Why do we find it so difficult to talk about God with other people? I am not talking about when you are at church or in a Bible study group. I am talking about general everyday life. Some find it even more difficult when it is a family member. Are we worried that we are going to offend them? Are we concerned that they are not going to like us any more. I have heard instances of people avoiding others because of their fervor for God. Isn't that the point? We should be on fire for God. We should want people to know that if they talk to us, they are going to hear something about God or at the very least get some advice that is based on God's word. This past weekend's gospel reading was about the difficulty that arises when you try to have two masters; putting things on the same level as God. Worshiping material things in place of God can cause so many problems for us. But having a conversation about these other things (sports, cars, money) is so much easier. Have you ever sat in a busy location and just listened? The conversations can be mind numbing. Especially if there has recently been a big event like the Oscars or the Super Bowl. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with talking about those things. It becomes a problem when we place them before God and our eternal life. Matthew 6:24 says, "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." It is believed that Mammon was a devil. the word mammon has come to represent riches and materialism. As we begin to think about our Lenten journey, perhaps consider this dilemma. Are you struggling with serving two masters? Making a conscious decision to focus more on God and less on you is a good start to making a change in your life.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...
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