Monday January 23, 2023

“Always, Jesus is interceding for you. He’s working behind the scenes and on the front lines to help you.”

Good News Reflection for:

Monday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
January 23, 2023

Today’s Prayer:

Lord: Give us a clear awareness of the need to remain united in community and that You are victorious in our unity. Amen.

Subscribe to Today’s Saint Quote & Prayer:
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Today’s Readings:

Hebrews 9:15, 24-28
Ps 98:1-6
Mark 3:22-30
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012323.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2023-01-23-usccb-daily-mass-readings

Seeing the glory of Jesus the Savior

Praise the Lord, for he has done marvelous deeds — for YOU! Sing with the psalmist of today’s responsorial Psalm; sing to the Lord a new song. The Lord has made known his salvation to you!

That’s right, he’s made it plainly clear that he cares about you. How? By offering up his own life for you (as we hear in today’s first reading) to heal you from the destructiveness of your sins, and the next time he appears, he will bring eternal salvation — heaven — to you.

Although this scripture is first of all speaking about Christ’s Second Coming, it’s also referring to your life here and now, and mine, as all scripture does, because Jesus is always with us.

We don’t have to be visionaries to see Jesus. He comes to us in the humble form of bread and wine, with all his humanity and divinity mysteriously packaged in the gift of the Eucharist. The next time you go to Mass, as the priest speaks the prayers of consecration, ask Jesus to “appear” to you. Prayerfully entrust your imagination to the Holy Spirit and see what happens.

Sometimes when I do this, if he’s calling me to a new task or a busy day, I imagine him beckoning me as if to say, “Come on! Let’s get going! We have work to do for the Kingdom!” Other times, he’s holding out his arms to welcome and embrace me. Sometimes I can sense him smiling at me or praying for me or reminding me that he is already victorious in the trials that are causing me anguish.

We can also see his True Presence in people. Because each baptized person is an earthly “tabernacle” where Christ dwells, we can encounter him in others, including those whom we do not like, if we remember to look beneath the surface. He also comes to us in beautiful sunsets, in our private meditations, in the Word that’s read at Mass, and ___ (fill in the blank; how does he reveal himself to you?).

Always, Jesus is interceding for you. He’s working behind the scenes and on the front lines to help you. He’s more concerned than you are about the evils you suffer.

Whenever we turn to him for help, he readily enters the “strong man’s house” and trashes the place, tossing out all the weapons that have been used against us, restraining every evil spirit that works for the “strong man” (as in today’s Gospel reading). And the more we purify our hearts and work on our spiritual growth, the more this will make a lasting difference.

Jesus has not yet come to bring us the fullness of salvation. He’ll do that when we die (unless his Second Coming happens first). But in the meantime, we can be sure that he is busy mediating for us in our current situations. Things might look disastrous, or it might seem that life is not going as it should, but if we take our eyes off of the evil and look instead at Jesus, we will see and feel the victorious love of our Savior.

Remember my motto: Keep your eyes on Jesus!

To help you reflect further on this, go to our Faith Booster: “Live consciously with eyes open” @ https://wordbytes.org/faith-booster-minis/live-consciously-with-eyes-open/

2023 by Terry A. Modica

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