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Omnibus.........
“Make your fellowship simple and easy.”
By: O.T. Rebla
G'day. Whenever there's a prayer meeting at our place my spouse always prepares a hot meal for the fellowship. Both of us work so at times the food is not ready when members arrived. My spouse goes back and forth to the kitchen in the middle of our praise and worship to check the food being cooked.
We Filipinos are well known for being a good host and hospitable, but hospitality is a gift but not up to making ourselves anxious and worried in preparing the meal to be served.
The only way to "choose the better part" is to slow down and force ourselves to make opportunities to sit with Jesus and remain quietly in his presence, not moving from our prayer chair until we've become fortified and recharged by God.
Let me share with you this reflection I received today, 6 Oct 2009, that relates to the reading of St. Luke 10:38-42.
Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
October 6, 2009
Quiet time with Jesus
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus gently reprimands Martha, not because he’s against hospitality (Martha's gift), but because she has lost her perspective. She stopped looking at her Lord as she focused on the details of her activities.
Although an activity might be very good, if we forget the Lord we’re serving and we neglect to slow down for quiet time to build our relationship with him, we're setting ourselves up for burn-out and wrong decisions and sin.
Hospitality is a gift we give to God. Working to support our families is also a gift for God. So is scrubbing floors, cooking scrumptious meals, and (I find this one hard to believe) ironing clothes. Serving in our parishes and towns, raising our children, reaching out to the poor, helping to prevent abortions, working against social injustices, etc., are all Godly activities. BUT not when we get so busy that we don’t have time to sit quietly at the feet of Jesus.
Watching the news on TV without keeping our eyes on Jesus can cause anxiety and fear. Trudging through problems or unpleasant tasks or difficult relationships without quieting ourselves to become aware of the presence and guidance of Jesus causes frustration and upset and despair.
If we are upset about details, if we feel anxious, fearful, worried, or confused, then we've not been sitting at the feet of Jesus long enough. These negative emotions are warnings. They are also chinks in our armour, i.e., the Armour of God that we Christians have been given to wear – they are holes of vulnerability that the Enemy uses to pull us even farther away from the feet of Jesus.
No Christian has any valid reason to be in fear or anxiety. In fact, it’s a sin (when it's a free will choice, which is different than anxiety attacks that indicate a need for medical and/or psychological help). It's a sin when it occurs because we've wandered away from
Jesus and his wisdom and his renewing strength and his peace. Compounding the sin, we inflict our bad mood upon others
and send it rippling out into the world.
The only way to "choose the better part" is to slow down and force ourselves to make opportunities to sit with Jesus and remain quietly in his presence, not moving from our prayer chair until we've become fortified and recharged by God.
Whenever a new opportunity to worry comes along, Jesus is waiting for you, arms open, hoping that you will stop long enough to be blessed by his love.
Bye for now 'til next time.
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"There is nothing that you can do or say that will make God love you any more or any less...He just LOVES."
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