Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Read It:
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

Reflect on It: Do we truly always do what is pleasing to the Lord? This is a hard question in the midst of our lives...are we doing what is truly, truly pleasing to him. Often, we are living in our own sinfulness, living the way that we choose, without ever considering what is pleasing to the Lord. As we approach holy week, THE holiest week of the year, are we sacrificing that which is pleasing to the Father? Are we offering alms? Are we praying, not simply to pray, but to show the Lord our dependence on him? The Jesuits have a saying: Ad majorem Dei gloriam, which means for the Greater Glory of God. I love this saying and I try to live it daily. Are we truly living for the greater glory of God?

Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, may I do for you only those things that are pleasing and that give you glory.

Reflect on It: Do something today that is PLEASING to the Lord...this is some type of unselfish sacrifice for someone else. Having a servant's attitude pleases the Lord.