O God, who manifest Your almighty power
by pardoning and showing mercy
bestow we pray, Your grace abundantly upon us,
and make those hastening attain your promises
heirs to the treasures of Heaven.
In making this prayer tangible for during the week the following reflection questions emerged:
1. What does it mean to me to be pardoned by God?
2. How does God show mercy to me in my life?
3. What grace do I want God to bestow on me this coming week?
4. What does it mean to me to be an heir to God's kingdom?
5. What difference being an heir to the Kingdom make in my life this week?
6. What are the treasures of Heaven and how will these treasures manifest themselves this coming week in my life?
In today's Gospel we have 2 sons response to the father- one says yes straightaway but does not go into the vineyard and the other says no but later thinks the better of it and goes. It should be pointed out here that in the Jewish tradition that elders were respected, especially parents. So, to say no to the parent was indeed disrespectful and hurtful. The son who initially said no to his father was therefore being incredibly disrespectful and hurtful to the father.
Today's gospel is therefore about lip service and heart service. How do we respond to God? Is it lip service- do we go to Mass or say our prayers with our lips whilst our heart is lukewarm at best?
Do we respond to God with our whole heart, soul and mind? Hopefully it is the second one.!!
Still, we are human, so we can get distracted, we can become lukewarm and we can even offend God by our sins. Jesus, through the sacrament of reconciliation/penance or confessions provides us with the remedy of confessing our sinfulness and being absolved. When we say no to God, in its many forms, we can be absolved and start again if we are truly sorry. We can also receive healing and grace from the sacrament through regular reception of the sacrament. So whether we have received the sacrament yesterday/today or it has been the ice age since we used this sacrament, we can say yes to God again with our whole heart and mind and through the sacrament be refreshed, renewed and forgiven.
Will YOU say YES to God?
In today's Gospel we have 2 sons response to the father- one says yes straightaway but does not go into the vineyard and the other says no but later thinks the better of it and goes. It should be pointed out here that in the Jewish tradition that elders were respected, especially parents. So, to say no to the parent was indeed disrespectful and hurtful. The son who initially said no to his father was therefore being incredibly disrespectful and hurtful to the father.
Today's gospel is therefore about lip service and heart service. How do we respond to God? Is it lip service- do we go to Mass or say our prayers with our lips whilst our heart is lukewarm at best?
Do we respond to God with our whole heart, soul and mind? Hopefully it is the second one.!!
Still, we are human, so we can get distracted, we can become lukewarm and we can even offend God by our sins. Jesus, through the sacrament of reconciliation/penance or confessions provides us with the remedy of confessing our sinfulness and being absolved. When we say no to God, in its many forms, we can be absolved and start again if we are truly sorry. We can also receive healing and grace from the sacrament through regular reception of the sacrament. So whether we have received the sacrament yesterday/today or it has been the ice age since we used this sacrament, we can say yes to God again with our whole heart and mind and through the sacrament be refreshed, renewed and forgiven.
Will YOU say YES to God?
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