BEADS OF JOY 10-25-16
“The Kingdom of God”
©2016 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s Gospel: Luke 13:18-21 (The Kingdom of God)
“He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." And again, he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."
Reflection:
Mustard seeds and leaven, what in the world are we talking about? Well, we are talking about something that starts out small and then gets larger. In our hearts our love for God slowly develops and grows; even from the smallest curiosity of learning about Jesus we are drawn to know more. Like a seed transforms in the depths of the ground; our hearts transform in the depths of our body as our love deepens for our Lord. But like the seeds and the leaven we must tend to them, so that they will grow. Our faith is the same way, we must tend to it and nurture our whole life and then; it will always grow.
Our faith needs our nurturing and our attention if not directly, then indirectly every day. Just like seeds need water and light and the ground around it cleared of weeds and debris so that it may grow and flourish; so, to do our hearts need time, space, the light of Jesus, the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit and someone tending to it. Think about your own personal spiritual journey, most of us took the journey with someone; or because of someone or by the influencing excitement and joy of someone that had what we wanted. Chances are that person helped you grow either by example, by leading or even making sure they stayed by your side. I have many people I can think of that fill that part in my life early on. I can still think of individuals who still help me grow to this day. We never stop growing.
This is how I think of my faith, like a bicycle ride. Yes, you can pedal and coast and turn and go fast and go slow; but if you stop or fall or fail to pedal when you must, you must get back on and get going again. In other words, our faith is not something that we can just do have when we want to. Our faith, our real faith requires growth and attention and our time. To ride a bicycle, we must pay attention to the road around us, stay focused and pedal more often than we think. The pedaling I am referring to is the moving along that we must constantly do as we grow/go! Hope that makes sense. Once I wrote a parable called “The Parable of The Bicycle Rider” it’s somewhere in this blog in 2010. I know many have copied the idea since. It further explains my insight to this theory I have on the constant moving of our faith and how we must keep it flowing and moving. Our faith is alive inside us; it grows and through the power of the Holy Spirit we gain knowledge and love for Jesus. But we must tend to it daily through prayer, scripture, devotions and other spiritual nurturing. Our relationship with Jesus will require our attention, to be a true solid relationship. I am praying for all of you always, see you tomorrow.
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
**(NEW DAILY FEATURE)
Today is Tuesday: We pray the Sorrowful Mysteries:
The Sorrowful Mysteries
1. Agony on the Garden (Sorrow for sin) –Matt 26:36-46
2. Scourging at the Pillar (Purity) –Mark 15:1-16
3. Crowning with Thorns (Moral Courage) –Matt 27:27-31
4. Carrying of the Cross (Patience) –Mark 15:20-22
5. The Crucifixion (Perseverance) –Luke 23:33-46
Thank you Lord for loving us so much…
Rosary Man Jim’s Sorrowful Reflection: http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-sorrowful-mysteries_11.html
