The responsorial psalm sums up very well the entire message of the prayers and readings of today's Mass. The Lord is kind and merciful, and we are to be more like Him. On this last Sunday of Ordinary Time before the beginning of the season of Lent, we are reminded that we shall "bear the image of the Man of heaven", and we are challenged to become His image here on earth by truly loving ALL those that God puts into our lives.
He says to those that will hear that we must love our enemies. I've had a hard time thinking of how to put this into practice. I would rather think that I don't have any enemies. "How could anyone hate me?" I wonder. Yet, I have to admit, there just may be people out there who would wish harm on even little ol' me. And when God allows me to come into contact with such people, I must be prepared to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and to offer all for the salvation of souls.
We went to the vigil Mass this weekend, since I wasn't sure how much snow we were supposed to get overnight. (It turned out we only got about two inches, but better safe than sorry!) I stayed up later than I have in a long time, well past midnight. Before I went to bed I turned off my alarm, fully intending to sleep in and just let our morning routine fall apart. This was quite a bit of laziness and selfishness on my part, and I should have known better. Just a few days ago I read this article at Spirit Daily about the importance of giving the first of your time in the morning to God. I knew God was sending me an important message: NO MORE SNOOZE BUTTON! So, early this morning, my dear Guardian Angel not only woke me up, but made sure I had the motivation to get out of bed. (I was wondering why I was so thirsty right before turning in!) Once I was up, I didn't feel like going back to bed, so I sat with my breviary and prayed the Morning Prayer. Not surprisingly, today has gone well. God is kind and merciful; He wanted me to have a good day today despite my best efforts to spoil it before it even started. I can just see Him shaking His head and musing, "Will she ever learn?"
One final note, today is Chuck's Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! "Somebody" took your card out to the mailbox on Saturday, but forgot to put up the flag. So your birthday card, with pictures, will go out in the mail on Tuesday. Sorry it will be so late, but know that we are missing you and praying for you on your birthday!
God bless!
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2 comments:
(Hey! I didn't know we could post comments!!!)
Jennifer, I've said before how you amaze me that you pick up on things I've said where no one else gets it and here it is again. I don't know that you got this one from me although I did include it in an article I wrote for FoG a while back: NO SNOOZE ALARM!!!
Here is that part of that article:
And while we are on the subject of sleep, how do you get up in the morning? Hit a few snoozes? Let me quote St. Josemaria Escriva, “Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a set time, without granting a single minute to laziness. If, with the help of God, you conquer yourself in that moment, you’ll have accomplished a great deal for the rest of the day.”
It’s ironic that we should have trouble with this. Most people use the snooze button the exact same way every single day. They need to get up by 7:00 at the latest but they set their alarm to 6:30. Then they proceed to wake up every time the alarm goes off and hit the snooze again. After half an hour of sleep, broken up by all those snooze alarms, they finally get up at 7:00 just like always. If, instead, they would set their alarm for 7:00 and get up on the dot, they would have that extra half hour of sleep but without all those interruptions! Decide what time you need to get up, set the alarm for that time, and when the alarm goes off, obey!
God bless!
John Hoerig
+ Jesus, we trust in You +
Thank you Jennifer for the Birthday Greeting!! I'll look forward receiving the pictures!!!
My alarm goes off at 4:30, and I rarely hit the snooze. I enjoy the 30 minutes in prayer, scripture reading, talking or some days just listening. But, it's kinda funny, although I'm up 3 hours before having to be at work, I'm always late.
--Love, Mom
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