Saturday June 24, 2023

For you this week:

• Reflection for Saturday: Lyra’s story of why she didn’t feel precious to God
• Inside the Ministry: You too can inspire Catholic faith growth in others – easily!
• This week’s faith-building prayer: Zechariah’s Canticle as a Victory Prayer

This week’s Trivia Challenge: Which insect did John the Baptist eat in the desert? (Check your answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Saturday June 24, 2023
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-15
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66, 80
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062423-Day.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-june-24-2023-day

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

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. (From the Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Jeremiah 1:5)

The LORD called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. (From Mass during the day for the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Isaiah 49:1-2)

Reflection for Saturday:
Lyra’s story of why she didn’t feel precious to God

Right now the Father wants you to know that you are his beloved child and he is favoring you with an opportunity for true friendship. He says to you, “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you. Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (adapted from Isaiah 43:4-5).

Do you truly understand how precious you are to Father God? Do you know him as a true friend? Do you feel favored by him?

Lyra grew up without a father. He had died when she was two years old. How do you suppose this affected her relationship with God? As you read her story, look for the imperfect traits of the humans in her life that became a false image of God’s Fatherhood:

“My mother became our 2-in-1 parent, providing for all our needs. Because my mother was not home most of the time, she would warn us to be good always or else God would get angry. That was how I have perceived God: a punitive one. I thought we’re supposed to earn God’s favor. For me then, God was a distant Father who would grant my prayers when I’m good and punish me when I failed.”

Imperfect trait #1: Her father was absent. The image of God that this implied: The Father is distant. God is not the doting Father she needs and longs for.

Imperfect trait #2: Her mother could not be home whenever Lyra needed her. The implication: God the Loving Parent is not closely involved in our lives, not available to reassure us when times get tough, and not aware of all our needs.

Imperfect trait #3: Her mother described God as a Father who watches for his children to fail at being good and gets angry as soon as they do. Implication: God only answers our prayers when we earn his approval by being perfectly good, and if our prayers are not answered, then that’s proof that we’re bad. Since Lyra was imperfect, she could never be good enough for God. She could not rely on his help, which is a false image that was reinforced by imperfect trait #2 above.

Have you ever thought something like this? “God is a good Father, all powerful and all understanding, but what if I am in this mess is because it’s me who is at fault? I’m not good enough in his eyes. I miss all his blessings because I am lazy, pleasure-seeking, greedy, envious, selfish, etc. And worst of all, now it’s too late and no prayer can change the situation.”

Lyra says, “I blamed my father for dying early. I blamed God for letting all the unfortunate things happen to us, and I blamed myself for being inadequate. It took me forty-four years to discover God’s unlimited and unconditional love. I had limited him by locking him in a bottle: I treated him like a magic genie who grants my wishes if I’ve been good.”

She continues, “Now that I have finally found a relationship with him, the desire to know him more gets greater every day. Now when I cry to him, it’s not because I want to blame but because I need rest and healing. Although sometimes I still fail to trust him fully, when I cry my heart out to him, he makes his presence felt in various ways that I could never have imagined. He truly is a loving Father.”

God can only be known by our hearts, the center of our soul, where love resides. He cannot be known by the mind because he is much more than we could ever imagine: much better, much more caring, much more available to fill in the gaps left by insufficient human love. To grasp the “more” of him requires that we abandon all of our incorrect ideas, images, and concepts of God. To enter into his healing embrace, we must overcome misconceptions. We must stop projecting human images onto the Abba-Father.

To help you with this, I wrote the book The Father’s Heart. See tothefathersheart.com. (This article is an excerpt from that book.)

Inside the Ministry:
You too can inspire Catholic faith growth in others – easily!

Think for a moment about how Good News Ministries has helped you. Has God spoken to you through something you read or heard that Good News Ministries produced?

Now think about how others could benefit from the same resources. Is their faith growth important enough to you to make GNM available to them? Would you be willing to sacrifice one meal to invest in GNM for their sake?

Carmel wrote in to say, “I have been subscriber with GNM since 2005, and I must say that the prayers, videos, novenas and reflections have helped me tremendously. I must say that the daily reflections have made a great impact in my spiritual growth. I have developed a deeper trust and faith in the Word of God. I’m now able to remain peaceful and strong even during adversities and storms that come my way.”

However, Carmel relies on others to cover the costs of keeping this ministry going. There are many who are like her. Are you willing to champion the cause of building their faith?

If you want to say, “Yes, Lord Jesus, I do want to help others grow in their faith,” think about how much you want GNM to keep going for your own sake — what’s it worth to you? — and then double that amount as a gift that helps someone else.

If you fast from one meal to divert the cost of it to Good News Ministries, how about fasting from two meals? It’s really not hard to do. And God will abundantly reward you.

Of course, if God has already blessed you abundantly in your finances, please make a donation that feels like a sacrifice for the sake of others. We need a big boost in support — US$30,000 — now or GNM won’t be able to continue past August.

And if you are one of those who truly are unable to send anything, pray for those who can. Make a sacrifice of keeping them in your daily prayers.

Thank you!
gnm.org/donate

This week’s faith-building prayer:
Zechariah’s Canticle as a Victory Prayer

The following adaptation of Zechariah’s Canticle in Luke 1:68-79 can be used in private prayer or with family members, parish staff, or other community gatherings. A leader reads the scripture lines, then the rest of the people take turns reading the response (R) and filling in the blanks.

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel because he has visited and ransomed his people.

(R) He has visited me [us] in _________ [name a recent joyful or difficult situation] and I am [we are] grateful that he has given us freedom and victory.

To see the whole prayer and download it, visit gnm.org/prayers/zechariahs-canticle.

Explore our Catholic Video Library for Faith Growth

How do you want to grow your faith today? Try these Catholic videos by Good News Ministries!

• Terry & Ralph’s Good News for Today
• Quick Faith-builders with Terry Modica
• God’s Amazing Word for Miracles
• God’s Radical Love for Marriage
• Come Holy Spirit!
• Praying with Power
• How to Pray in the Power of the Holy Spirit
• Go Deeper into Holy Mass
• Take, Eat, Drink: Understanding the Catholic Mass
• How to Turn Your Crosses Into Resurrections
• Prayer Meditations

Answer to this week’s Trivia Challenge:
Which insect did John the Baptist eat in the desert? Locusts! (Crunch, crunch.)

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.