Saturday July 22, 2023
For you this week:
- Reflection for Saturday: The cure for confusion
- Inside the Ministry: Why we ignore what experts say about funding
- Special event starts July 31: Faith Muscles Boot Camp
- This week’s WordBytes faith-builder: What Keeps Us From Knowing God’s Will?
- New Video Interview: How parents can keep their children in church
This week’s Trivia Challenge: Was Mary Magdalene a repentant prostitute or Mary of Bethany who was the sister of Martha and Lazareth? (Check your answer at the end of this newsletter.)
Saturday July 22, 2023
Song of Songs 3:1-4 or 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Psalm 63:2-6. 8-9
John 20:1-2, 11-18
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072223.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-july-22-2023
Saints Calendar:
gnm.org/saints-find/saints-calendar
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (From Saturday’s Gospel reading)
Reflection for Saturday:
The cure for confusion
I bet Mary Magdalene was at least a little confused when she found the empty tomb and then a gardener who turned out to be her beloved Jesus. And then how did she feel when he said, “Stop holding on to me…”?
I totally resonate with her confusion. Nearly every day I feel confused about what God is doing. You too, right? But, thanks to many years of working on my relationship with God as my loving Father, I’ve learned a few things, and I share this in my book The Father’s Heart. (You can order it @ tothefathersheart.com.) Here’s an excerpt:
Abba-Father does not enjoy putting us through the torments of confusion. He gave us a way out — for example, in Acts 1:7-8. When Jesus was ready to ascend to Heaven, his disciples questioned him, trying to clear up their confusion about God’s plans. They asked him, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?”
He replied: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”
Abba-Father’s authority is key here. We need to trust it. He doesn’t always clear up our confusion, but he does always make clear his presence and his involvement. But we can only see it if we seek it.
More important than knowing what to expect is to know that God knows. One of my favorite mottos is: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.”
God gives us whatever we need for doing our best and enjoying this earthly life in the most beneficial way. When we are confused, when we have unanswered questions, the Holy Spirit is our aid and our ally. The Holy Spirit is the divine authority of God activating his helpfulness in our journey of becoming more and more like Christ.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will teach us everything we need to know (see John 14:26). This does not mean that we become all-knowing; it means that we can trust the all-knowingness of God and safely believe that he will teach us what we need to know when we need to know it. His knowledge will assist us.
Inside the Ministry:
Why we ignore what experts say about funding
Recently I met with a consultant who helps ministries become all they are called to be. After looking through GNM’s websites and hearing statistics about how many people we serve, he was very impressed. And surprised. He asked: “Why haven’t I heard of you before?”
This led to a conversation about the funding needed to keep this ministry going and growing. What he said next was a good idea — but not for Good News Ministries.
Like other experts, he suggested using Patreon to get supporters for our podcasts. But there is one very important reason why we will never use Patreon: Patreon requires us to offer premium content to donors. Only to donors.
When Ralph and I founded Good News Ministries in 1995 (the photo above was taken that year), we and our first board of directors wrote into the bylaws that we will always make everything available, without charge, to all who seek it — in imitation of Jesus. That means no premium services are denied to those who cannot or choose not to support this ministry financially. Even the poorest of people who come to Good News Ministries get premium content.
Experts also recommend that we sell our courses. However, our bylaws state that we will never sell anything. The closest we come to selling the type of content that, on other sites, comes with a fee, is to suggest a donation amount. But no one has ever been nor ever will be denied access to any of our content. Period. We believe that God has uniquely called us to rely solely on donor support.
It’s like walking on water.
This makes fundraising totally important, and failure is not an option. We believe that God will provide for this ministry so that we will continue serving you and the others who come seeking a better relationship with God. We believe that we are to rely with great trust on his provisions. However, God doesn’t drop money out of the sky. He provides through people who are “distributors of his grace”:
“As generous distributors of God’s manifold grace, put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure he has received” (1 Peter 4:10).
Please keep your eye on the fundraising progress bar on our website. And pray that we are able to reach the goal 100%. Pray, pray, pray! And as you pray, listen for the Holy Spirit to inspire you and affirm you about your own generosity.
To make a difference today, visit gnm.org/donate.
P.S. God bless you for taking the time to read this.
Special event starts July 31:
Faith Muscles Boot Camp
It’s back! Two years ago, it was a smashing success, and now we’re offering it again.
My Faith Muscles Boot Camp contains 21 faith-building spiritual exercises (one per week). Each lesson is a short video with a new spiritual exercise to do throughout the upcoming week. They start easy and get a little harder each week.
This Catholic faith boot camp is easy to add into anyone’s life, no matter how busy you are. The videos are short and only once a week, giving you an entire week to put into practice the spiritual exercise that the video explains. Some of them you might already be doing!
Beginning July 31, each Monday I’ll send an email with the next video. If you’d like to discuss it with me, I’m here for you!
For more info and to register, visit gnm.org/bootcamp.
This week’s recommended faith-builder:
What Keeps Us From Knowing God’s Will?
What are you confused about today? Here are the 10 most common ways that we block ourselves from knowing what God’s will is for our calling and any other guidance he wants to give.
Visit wordbytes.org/master-needs-you/what-keeps-us-from-knowing-gods-will.
WordBytes is a library of Catholic faith-building articles by Good News Ministries. Come on in and explore! Visit WordBytes.org today.
New Video Interview:
How parents can keep their children in church
Ellen Mongan, the host of WOW MOM podcasts, interviewed me recently. We discussed faith, family and God’s faithfulnesss. We wondered: What can parents today do to keep their children in the Church? Especially during the rebellious teenager years and young adulthood when they leave the home nest and become surrounded by worldly ways! The Holy Spirit is the key for this very common problem.
Note: This conversation is not just about parenting. Ellen said, “Terry is a wealth of knowledge with keen insight and a heart set on God alone.”
In this interview, I share stories from my life that healed me from father wounds and helped me reach my full potential as a treasured daughter of the Most High Father God. Find out how my book “The Father’s Heart” (tothefathersheart.com) not only will help you get rid of misconceptions about God the Father so that you can experience him as your “Doting Daddy” but also how it can help you become a better parent.
I also tell my story about being a pastor’s daughter, how much I loved Jesus since early childhood, but then I fell away, losing my faith. I returned to the Faith as a Catholic after discovering the supernatural event of Mass (bread and wine becoming Jesus in the Eucharist) and meeting the Holy Spirit, who alone can change hearts. My love relationship with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist was the impetus for my recently published book “My Soul Shall Be Healed” (gnm.org/terry-modica-author/my-soul-shall-be-healed).
This is an interview you won’t be able to stop watching until the end. Enjoy it @ gnm-media.org/how-parents-can-keep-their-children-in-church.
Answer to this week’s Trivia Challenge:
Was Mary Magdalene a repentant prostitute or Mary of Bethany who was the sister of Martha and Lazareth? Most likely both. Pope Saint Gregory (who served from 590 to 604) advanced this tradition, which preceded him. He said, “She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary [of Bethany], we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark” (Homilies on the Gospels).
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.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
Your servant in Christ,
Terry Modica, Executive Director
Good News Ministries
gnm.org
Find this and past issues at gnm.org/newsletter. Please share what will minister to others.