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

Today’s Readings:

Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 or Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Ps 128:1-5 or Ps 105:1-6, 8-9
Colossians 3:12-21 or Hebrews 11:8,11-12,17-19
Luke 2:22-40
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123123.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2020-12-27

Trust Jesus despite not understanding

“Joy mixed with drama marks the fifth [joyful] mystery, the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple.” Saint John Paul the Great wrote this In Rosarium Virginis Mariae, his interesting encyclical about the Rosary.

He continued: “Here he appears in his divine wisdom as he listens and raises questions, already in effect one who ‘teaches’. The revelation of his mystery as the Son wholly dedicated to his Father’s affairs proclaims the radical nature of the Gospel, in which even the closest of human relationships are challenged by the absolute demands of the Kingdom. Mary and Joseph, fearful and anxious, ‘did not understand’ his words.”

We, too, often fail to understand the words of Jesus. His teachings challenge us to accept a more difficult life, a life of doing good to our enemies, turning the cheek and going the extra mile, a life of courageously standing up for the truth and adhering to high moral standards that are counter-cultural.

Our preference, when living this way is inconvenient or unpleasant, is to rationalize and make excuses for our worldly behavior. But once we truly understand the demands of the Kingdom of God, we see their benefits and we obey gladly.

Without this understanding, we have to simply trust that the words of Jesus are right and true. Like Mary and Joseph, we need to ponder in our hearts what we don’t understand, while moving forward and doing what Jesus wants us to do.

As challenging as this is, that’s when we discover how amazing God can be.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
What teaching of the Church have you rationalized away so that you don’t have to obey it? Or what teaching of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 5,6,7) or elsewhere in the Gospels do you excuse yourself from? How much is your disobedience due to not understanding what is really being taught? What will you do to seek and gain a better understanding?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
How meaningful is the Holy Family to you? What is it about the relationships between Jesus, Mary and Joseph that appeals to you? What has this taught you about God’s Kingdom?

For more on this pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary @ gnm.org/prayers/pray-the-rosary/joyful-mysteries-1/.

© 2023 by Terry A. Modica

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