Wednesday September 11, 2024

Eternal happiness only comes through a close relationship with God.

Good News Reflection for:

Wednesday of the 23rd Week of Ordinary Time
September 11, 2024

Today’s Prayer:

You, Lord, are our nourishment. Without Your Word, we die. Without Your strength, we accomplish nothing. Don’t let us believe that we already have everything, if You are not our support. Amen.

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Today’s Readings:

1 Corinthians 7:25-31
Ps 45:11-17
Luke 6:20-26
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091124.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-september-11-2024

Blessings and woes

Finish this sentence: “Woe am I; I am in misery because ___.” In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus explains that as Christians, our woes are based on what is temporal (earthly, temporary) and we are blessed when we repent and move beyond it to live in the kingdom of God.

Use this scripture like a personal checklist:

Blessed are you who are poor: When the awareness of what you lack causes you to turn to God for help, you can enjoy the riches of his kingdom, including the wealth of God’s comfort.

Blessed are you in your hunger: Since no human person can satisfy all your needs, God’s love fills in the gaps.

Blessed are you who are weeping: Because you regret sinning, you mourn that it divided you from God and you rejoice that Jesus has mercifully restored you to union with God.

Blessed are you when people hate you on account of your faith: Rejected and persecuted by those who don’t understand your faith, you run to Christ for love, which he gives you through others in his community of believers, where friendships last for all of eternity.

But woe comes to us when our happiness depends on how others treat us and how quickly we get whatever we want. The word Jesus used, which we’ve translated as “woe,” is full of regret and compassion; it’s not a punishment.

Woe to you who are rich: If we cater to our earthly desires, we take pride in our accomplishments and we neglect our need for God. Thus, we only have what we have, because we fail to open ourselves to the surprise blessings that God wants to give us.

Woe to you who are now full: It’s an illusion to think that we can get everything we want and feel satisfied for very long. Only in heaven can we be fully satisfied.

Woe to you who laugh now: If we’re short-sighted and temporal-minded, we laugh at those who wait upon God, for it seems like we have the better life. But when a problem arises that we can’t readily fix, we lose our joy.

Woe to you when all speak well of you: How long does the praise of others last? Their approval disappears the moment we fail to be perfect. We need to realize that it’s only God’s approval that really matters and that he’s pleased with us for trying to imitate Christ even if we fail.

Life on earth is short. As today’s first reading says: Time is running out. You or I could die at any moment. To be blessed by that reality, we have to understand that eternal happiness only comes through a close relationship with God.

For more on this, use our prayer “The Litany of the Father’s Heart” @ gnm.org/prayers/the-litany-of-the-fathers-heart/.

© by Terry A. Modica, Good News Ministries

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