Saturday July 2, 2022

For you this week:

• Reflection for Saturday: One reason why we fail to discern God’s will
• Extra: What’s next in the battle to protect unborn babies?
• Inside the Ministry: Website code updates are almost done!
• This week’s WordBytes faith-builder: God Has Gifted You for Ministry
• Footsteps to Heaven podcast: The importance of the laity in today’s Church

This week’s Trivia Challenge: What is the longest book in the Bible?
(Check your answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Saturday July 2, 2022

Amos 9:11-15
Psalm 85:9-14
Matthew 9:14-17
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070222.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2022-07-02

Saints Calendar:
gnm.org/saints-find/saints-calendar

“People do not put new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” (From Saturday’s Gospel reading)

Reflection for Saturday:
One reason why we fail to discern God’s will

When our lives seem to be falling apart or breaking, we need to discern if God’s will for us is new wine. Almost always, it is. God wants to stretch us but we try to hang on to old ways. And when we do, we fail to recognize or accept God’s plans, making life harder.

Running a ministry and keeping it going for 27 years would have been impossible if we didn’t keep changing our wineskins. The miracles that have happened testify to this.

One such miracle occurred in 2004. For three years, Fr. Joseph Kimu, rector of a seminary in Malawi, had been inviting me to come teach his seminarians and professors and diocesan catechists for a week. My reply was always: “When God wants me to go, he’ll provide the funds.” The cost for airfare was $3,000.

Back then, we were a very small organization. No staff — and I was unpaid except for when Ralph and I had speaking engagements. And the only donations that the ministry received came from those parish missions and retreats.

One day, a letter arrived offering a grant. I had not searched for it. I had not requested the grant application. This never happens: The foundation actually made the first contact! They invited me to submit a request. When I explained Fr. Joseph’s wish, they donated $1500 toward it.

At that moment, we had only $1500 in the bank. Going to Malawi would empty the account, but when existing funds plus the grant equaled the exact amount needed for the trip, it was too coincidental to be anything but the Lord. Sure, it would be risky to deplete the bank account. And it felt risky to be an American woman traveling alone to a Third World country. But if we are sincere about serving the Lord, we must go wherever he leads.

That trip turned out to be one of the best adventures of my life. And the ripple affect of what I did there is still making a difference.

God is never stagnant, and he does not want us to stagnate either. We grow in holiness when we allow ourselves to be challenged by what is inconvenient, what seems filled with risk, and what some say is impossible.

We don’t go seeking risky ventures. That would be fool-hardy. Rather, we seek God’s will. We pay attention to the inspirations of his Holy Spirit. When he gives us new wine, we look for the fresh wineskins that he provides for it.

What’s next in the battle to protect unborn babies?

The victory in the battle against abortion means that now is the time for more victories!

On June 24th — the Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus —  the US Supreme Court ruled that having abortions is not a constitutional right, leaving it up to each state to legislate whether or not to allow unborn babies to be killed. After 50 years of prayers and pro-life marches and other activities, we’ve finally witnessed a victory that I never thought I’d live to see.

The timing of this makes a statement, a sign from God. It’s the triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And therefore it’s a major turning point that will lead to more victories. We’re seeing more and more victories in the battles for religious freedom, freedom of speech, common sense that quiets the mass hysteria we’ve witnessed for over two years, and the return of Christian values.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the high court should also reconsider their previous rulings on contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage because these are not truly matters of constitutional rights.

It’s also a turning point for the world. As Graciela (GNM’s assistant director) says, “If the big societies dare to change, correcting the mistakes they have made, the smaller ones must do so and follow.” To make this happen, she says, “We must be faithful to what our faith tells us is correct, no matter what the rest of the world says.”

We thank God for the human lives that are already being saved where abortion clinics have closed. But now is the time to pray even more. We need to pray most especially for the women who think that killing is good and for the women who are in turmoil over a pregnancy. We must re-energize the hard work of opening the minds of others to the beauty and sacredness of the unborn child and their incomparable worth to God.

As a Church we need to be a lot more vocal about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family life. No matter what our background experiences have been, we need to recommit to the teachings of the Church and be good examples of God’s plan for marriage while at the same time doing more to care for mothers who don’t want to be pregnant.

The turning has begun. Whatever legacies of moral relativism we still cling to, we need to turn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and repent — as individuals and as a Church.

Inside the Ministry: Website code updates are almost done!

The massive project of overhauling all of our websites is making significant progress. They will be in great shape for a few more years until new, unforeseen code updates affect how they work.

Webwork has always been a challenge. In 1996 when I made GNM’s first website, it was all very simple code. Everything’s evolved since then. Keeping up with the changes is a never-ending challenge.

Our last project is to update the Spanish website.

Thank you for your support and patience as we wend our way through all these transitions.

This week’s recommended faith-builder:
God Has Gifted You for Ministry

The question of our calling is not: “What should I do to take God to others?” Rather, the question is: “What should I take of God to others? What has He given me to share?” One reason why we fail to discern God’s will is getting those questions mixed up.

When God does something for us, we should not be satisfied with just a “Thank You, Lord” — because God wants more. It’s important to add, “Lord, what do You want me to do with this gift now?”

For more on this, visit https://wordbytes.org/master-needs-you/gifted-for-ministry/.

WordBytes is a library of Catholic faith-building articles by Good News Ministries. Come on in and explore! Visit WordBytes.org today.

The importance of the laity in today’s Church

I hear a lot of doubt about Pope Francis. But we need to remember that the Holy Spirit was involved in his election. God has given us the pope that we need right now. This pope’s lack of clarity, which makes many wonder if he is compromising the truth, is being used by God to get our attention.

One reason why we fail to discern God’s will is we don’t put our full trust in him above all. God wants us to rely on him — first and foremost — for guidance, not on our priests, not even on our pope. We are in the Age of the Holy Spirit, which began when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit makes very clear what the truth is through our personal relationship with him (activated by the anointing or baptism of the Holy Spirit), through scripture and through the Church documents that have accumulated since the first Apostles.

The problem is: We have not been learning the Church documents. So now we need to do some catching up. I believe that God is using the papacy of Pope Francis to get us all fired up so that he can set us loose upon the world — a world that the devil has infected so thoroughly that our mission has become extremely important.

A good document from Vatican Council II to know is the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. Part 1 of my podcast series that unpacks this document reveals God’s plans to work through the lay faithful in the purification and healing of our Church.

Watch the video @ gnm.org/footsteps45.

Or download the podcast series @ footstepstoheaven.com/church-crisis/the-apostolate-of-the-laity.

Answer to this week’s Trivia Challenge:
What is the longest book in the Bible? Psalms!

God bless you!

Every morning, I lift up in prayer everyone who helps Good News Ministries in any way (donors, volunteers, prayer supporters, etc.) and all the prayer requests posted on our site. What can I cover in prayer for you? Post your prayer request.

How else can the team and I serve you today? Visit our homepage.

Let’s connect in GNM’s own SmartCatholics community, called Good News Faith Builders. I’m available to interact with you there.

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

Your servant in Christ,
Terry Modica, Executive Director
Good News Ministries
gnm.org

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