The Daily Word
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Glorifying God
What immediately comes to mind when you hear the word “glorify?” Maybe you think about people bowing down to a superior being who if they do not worship will strike them down. Jesus tells us something very different about His Father, Our God — He is glorified when we bear fruit. What? Read or listen to find out what this means.
Click on the title for the full reflection.
“By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”John 15:8
What comes to mind when you hear the word “glorifying?” Maybe bowing down to a superior being that somehow controls our fates and saying good things to stroke his ego or make him feel good about himself. But Jesus tells us God is glorified in a different way. God is glorified by us bearing fruit and becoming disciples. What? That’s so different.
That’s because Our God is a God who loves us and who became one of us to bring us to Himself. This God of ours is one who wants not our empty words but rather our open hearts. Think about that for a second. God is glorified when we are thriving and doing well and living life to the fullest. What does that tell us about God? I’ll let you think about that yourself.
As Christians we can glorify God by bearing fruit, and we can do this by living out our call and being faithful disciples — not just going to Church (which is important!) but also living out our faith during the week. Am I kind? Am I generous? Do I gossip? Do I harbor grudges? Am I happy? Am I at peace? Am I anxious about many things? A good sign that tells me I’m doing alright is when I am always grateful, even in the face of difficulties and struggles. Gratitude for me is the measuring stick. When I find myself going towards the other end and growing impatient and upset, I stop and say a quick prayer, “Lord, remind me that you’re in control. Thank you, Jesus.” Maybe you can try it too.
How can you glorify God by your life today?
Worth the Pain
What are we willing to suffer for? Who are we willing to suffer for? St. Paul was stoned and left to die because He kept talking about someone he loved and was in love with — Jesus. St. Paul was in love with Jesus and the Gospel, are we? If we say we are, are we willing to die for Him? To be in love does not mean to be romantically interested, but rather in love with Love itself — God. Is Jesus and the Gospel worth the pain to us?
Click on the title for the full reflection.
“They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the Kingdom of God.’”Acts 14:22
Have you ever done something you really wanted to do while knowing that you’ll have to pay for it later? Maybe going skiing for the first time in years knowing full well that the next day you’ll feel pain all over? Or staying up late with a group of old friends talking and hanging out even though you have an early and long day in the morning? Or maybe leaving someone or letting someone go as much as it pains you because you know it’s what they need and will help them in the long run? We make sacrifices for the things and people we love, even when it hurts us. What or who is worth the pain to you?
St. Paul was stoned and dragged into the streets and was left there to die. For what? For proclaiming the truth, for telling others about Jesus. That is how much he was in love with the Gospel. Not just love but in love. Brothers and sisters, we may “love” many things — food, movies, hobbies, etc., but we probably won’t be willing to get beat up and left for dead for them, right? But we are willing to get beat up and left for dead for someone who we are in love with or who is in love with us. Then and only then will we be willing to lay down our lives. St. Paul believed that Jesus and the Gospel was worth the pain. Jesus believed that His apostles, even though they fled and abandoned Him, and we are worth the pain and suffering He endured. Is Christ and the Gospel worth the pain to us?
We can say that we love Jesus, but are we in love with Him — of course not in the romantic sense of the word? Are we so in love with God and the Gospel that we are willing to endure pain for suffering for Him? Oh, also, the Gospel is not a thing or a book, it is a Person, the Gospel is Jesus Himself, the Word made flesh. When we spend time with Scripture, we are spending time with Jesus. When we proclaim and spread the Good News, we are bearing Christ to them, and that is why we are called Christians.
St. Paul and Jesus believed that we were worth the pain. Do we? St. Paul told the people, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Are we willing and ready?
Just a Reminder
Sometimes we need reminders about the things that have become routine in our lives, and unfortunately sometimes one of those “things” is our faith. St. Paul reminded the people who they were and who Jesus was and what He did for them. In the Gospel of John, Jesus told Thomas that He is the way, and the truth, and the life and reminded Philip that if anyone sees Him, they see the Father too. God gives us many of these “friendly reminders” throughout the day, but do we see them?
Click on the title for the full reflection.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord; Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
John 14:6b, 9c
St. Paul offers us a “friendly reminder” today on the Feast of Sts. Philip and James: “By the way, remember, Jesus died for your sins, rose from the dead, and appeared to many people!” When something has been said to us over and over again, it may become routine and a given and we really don’t pay much mind to it. It can dangerously be the same with God, too. We can hear about God every Sunday at Church, and then not really think about Him or even pray throughout the week. Our faith can become routine, and when it becomes routine, it becomes weak, and when it becomes weak, our faith can be snatched away from us, like the seeds that were sown on the road. Don’t let that happen.
After Jesus told Thomas that He is the way, and the truth, and the life, and that no one can go to the Father except through Him, Philip requested of Jesus, “Show us the Father and that will be enough.” Philip had forgotten that Jesus had taught Him that the Father is in Him and He in the Father. So Jesus gave Philip a “friendly reminder.” “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” What does that mean?
Have you seen Jesus before? “How?” you ask? We encounter the Lord in the Scriptures, in the Breaking of Bread, in the Eucharist, in Creation, and in one another. We have seen Jesus, and so we have seen the Father too. But if we allow these things to become routine, our view of Jesus will become blurrier by the day. Pay attention to the daily reminders that God gives to you throughout the day. Stay close to Him. Just a reminder: Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life, and as long as we are with Him, we cannot go wrong.
