Scripture:

"All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
for it is by His boundless mercy that God has given us the
privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful
expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.
For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for His
children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,
beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in His
mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation,
because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last
day for all to see. So be truly glad! There is wonderful
joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many
trials for a while." NLT (I Peter 1:3-6)

Reflection:

You know whenever I'm feeling really down, when I let so many
things get to me, whenever things seem to be closing in on me,
I think about these three versus from Peter. When I gave my
life to Jesus Christ, I began to realize that I have a joyful future.
I've been Saved! You see I don't have to live a life of depression,
or die in deep despair. I don't need to go through life thinking
that all the problems, the trials, and the evilness that I have
seen and experienced is going to be the sum total of my life.
First of all there is joy in life now, I have discovered by helping
and serving others because of the teachings and love that I
experience through my savior Jesus Christ brings me real
joy yes real joy. And to absolutely know there is real joy
ahead being reserved as a priceless inheritance for me
through my savior Jesus Christ that I am going to live
forever with my savior not only brings me joy if gives me
a future. I have an eternal future because I love Jesus Christ
You know you can have the same kind of future and you
can have the same kind of joy. Really it's simple "Just
Believe", look to God and tell Him I want to have a future,
I want to know real joy in my life, I'm tired of all the mess in
and around my life, I want to know there is an answer. And
let that answer be Jesus Christ. LET CHRIST IN.

Prayer:
Oh God thank You for Your Grace, I love you, Thank
You for being there for me always. I do believe and will
always believe. THANK YOU GOD FOR BEING GOD!

Quote

St. Claire of Assisi
Spiritual Teacher and Guide, Political and Religious Peacemaker
(1193-1223)
"Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road.
Go forth without fear, for He that created you has sanctified
you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother."

Scripture:

"Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do
and then not do it." James 5: 17 (NLT)

Reflection:

Boy that verse sure makes you think. Doesn't it.
This definition of sin is one we seem to forget.
We sometimes find ourselves walking around
making all kinds of judgment about what sin is.
You see our definition of sin is usually centered
around knowing when something is wrong and doing it.
But it is also a sin to know when something is right
and not do it. For example Jesus teaches to love
our neighbors, to love our enemies. We know that
is what we ought to do, do we do it? As a country
do we love our neighbors, do we love our enemies?
As a person do I love the people at work? Do I treat
them with respect and kindness, no matter how they
treat me? You see we know what we ought to do,
we just don't do it! How can we look at people who
are suffering, who are hurting, who feel real pain, people
who are angry, who are depressed, people who are in
desperate need of love, knowing what we ought to do
and not do it. THAT IS SIN!
Brothers and sisters, this is our sin, why don't we see
it, others do. People look at us, who call ourselves
Christian, and all they see is so called righteous people,
who sit in judgment. You know we are righteous people,
in other words we know what is right we just don't do anything
about it. Remember the opposite of love is not hate, it's
apathy. How do you make Christians care, how do you make
Christians get off their butts and do something. I don't know!
I do know I love Jesus Christ with all my heart, with all my soul,
with all my mine. Jesus taught me not to judge others but to
serve others. Jesus taught me to turn the other cheek not swing
the other fist. Jesus taught me a faith of action, not of apathy.
Jesus taught me what needed to be done and to do it. When,
as Christians, are we going to understand, that knowing what
ought to be done and sitting back on our butts and not doing it,
is a sin. AMEN!

Quote:

Emily Greene Balch
Leader of The Women's International League for Peace
and Freedom, Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (1867-1961)

"We have a long way to go. So let us hasten along the road,
the road of human tenderness and generosity. Groping,
we may find one another's hands in the dark."

Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love
Where there is injury . . . pardon
Where there is doubt . . . faith
Where there is despair . . . hope
Where there is darkness . . . light
Where there is sadness . . . joy
O, Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled . . . as to console
To be understood . . . as to understand,
To be loved . . . as to love
For it is in giving . . . that we receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life.

Scripture:
Be submissive to those who are older. All of you, cloth
yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes
the proud but gives grace to the humble."
-- 1 Peter 5:5

Reflection:

In my ministry I discovered that I loved to do one very
special thing. I loved to work with our senior citizens.
What an honor and privilege it was for me to be able
not only to give but to receive so much. These folks
were what I called my warm fuzzies of my ministry.
They were amazing people. They were my source
of wisdom. Whenever I had a problem or a need within
the church I always consulted the older and wiser
members of my congregation. If I ever needed a friend
I could always count on the older members to be there
for me. There is no way I could ever give as much as
I received from them. There is a reason that in todays
verse there is a discussion of submission to the older
and grace to the humble. You see that is where I learned
real humility, I learned to be humble from my senior friends,
and family.

Thought:
The word "submissive" is often positive or negative based on its
relationship to us personally. It's nice having someone serve us
submissively, but serving someone else submissively is hard work.
Unfortunately, we are selfish way too much of the time. But God is
at work in direct opposition to anyone who is full of pride and
unwilling to serve others, especially if those "others" are older
believers! Whether it's easy to wear the clothes our Father demands
or not, we are to intentionally clothe ourselves with humility!

Prayer:

Lord please keep me humble. Give me the strength to serve and
to do it with a good heart. Thank You for the wisdom of seniors
and the love that I may share with them. THANK YOU GOD FOR
BEING GOD. In Jesus name amen.

Quote:

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Pacifist Abolitionist, Feminist, Poet (1825-1911)

"I ask no monument, proud and high, to arrest the
gaze of passersby. All that my yearning spirit craves,
is bury me not in a land of slaves."

Scripture:

"Then He asked them, " Who do you say I am?
Simon Peter answered, ' You are the Messiah (Christ),
the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16: 15,16) NLT

Reflection:

That is quit an answer to an obviously important question.
The power that this Christ has had for over 2,000 years
is unbelievable. The belief in Jesus has withstood
that same question all this time. And we still ask the
question "Who is Jesus of Nazareth?", and you know
something, everything, I mean everything, depends
on our answer!
Peter didn't leave the answer that Jesus is the Messiah,
he further stated that Jesus the Messiah is the Son
of the living God! In a world which asks the question
is God alive or dead, this is quit a response. Peter
certainly didn't try to give a water downed answer.
He answered a direct question with a direct answer.
"You are Christ the Son of the living God." Peter
really didn't understand the whole meaning of his
statement, But I think he certainly made a great start.
Please know this, that if you love Him with all your being,
you will not lose in the end, but will receive a great
gain. Are you ready to make that start in your life,
to give your entire being to Jesus the Christ the Son
of the living God. I hope so, because you are in for
the greatest experience of life, the experience of
Jesus Christ.

Prayer:

Father God thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ.
I want Jesus in my life, I want to experience the
fullness of Christ. I want to experience Jesus
Christ the Son of the living God. THANK YOU
GOD FOR BEING GOD in the name of Jesus
Christ the Son of the living God AMEN!

Quote:
Jane Addams Advocate for the Poor and Homeless
Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (1860-1935)
"The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain...
until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life."

O Guardian of Israel,
Our shelter and shade,
Stir up in us that flame of justice
That Jesus incited on this earth,
That rages in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

O arouse in us
That very flame of righteousness
That enticed Martin
To be a living sacrifice of praise,
To seek freedom for all God's children.

O to you, God, ever faithful and true,
Be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

- Attributed to J. Glenn Murray, SJ