RICH TOWARDS GOD

...Rich toward God. Luke 12:21

We're supposed to offer God our acts of service, but the gift He desires most is us. Think of Jesus' last conversation with His friend Peter. Peter was so human: he followed Jesus, learned from Him, served Him, doubted Him, misunderstood Him, praised Him and denied Him. Yet Jesus' final question to His friend was relational: 'Peter, do you love Me?' Three times He asked Peter that question. St. Augustine said all ethics could be summed up in this: 'Love God, and do what you will,' for when you love God you'll want to do what God loves. Though flawed like the Psalmist, you can say, 'I delight to do Your will, O my God...' (Psalm 40:8 NKJV). God created us so that He could be with us. In Eden He came and walked with the man and woman He had made, just to be with them. When He formed the nation of Israel He said, 'I will walk among you and be your God...' (Leviticus 26:12 NKJV). Heaven announced the birth of Jesus, '...they shall call His name "Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us"' (Matthew 1:23 NKJV). It's as if God says each morning, 'I'd like to spend this day with you.' One author writes: 'I can't make myself love God, but I can come to know Him better. And because God is love, the more I come to know Him, the more my love for Him will grow. Love is a by-product of knowing. So I can spend this day loving God. And tomorrow I can seek to love Him a little more.' That's what it means to be 'rich towards God.'
UCB WORD FOR TODAY-7Nov09

St John Mary Vianney Quotes

 St John Mary Vianney Quotes Favourites

"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man."

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world and its pleasures."

"Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains."

"Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself."

"Man is a beggar who needs to ask God for everything."

"When our hands have touched spices, they give fragrance to all they handle. Let us make our prayers pass through the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will make them fragrant."

"All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone - for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good. "

"You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions."

"Upon receiving Holy Communion, the Adorable Blood of Jesus Christ really flows in our veins and His Flesh is really blended with ours."

"We should consider those moments spent before the Blessed Sacrament as the happiest of our lives."

"I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master."

"If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man. The miser would run no more after his treasures, or the ambitious after glory; each would shake off the dust of the earth, leave the world, and fly away towards heaven."

"When we go before the Blessed Sacrament, let us open our heart; our good God will open His. We shall go to Him; He will come to us; the one to ask, the other to receive. It will be like a breath from one to the other."

"Christian wife! Follow in the footsteps of the ideal of all womanhood, the Blessed Mother of God; in joy and in sorrow, she will be your advocate at the throne of her Son."

DON'T JUST SAY IT, ENFORCE IT ! - Hebrews 12:6

...those whom the Lord loves He disciplines... Hebrews 12:6
The Bible asks: 'What kind of father is it who doesn't correct his son?' Answer: 'Not much of a father!' We don't know if that's how Eli, the High Priest, got started with Hophni and Phinehas, his two sons. We simply read, '...his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them' (1 Samuel 3:13 NKJV). Perhaps Eli heard about the terrible things his sons were doing and said, 'Now, boys, you know you shouldn't do that.' And the boys said, 'Yes, Daddy,' then went right back to defrauding the worshippers who came to the temple and seducing the women. The issue wasn't that Eli didn't tell his children the right things; it's that he didn't enforce what he was telling them. No doubt you don't know of any parents who tell their children, 'Go rob a bank, ten or twenty years in prison will do you good.' No, those parents probably said all the right things. A lot of prison inmates' parents said the right things too. But what's missing in so much well-intentioned parenting is enforcement. Eli was not enforcing the truth, he was only stating it. He didn't pull his boys from their posts and strip them of their privileges. He let them keep doing it; while telling them they ought not to do it. Parent, don't just say something; do something! If your children are going astray and you keep quiet, you're sparing yourself and sacrificing them. The most caring thing you can do as a parent is to discipline your children in love.

(UCB Word For Today 1Nov09)

RESILIENT PEOPLE - 2 Corinthians 4:8

Resilient people (1)

'We are hard pressed.' 2 Corinthians 4:8
When a back injury paralysed Angela Madsen from the waist down, she vowed to do whatever it took to get back up. As a result she started training to be the first woman with a disability to row across the Atlantic. Journalist Denise Foley writes: 'Madsen is what researchers call 'resilient - able to rebound from whatever life brings. She's one of those people who make us wonder how we'd fare if our mettle were tested. Would we bounce back?' Paul writes, 'We are hard pressed...but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.' Resilient people: 1) Take control of their lives: Drs. Steven & Sybil Wolin write, 'It's easy to blame others for your problems and wait till they fix them. But then you never get to rise to the occasion...When you see yourself as a problem-solver life goes very differently. Identify your strengths. Recall those moments when you triumphed over adversity. Focus on what you can influence instead of what you can't.' 2) Surround themselves with the right people: The Psalmist said, 'They...treated me badly all my life, but they have not defeated me' (Psalm 129:2 NCV). Ned Hallowell grew up with a bipolar father, an abusive stepfather, an alcoholic mother, and two learning disabilities - a history that's often a precursor to jail or a mental institution. Today he's a prominent psychiatrist, a happily-married father and a successful author. It happened largely because at boarding school he attached himself to teachers who cared about him and took him under their wing. So in tough times, lean on God, take control of your life, and surround yourself with the right people.



Resilient people (2)

'We are hard pressed.' 2 Corinthians 4:8
Two other traits resilient people share are: 1) They allow pain to spur growth: At the peak of her career when photographer Linda Joy Montgomery learned she was going blind, an inner voice said, 'This isn't the end; it's the beginning.' She began writing poetry, discovered her calling as a motivational speaker and created the True Vision Institute, teaching kids to tap into their inner resources. The Bible says: 'Though good people may be bothered by trouble...they are never defeated' (Proverbs 24:16 NCV). Finding purpose in your pain isn't a new idea. Survivours of life-threatening illnesses, natural disasters and the Holocaust, and parents of chronically ill children continually demonstrate how over-comers find the proverbial silver lining by reinventing themselves. Paul talks about being 'battered by troubles, but...not demoralised...thrown down, but [not] broken' (2 Corinthians 4:8 TM). Meeting challenges helps develop confidence and a can-do attitude that says: 'I've been there, done that, and I'll survive.' Michael Jordan once said, 'I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career...lost over 300 games...26 times I've been trusted to make the game-winning shot, and missed. I've tried and failed over and over again. That's why I succeed.' 2) They insist on changing what they can: Paul says: 'Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord' (Ephesians 6:8 NKJV). Workers digging through the rubble to help rescue survivours of the Oklahoma City bombing, though understandably distressed, showed fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder later on. In concentration camps POW's who routinely gave away their last morsel, proved that you can choose your attitude in any given set of circumstances. How? By drawing strength from God and learning to control the one thing you can control - yourself.