Monday January 29, 2024

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“God sees what is good in us, not just what we do wrong.”

Good News Reflection for:

Monday of the 4th Week of Ordinary Time
January 29, 2024

Today’s Prayer:

Lord, You want to deliver me from all those things that enslave me. Work all You need to do in me. I want to be free, living in Your freedom. Amen.

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

Today’s Readings:

2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13
Psalm 3:2-7 (with 8a)
Mark 5:1-20
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012924.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-january-29-2024

Blessings on the battlefield

In today’s first reading, King David is publicly cursed out by an angry enemy, Shimei, but he handles it humbly. David could have had him executed for his attack against his authority, but David wonders, “What if the Lord’s trying to teach me something?” He recognizes the stinging truth in the angry man’s words.

Even though Shimei’s accusation against him was false — he had not murdered Saul’s family to take over the throne — David’s conscience reminds him that he was nonetheless guilty of murder. He had had an affair with the wife of one of his officers and then killed him so that he could have her.

David chooses to approach the problem with a non-defensive posture. He reasons that if the Lord could use Shimei’s evil tirade to keep him humble and repentant, then he would benefit from the curse.

How do we react when someone gets angry at us? (I’m not talking about verbal or physical abusiveness; that’s a different matter and it requires escape and justice.) Do we pause and ask the Lord whether there’s any truth to the accusations? Or do we defend ourselves to protect our image and retaliate with our own angry words?

David accepted the “affliction” of being ridiculed and bad-mouthed rather than inflict harm upon his enemy. In this, he foreshadowed the Messiah. Did you also notice another foreshadowing as he wept over Israel on the Mount of Olives?

When people accuse us or curse us, we too can reflect Jesus. And, rather than feel hurt by their attacks against us, we can find ways to benefit. What are we learning from the experience? How are we growing stronger in our faith? How’s it helping our humility?

A healthy spirituality includes a balance between being open to learning from accusations and being closed to complete degradation. God sees what is good in us, not just what we do wrong, and we are holy when we recognize what is good while learning what to improve.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus rescues a man from an army of demons. When we’re under attack and we choose self-defensiveness and retaliation (or the other danger: loss of self-esteem), we expose ourselves to the weapons of Satan’s battlefield. We live in the curse. But when we repent and look for the lessons that God himself is trying to teach us, we immediately begin to benefit. Curses become blessings, despite our enemy’s worst intentions.

Taking this humble approach requires effort. Our first reaction is to fight the enemy or sink into depression, but our soul yearns for Jesus to deliver us from the battle. The only way we can put ourselves into his protection is to handle the attacks his way.

May our all-powerful Lord help us to be humble in our daily battles ~ amen!

For more on the topic of this subject, see our podcast called: “The Healing of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” @ https://gnm-media.org/the-healing-of-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus/.

© 2024 by Terry A. Modica

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