Saturday June 15, 2024

Yes or no?

Good News Reflections:
Making scripture meaningful to your daily life
by Terry Modica


“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.” (Matthew 5:37)


Good News Reflection for:

Saturday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
June 15, 2024

Today’s Readings:

1 Kings 19:19-21
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-10
Matthew 5:33-37
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061524.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-june-15-2024

Can we agree to disagree?

Jesus says that if we say “yes” (for example, to God’s will) but Jesus teaching people who disagree with himfail to carry it through, we’ve been influenced by a demon. And if we say “no” (for example, to sin), we’ve been influenced by a demon.

In other words, it’s a sin to be insincere. Likewise it’s a sin to say we want to be a good Christian but then ignore opportunities to learn how to be a good Christian. It’s a sin to want to be a good Christian while adopting the ways of the world that are contrary to scripture and the teachings of the Church Magisterium. It’s a sin to claim to have faith in Jesus without having lives that look different than unbelievers.

Everything we do should be done as a ministry for God’s kingdom or else not do it. Including housework, secular jobs, and encounters with other people. The Lord taught me a long time ago that it was wrong to compartmentalize my life into “ministry mode” and “non-ministry mode”. My “yes” to serving God must affect every aspect of my life and every moment of my day, and when it does not, I need to go to Confession or at least repent during the Penitential Rite of Mass.

The world (as ruled by Satan) has made it preferable to avoid looking deeper into the truths that we don’t like. A common saying is: “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.” No I do not have to do that! I do not agree to cooperate with the devil tricking anyone into believing and teaching what contradicts scripture and Church teachings.

I encourage you, too, to boldly share the truth because you care about those who have fallen victim to the devil’s lies — not with anger, and not with determination to win the debate, but simply because you care.

To go deeper into this, read the WordByte I wrote about this in 2013, Polite or Prophetic? @ wordbytes.org/evangelization-ministry/polite-or-prophetic.

© 2024 by Terry A. Modica

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