September 18, 2021
For you this week:
- Reflection for Saturday: How critical thinking builds our trust in God
- Inside the Ministry: New courses available soon
- Explore WordBytes: How can you be sure what is God’s will?
Saturday September 18, 2021
1 Timothy 6:13-16
Psalm 100:1-5
Luke 8:4-15
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091821.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2021-09-18
Saints Calendar:
gnm.org/saints-find/saints-calendar
Some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold. (From Saturday’s Gospel reading)
Reflection for Saturday:
How critical thinking builds our trust in God
unfavorably judging them, finding fault whether it’s deserved or not. But in fact it means skillful judgment as to truth and merit, factual analysis, and clear-headed, logical, unemotional thought processes.
My husband Ralph took a similar course when he entered the Air Force after graduating from high school. It taught him how to recognize and distrust rumors and propaganda so that he would not be tricked by the enemy.
There are other critical thinking skills that we can use in addition to these, but the process must ultimately rely on how well we can hear the Holy Spirit guiding us. Is our personal relationship the Holy Spirit influencing the process?
crisismagazine.com/2021/the-non-critical-thinkers-manifesto.
Inside the Ministry: New courses available soon
A few weeks ago I met with a new volunteer. Karen lives near the GNM office and is full of enthusiasm for what we’re doing. As we discerned what her place would be in GNM, it became clear that she can serve as a curriculum developer, repurposing content we already have and turning them into courses.
Karen’s first project is “Knowing God’s Will and Doing it Well“, lifted from the pages of our most popular ebook (see catholicdr.com/e-books/knowing-gods-will) and enhancing it with prayers and videos. Please keep her in prayer as she works on this. And watch for announcements about it in this newsletter.
We’re also taking to the next level our method of offering courses. In the past, our courses have been available only at certain times of year except for a few archived courses found on our website at paracletia.net. The goal is to make all of our courses available any time to anyone. Praise the Lord, we’ve been invited to become part of the SmartCatholics Academy (smartcatholics.com/academy). On this platform, students will be able to choose a course and access each session in correct order. Session two is unlocked only when session one is completed, and so forth.
Launching in November, the SmartCatholics Academy will be the only online Catholic school of its kind — an ever-growing collection of Catholic courses from various ministries. All courses will be free.
By joining the SmartCatholics Academy, Good News Ministries will be discovered by people who haven’t heard of us yet. We’ll begin with our most popular course, Consecration to the Holy Spirit. Keep watching this newsletter for more information.
WordBytes is a library of Catholic faith-building articles by Good News Ministries. Come on in and explore! Visit WordBytes.org today.
This week’s recommendation:
How Can You Be Sure What Is God’s Will?
Discerning God’s will is not a complicated business. It is in reality, simple. It’s always available, and God always speaks in the vernacular — He speaks our language, because He wants us to hear Him. It’s His great desire that we hear Him. The complications set in when we try to hear God without doing our part to open the channels of communication. Divine guidance is God simply communicating with His children.
For more on this, visit wordbytes.org/master-needs-you/what-is-gods-will.
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
Let’s connect in GNM’s community: See you there!
Keep your eyes on Jesus!
And when you have to look at others, see them through his eyes.