Last week we asked about the accusation of Jesus dining with tax collectors and sinners, and His response was: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13). How might this connect with our current reflection on devotion?
It is Catholic teaching that we are saved by faith and works (see James 2:14-26). However, this reflection shows us that our works are supposed to be more than a mere legalistic adherence to rules. Therefore, what does this mean (as stated above) that a strict observance of law “is not enough for those who wish to follow the example of Jesus”? What is “enough”? Is there a threshold that God looks for, a scale by which God measures our eternal destiny? –
: Often you might hear someone speak of salvation in Jesus as a gift freely given without any “works” on our part, that all we must do is accept Jesus in faith and we are guaranteed salvation. However, what we see here is a demand greater than mere “works.” How might we share with someone that this Catholic attitude is not a matter of “earning salvation”?In connection with the previous question, how do we nevertheless connect the realities that salvation is a free gift from God (see Ephesians 2:8; Galatians
Misericordia0300 (guest): true devotion is doing the will of God…
Mar 8 2015, 7:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): And if the Lord “desires mercy, not sacrifice” then our devotion should be life-giving as we approach the Lord, just as a vocation could be life-giving
Mar 8 2015, 7:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes Misericordia- the will of God is everything!
7:11 PM
Anne M: Everything
Mar 8 2015, 7:12 PM
SrSusan (guest): But discovering His Will is not always easy for everyone
12 PM
Lisa C: Do we discover it ourselves or ask the Holy Spirit to tell us what it is?
Judy K: Hi Everyone! Wow, these were tough questions to answer. You know the answer within yourself, but trying to put it into words is another thing. I hope I have succeeded.
Mar 8 2015, 7:13 PM
SrSusan (guest): It’s best that the Holy Spirit reveal it to you
Mar 8 2015, 7:13 PM
Anne M: But first, His will is for us to follow Him where ever, no matter what.
Mar 8 2015, 7:13 PM
SrSusan (guest): I agree Judy- they were pretty deep- did you prepare your responses
14 PM
Judy K: I sure did.
6 PM
Lisa C: Yes, Sister
Mar 8 2015, 7:16 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Acceptance to suffering… is the surest way to know God’s will
Mar 8 2015, 7:16 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): I can attest to that…
r 8 2015, 7:17 PM
Judy K: The first question seeks a connection between this week’s thoughts and last week’s. Essentially, both call us to go beyond what is expected. Sacrifice must be accompanied by mercy. Just as faith must be accompanied by works. 7:18 PM
Judy K: As we mentioned last week, sacrifice can be empty, or made grudgingly. Mercy must come from the heart.
SrSusan (guest): Hi Karen! Yes, it is the fullness of love in the heart that the Lord wants us to strive for, whatever we are doing
7:19 PM
Karen P: Hello everyone!
Mar 8 2015, 7:19 PM
Lisa C: I think it comes down to the free gift of salvation coming to us as grace and then we accept that grace= our faith, then as a result of the faith, i.e. if it is real…we do works for God…by submitting to His will….doing work He prepared for us….not our own work….allowing Him to work in us
:20 PM
Anne M: Yes
Mar 8 2015, 7:20 PM
SrSusan (guest): True- and we freely give in return, whether it is “works of mercy” or time in prayer
21 PM
Lisa C: It all belongs to God and is the work of the HS…not of us
Mar 8 2015, 7:21 PM
SrSusan (guest): All still flowing from His grace and help
Mar 8 2015, 7:21 PM
Lisa C: We just consent to it
7:21 PM
Judy K: Faith alone is not enough although it is the first essential. However in Matt. 25, Jesus tells us that our good works that flow from our faith are necessary for entry into the Kingdom. More is expected of us than simply observing the “thou shalt nots” of the Commandments. :22 PM
Lisa C: Like Blessed Mother allowed God to work in her by accepting the grace He was sending to her and then she was an essential part of salvation by working with HimPM
Judy K: It is impossible to earn salvation. We could wear ourselves out doing good works. But without the death and resurrection of Jesus. our works would be like sand that is blown away. PM
Karen P: When I was protestant, I was taught that we were saved by grace alone. I have this discussion with my son often. I do believe that Jesus’s death was enough to provide the grace to save me, but I also believe Jesus meant it when he said we should love one another. So I think it takes both. Otherwise one could have faith that they were saved and still be unkind, uncharitable, and unmerciful.
Mar 8 2015, 7:24 PM
SrSusan (guest): God’l life in us, Jesus’Heart living within us, is the formation of our inner being that is most necessary
Mar 8 2015, 7:24 PM
Lisa C: Colossians 1 9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and
Mar 8 2015, 7:24 PM
SrSusan (guest): If He lives in us, He does His works in and through us, for us and for others
Mar 8 2015, 7:24 PM
Lisa C: giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
7:25 PM
Karen P: It is Jesus working through me that allows me to do anything that is loving to others without my own motives sneaking in. 26 PM
Lisa C: Romans 74 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Mar 8 2015, 7:26 PM
SrSusan (guest): Sometimes when He works thru us, we may even be surprised by what we find ourselves doing for another,
7:26 PM
Karen P: He does give us the gift of salvation freely and with no strings, and I agree with others who have said that I then want to do good works because I have been given grace.
7 PM
Anne M: Oh, that’s right, Sister. Sometimes He just seems to give us words for others. And we just say “where’d that come from”
Mar 8 2015, 7:27 PM
SrSusan (guest): Exactly Anne. And Salvation, as well as vocation, is a free gift of God
Anne M: Amen. Thanks be to God.
Mar 8 2015, 7:28 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Hello Sister and everyone!
Mar 8 2015, 7:28 PM
Anne M: Hi Alice
Mar 8 2015, 7:28 PM
SrSusan (guest): Given His work within us, then what role does devotion play?
M
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
Lisa C: I have been reading the Life of Mary as Seen by The Mystics this week, and what strikes me the most is how humble she is.
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
Anne M: Staying with the Lord.
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
SrSusan (guest): Ah yes, Humility
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
Karen P: I have always understood that when Christ came, he did not do away with the old commandments, but in giving us the commandment to love one another – this commandment embodied all the previous ones in the way that God had intended. (Rather than the way that they had been interpreted and added to.)
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
Lisa C: She was totally willing to accept anything God sent and never felt worthy
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
Anne M: Perservering
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Anne M: That’s a great book, Lisa
Mar 8 2015, 7:29 PM
Judy K: The final question asks how we connect the realities that salvation is a free gift from God and yet something that are supposed to merit. The best way I can think of to explain it that by His death and resurrection, Jesus gives us a bank account of $1,000,000. It is up to us to increase it by what we do with our lives.
7:30 PM
Lisa C: She is like a tabernacle and just lets God be in her and rule her
Mar 8 2015, 7:31 PM
Judy K: To fail to do so, would decrease the account.
Mar 8 2015, 7:31 PM
SrSusan (guest): Do you think the question is sound theologically?
Mar 8 2015, 7:31 PM
Carol Ann: Hi Everyone! How are you all?
Mar 8 2015, 7:31 PM
SrSusan (guest): Good!
7:31 PM
Karen P: Devotion would then be trying to live in a way that we embody what Christ told us to do and to follow his example. Being devoted to Christ and loving others as the outward sign of this. 31 PM
Anne M: I’ve been getting into the Old Testament this week. When in Babylon captivity for 70 years, as God said, they lived, married, worked. After they were released, only 1/2 of them returned to Jerusalem. :31 PM
Anne M: They didn’t stay with the Lord, but chose their own comforts… instead5, 7:32 PM
Anne M: They fell away and were not devoted to the Lord
Mar 8 2015, 7:32 PM
SrSusan (guest): So staying with the Lord is their way and perhaps ours of showing our dedication to Him
3 PM
Carol Ann: I often wonder why those who stayed in Babylon did that. Were they afraid? Did they think Jerusalem would be conquered again by someone worse than the Babylonians?
Mar 8 2015, 7:33 PM
Karen P: Anne – the Hebrew people had an interesting history of captivity followed by being saved followed by captivity followed by being saved that repeated over again several times through the old testament. They would cry out to God, then seem to get to the point that they forgot how much they needed him and loved him.
Mar 8 2015, 7:33 PM
Anne M: After 70 years they inter married, were prosperous with work. They chose their own interests and adapted to the culture…
Mar 8 2015, 7:34 PM
Judy K: But I think that we are being told to do more that just stay with Him. We could spend our whole lives sitting at His feet and drinking in His words. But we would not be fulfilling His will and meeting the needs of others.
Mar 8 2015, 7:34 PM
Lisa C: Sr. Susan, I am not sure that staying with the Lord is enough, we have to have a manifestation of being with Him or else we are not really devoted
Mar 8 2015, 7:34 PM
Lisa C: Faith without works is dead
4 PM
Lisa C: Sr. Susan, I am not sure that staying with the Lord is enough, we have to have a manifestation of being with Him or else we are not really devoted
Mar 8 2015, 7:34 PM
Lisa C: Faith without works is dead
Mar 8 2015, 7:34 PM
Karen P: I agree that there is more than just staying. Dutiful worship without true love and devotion would seem empty.
Mar 8 2015, 7:34 PM
SrSusan (guest): Is prayer a “work”?
Mar 8 2015, 7:35 PM
Anne M: Staying with Him, Judy, in that we remain devoted to Him first
Mar 8 2015, 7:35 PM
Lisa C: yes it is sister
7:35 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, prayer is a work
Mar 8 2015, 7:35 PM
Karen P: prayer is a work that is fruitful!
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Karen P: I think I like your thinking, Lisa!
Mar 8 2015, 7:36 PM
SrSusan (guest): Here’s where we move into “vocation” again. Most vocations include a reaching out to others, some more, some less so
Mar 8 2015, 7:36 PM
Anne M: How can we let him work through us, if we fall away from him. Like the Hebrews
Mar 8 2015, 7:36 PM
Carol Ann: Prayer is the anchor for all other works
, 7:36 PM
Judy K: Yes, I think that prayer is a work. It is putting forth an effort to communicate with the Lord. There are times when it is a true labor of love and there are times when it seems like more of a form of agony.
Mar 8 2015, 7:37 PM
Karen P: Praying for others is also a way of reaching out, I think.
7 PM
Karen P: Through prayer, others may be sent to work with those in need, and through prayer, the Holy Spirit may prepare someone to receive help.
Mar 8 2015, 7:37 PM
Judy K: Yes, Karen it is. I think that it is included in the spiritual works of mercy–to pray for the living and the dead.
38 PM
SrSusan (guest): That’s what grounds a contemplative vocation in authenticity. It is always easier to see the “fruits: in a more apostolic way of life.
Mar 8 2015, 7:39 PM
Karen P: Prayer would support those in vocations of a more apostolic nature and helps the church to do its work of bringing Christ to the nations.
Mar 8 2015, 7:39 PM
SrSusan (guest): But prayer too is a work and yes Purity of intention in all we do or think- important
015, 7:39 PM
Judy K: Yes, Carol, prayer is the anchor for our works. Without prayer, we will not have the strength needed to put out into the deep and work for the Lord. PM
Carol Ann: And to be a contemplative living in the world, prayer is the core and key.
Mar 8 2015, 7:40 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): You shall see the fruits of your daily sacrificial love, Sister in heaven…
Mar 8 2015, 7:40 PM
Lisa C: Blessed Mother prays for our salvation even now…it is a work for sure
7:41 PM
Judy K: Karen, that is why the contemplative nuns are so essential to the Church. They are prayer warriors, sentinels before the tabernacle, offering their prayers for the whole world.
Mar 8 2015, 7:41 PM
SrSusan (guest): And Blessed Mother does visit from time to time throughout Church history
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Karen P: I think the whole world is sorely in need of full time prayer warriors today.
Mar 8 2015, 7:42 PM
Lisa C: She visits to bring us to Jesus
Mar 8 2015, 7:42 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes!! In fact this afternoon I had a thought of a “Prayer Wall” surrounding those Middle Eastern villages under attack
PM
Karen P: I think the whole world is sorely in need of full time prayer warriors today.
Karen P: Am I right in thinking that whenever there has been an apparition of Mary, she usually asks for prayers of some nature?
Mar 8 2015, 7:42 PM
Lisa C: Oh Sister Susan it is so hard to see what they are doing over there
Mar 8 2015, 7:42 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes and often sacrifices and fasting
Mar 8 2015, 7:42 PM
Judy K: Especially here in the US where morality is sinking lower and lower, and in the Middle East where presecution and violence are a way of life.
Mar 8 2015, 7:43 PM
Carol Ann: We could put up such a wall. We may not all be able to sit in contemplation as does a cloistered sister, but we can offer up prayer and let God do the rest.
Mar 8 2015, 7:43 PM
SrSusan (guest): They are interrelated I think
Mar 8 2015, 7:43 PM
Anne M: A prayer wall
Karen P: I like the idea of a prayer wall.
Mar 8 2015, 7:43 PM
Anne M: yes
Mar 8 2015, 7:43 PM
SrSusan (guest): Surround those places instead of with ground troops- with prayer troops
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Judy K: When I see danger coming, I frequently ask the Lord to place a guard of angels around the endangered area. 4 PM
Lisa C: We need ground troops too
Mar 8 2015, 7:44 PM
Carol Ann: There are enough of us in this group that we could make a wall
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Lisa C: We need ground troops too
Mar 8 2015, 7:44 PM
Carol Ann: There are enough of us in this group that we could make a wall
Mar 8 2015, 7:45 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes, and praying psalm 91 for protection for those people
Mar 8 2015, 7:45 PM
Karen P: I think we could certainly focus our prayers into becoming a prayer wall also, Carol Ann
Karen P: Psalm 91 would be a good choice!
Mar 8 2015, 7:45 PM
Anne M: Maybe someone could make a Prayer Wall website, for other’s to join also
45 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): It is time to beg for mercy!!! Jesus I Trust in You. M
Anne M: World wide Prayer Wall. I like it
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
Carol Ann: me too Anne!
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes Divine Mercy chaplet too, for those dying and those perpetrating the violence
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
Lisa C: I think sometimes we think that protection from worldly danger is what we pray for when maybe we should be praying in thanksgiving for the faith that the martyrs in the middle east are showing by not relenting in their faith and this must be send so much grace to us by thwarting the devil
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
Judy K: There is a movement of folks here in the US who stop at 9 PM every night to offer prayers for our country and this troubled world. I am part of this group. Perhaps all of you would join in this prayer at 9 PM every night. It would a point of union for us.
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes! Even a page on this site to start unless we can do a wordpress thing
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
Anne M: Yes, may the Lord touch the hearts of terrorists.
Mar 8 2015, 7:46 PM
Anne M: Yes, Sister
Mar 8 2015, 7:47 PM
SrSusan (guest): That too Lisa- they are true martyrs
Mar 8 2015, 7:47 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): I agree, Sr Susan
6 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes Divine Mercy chaplet too, for those dying and those perpetrating the violence
Lisa C: They are helping God and doing His work
Mar 8 2015, 7:47 PM
Lisa C: They should be our modern heros
Mar 8 2015, 7:47 PM
Karen P: I think that the protection we pray for, Lisa, is both physical and spiritual. And again I think we have to pray for those doing the evil to have a conversion of spirit and see the wrong they are doing and repent!
Mar 8 2015, 7:47 PM
SrSusan (guest): I could do that Judy, 9PM, as well
Mar 8 2015, 7:47 PM
Carol Ann: Do you think that the church requires martyrs that their sacrifices are a special grace that revitalizes mediocrity?
Mar 8 2015, 7:48 PM
Karen P: Is there a specific prayer for 9pm or just one that focuses on the need of our country?
Mar 8 2015, 7:48 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Jesus said to St. Faustina, I will come first with my mercy.
SrSusan (guest): God’s Plan is a great Mystery. From the Blood of Martyrs the faith grows. Was that those people’s mission in life? only the Lord knows
Mar 8 2015, 7:49 PM
Judy K: No, I just pray from my heart for our country and the conversion of it leaders and the return of traditional moral values, and for the Lord to take control of the Middle East for I believe that only He can bring peace to that part of the world.
0 PM
Karen P: Interesting question about the martyrs, Sr. Susan. I know that their deaths are not in vain and they do inspire others in faith. I am not sure the church requires this, and I would pray further that there would be a time coming when we don’t need martyrs to inflame us in our love for God.
Mar 8 2015, 7:50 PM
Lisa C: There is a very different mentality there
Mar 8 2015, 7:51 PM
SrSusan (guest): Can we write a simple prayer, or use the mercy chaplet, or simply pray from the heart for this intention? I think of the non violent protests of years ago and also the time in the Phillipines in 1986 when praying the Rosary stopped the troops from attacking
Mar 8 2015, 7:51 PM
Anne M: At 9PM on what day, or all days, Judy
Mar 8 2015, 7:51 PM
Judy K: Every day.
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Karen P: I think that praying the rosary was also cited for bringing communism to a halt in it’s movement forward. PM
Anne M: What is the story of “lepanto” (spelling) wasn’t that similar?
Mar 8 2015, 7:52 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes they were stopped at Lepanto by Rosary prayer
Mar 8 2015, 7:52 PM
Judy K: Simply pray from the heart. You might focus on a different aspect of the country’s and the world’s situation each night
PM
Karen P: Is there a suggested time for the prayer to last?
Mar 8 2015, 7:53 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Sister, I’m originally from the Philippines and are very involved with St. Faustina’s Congregation
Mar 8 2015, 7:53 PM
Judy K: Maybe as little as a minute.
Mar 8 2015, 7:53 PM
SrSusan (guest): So as long as we do it together for the intention of the Middle East. Oh how interesting Misericordia! Are you a lay member or Sister?
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
Anne M: Rosary and chaplets. Both are very powerful weapons.
Judy K: The time is not meant to be a burden but just a turning of our minds and hearts to petition for these needs.
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
Karen P: Sounds like a good plan, Judy! I am in.
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
SrSusan (guest): Me too!
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): It’s true what you said about praying the rosary during the turmoil in my country
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
Carol Ann: I’m in too
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
SrSusan (guest): It was a miracle, wasn’t it?
Mar 8 2015, 7:54 PM
Lisa C: Should we pray that the president stops ignoring what is going on and tries to do something about it
Karen P: So prayer for our country and then prayer for the Middle East. Focused and intentional nightly at 9.
Mar 8 2015, 7:55 PM
Carol Ann: that’s a great place to start
Judy K: I don’t think so. Keeping it at 9 PM whereever you are should be OK.
Mar 8 2015, 7:56 PM
Anne M: Kind of like Liturgy of the Hours. Prayer round the clock.
Mar 8 2015, 7:57 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): I’m pacific
Mar 8 2015, 7:57 PM
Karen P: If we all pray at 9 then we should be joining someone in a time zone where it is 9, I would think. I also like the Divine Mercy Chaplet when praying for the world.
Mar 8 2015, 7:57 PM
SrSusan (guest): Ok that sounds good. Like a prayer chain
8 PM
Carol Ann: Where are you, Misericordia? I’m in Southern California
Mar 8 2015, 7:58 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Seattle
7:58 PM
Carol Ann: It’s beautiful up there:59 PM
Anne M: warm winter, I hearPM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Yes. I live close to Mt. Rainier
Mar 8 2015, 7:59 PM
Anne M: Hi Sister M Roberta
Mar 8 2015, 7:59 PM
Karen P: Hello Sr. Mary Roberta!
9 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Hello! Our snow is FINALLY starting to melt!
Mar 8 2015, 7:59 PM
Anne M: Hows the sister that’s been ill.
Mar 8 2015, 7:59 PM
Judy K: And you know, engaging in this prayer is one of those good works we have been discussing.
Judy K: Hi Sister. Glad you are here.
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Carol Ann: Hi Sr Mary Roberta
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Anne M: Oh, Sister, I can see grass in the back yard. Praise God
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Sr. Immaculata died and her funeral was last Monday afternoon.
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Please pray for the repose of her soul.
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): may her soul rest in peace…
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Karen P: Prayers for Sr. Immaculata and those who are grieving for her.
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Judy K: May she dwell forever in the loving embrace of the Lord!
Mar 8 2015, 8:00 PM
Carol Ann: We will!
Mar 8 2015, 8:01 PM
Anne M: I’ve been saying Mercy Chaplets. I’ll continue.
Mar 8 2015, 8:01 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Thank you all for your prayers!
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Mary Roberta Viano: Please remind me of today’s topic.
Mary Roberta Viano: I like the way SFdS connects faith with charity: “Faith is the basis and foundation of all the other virtues, but particularly of hope and charity.” (sermons for Lent)
Mar 8 2015, 8:05 PM
Carol Ann: If we truly love Jesus, we will try to be like him
Mar 8 2015, 8:06 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: and charity = works of devotion and works of mercy
Mar 8 2015, 8:06 PM
Carol Ann: As we are fed and cared for by Jesus, his grace just flows out of us onto others
Mar 8 2015, 8:06 PM
SrSusan (guest): From Pope Francis: “Christian morality isn’t a titanic, voluntary, solitary effort against the world,” the pope said. “Christian morality is the answer given by a surprising mercy, unpredictable, [and] considered ‘unjust’ by human criteria.”
Francis said that message of mercy is especially directed to those who are alienated or distant from the faith.
Mar 8 2015, 8:06 PM
Karen P: Matt 22:36-40 and John 13:34 both talk about Jesus giving us the new commandment to love one another and also to love God with all our heart. These sum up for me that just following the rules is not what it was ever about. It was always meant to be about love, but it took Jesus to say it.
Mar 8 2015, 8:06 PM
Judy K: That’s a hard one to answer. Enough might be the minimum that one might do. But we are called to go beyond that minimum. In addition to the Commandments, He might use the Beatitudes as a scale for our eternal destiny, and perhaps the spiritual and corporal works of mercy as well.
2015, 8:07 PM
SrSusan (guest): That mercy, he said, will often seem unfair to people excessively focused on rules. n rules.
Mar 8 2015, 8:07 PM
Karen P: I think it is particularly true that we need to reach out and love those who are distant or most in need of love. That is what Jesus constantly did by example
Mar 8 2015, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, our priest at Mass this morning talked about the 10 Commandments in today’s first reading being the logical next step to God’s freeing His people.
Mar 8 2015, 8:08 PM
Lisa C: Sr Susan, maybe like the prodigal son
Mar 8 2015, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: First He freed them from Egypt and then, with the 10 Commandments from their evil inclinations.
Mar 8 2015, 8:08 PM
Anne M: Yes, Sister, like the workers hired for the vineyard that all received the same daily wage.
Mar 8 2015, 8:08 PM
Lisa C: Or the parable where the workers are all working all along and one guy comes at the end and gets the same wage
Mar 8 2015, 8:08 PM
Karen P: That is a very good point, Sr. Susan. It is often difficult to let go of the rules and show mercy to others.
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Mary Roberta Viano: But the rules are rules that actually free us to show mercy and not fall prey to our self-centeredness.
Mar 8 2015, 8:09 PM
Carol Ann: the rules are a guardrail that keeps us from going over the edge, not an end in themselves. Sometimes you have to break a rule to be merciful.
Lisa C: The thing is Jesus also says to the woman at the well that she is forgiven and then says go and sin no more
Mar 8 2015, 8:10 PM
Anne M: Yes, the commandments are charity in action. Toward God and others.
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Judy K: Good observation, Carol.I like that comparison with a guardrail.
Mar 8 2015, 8:10 PM
Karen P: I like that connection, Sr. M. Roberta. I have been listening to Fr. Mitch talk about the commandments on his show recently also. It is interesting to think about what their intent was and how they ended up being used. Almost like a weapon against the people they were to help live freely by those who should have helped them understand them better.
Mar 8 2015, 8:10 PM
Lisa C: So just saying that they are forgiven does not do it totally they have to have a change of heart after the forgiveness
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Judy K: Absolution and firm purpose of amendment in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 11 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, Lisa, though it may take time for that change to show up
Mar 8 2015, 8:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): As Francis put it on Saturday, “Christian morality isn’t never falling down, but always getting back up thanks to [Christ’s] hand that holds us.”SFDS and the Pope say similar things here
Mar 8 2015, 8:11 PM
Anne M: Yes, Karen, there was no mercy. “He eats with sinners and… They used them to condemn, with no mercy
3 PM
Carol Ann: It was as though sinners were lepers. no recognition of their own sin, because they were doing everything “right PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I like the way SFdS warns St. Jane de C. in a letter that: “you cling too jealously to the purity of your faith, and you feel that any little thing can spoil it.”
Mar 8 2015, 8:13 PM
Karen P: This is an area that I think I need to look at much more closely in my own life. I know that I can have trouble knowing when to hold others and myself to the rules and when to be more less judgemental based on the rules.
Mar 8 2015, 8:14 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: He continues: “No, dear daughter, let the wind blow freely; don’t mistake the rustling of the leaves for the clash of armor.”
Mar 8 2015, 8:14 PM
Lisa C: I think God will judge our hearts
Mar 8 2015, 8:14 PM
Judy K: From a very practical point of view, it might be very hard to think of showing mercy to the member of ISIS because their actions are so vicious and heinous. But then the Lord has told us that “vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: In other words, “love and do as you will,” as St. Augustine always counsels.
Mar 8 2015, 8:15 PM
Karen P: Jesus said we need to love our enemies. It is easy to love our friends, but it is those we don’t like that we need to really try to love.
Mar 8 2015, 8:15 PM
Lisa C: We are all weak, we all need mercy, but I think God wants us to a least try to be good
Mar 8 2015, 8:15 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: True, Judy, but that’s the Christian challenge – really hard!
Mar 8 2015, 8:15 PM
Anne M: Have you ever known anyone that became angry because a prayer was said differently than how they said it. I’ve seen a woman “Pray(talk)” over the pastor. Yikes
Mar 8 2015, 8:16 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, Anne, I have seen it.
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s one of the dangers of praying our Office: that we get hung up on our particular “right” way of saying/singing it.
Mar 8 2015, 8:17 PM
Karen P: Sr. Mary Roberta – what books are the best ones for those of us new to Salesian spirituality to start with? I have the Guide to a Devout Life – and wondered what else would be good to read?
17 PM
Carol Ann: I think there is a real concern about following the Magesterium and Tradition that can get out of control. PM
Mary Roberta Viano: It’s always good to read the lives of our two founders: Andre Ravier’s biog. of St. Francis de Sales and Elisabeth Stopp’s biog. of St. Jane de Chantal.
Mar 8 2015, 8:18 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Prayer from the heart is the best!
Mar 8 2015, 8:18 PM
Anne M: Yes, “wash the outside of cup and dish, but on the inside…”
Mar 8 2015, 8:18 PM
Karen P: I will look for those. Thank you!
8:20 PM
Judy K: I don’t know that following the Magisterium of the of the Church could get out of control. I believe that we are obliged to follow those official teachings of the Church. M
Mary Roberta Viano: It’s true that there can be a certain rigidity in following the rubrics of the faith, but, as a Protestant convert, I found them freeing and inspiring. I didn’t have to make up the words, but could meditate on them instead.
Mar 8 2015, 8:21 PM
Carol Ann: Well, it does if someone is correcting the priest during Mass. We should all be following the Magisterium, but not judging those who make mistakes harshly
Mar 8 2015, 8:21 PM
Karen P: Hopefully, the Magisterium is adhering to its role to help ensure that the Church teaches truth. It would only be a problem if it became corrupt. But following anything too blindly without prayer and asking for God’s guidance is probably not a good thing.
Mar 8 2015, 8:21 PM
Judy K: I think that this is where the LCWR ran into trouble. Some of them were kind of distancing themselves from that Magisterium
M
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, Judy, and that distancing turned out to be a distancing from Truth, from Christ.
Carol Ann: It is where LCWR got in trouble. But the original point was, did the woman who talked over the priest also get away from the Magisterium?
Mar 8 2015, 8:22 PM
Anne M: I don’t believe she meant Not following the teaching of the church. I believe she was speaking more of the Pharisee like.
Mar 8 2015, 8:23 PM
Anne M: “oh God that you that I’m not like them”
15, 8:23 PM
Anne M: Thank you
Mar 8 2015, 8:23 PM
Anne M: I meant. Sorry
Mar 8 2015, 8:23 PM
Anne M: Brain working faster than fingers
Mar 8 2015, 8:24 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, Anne – self-righteousness
Judy K: It depends on what that woman’s purpose was. Was she disputing with the priest over a matter of doctrine? Or was she merely taking issue with the way he was expressing something.
Mar 8 2015, 8:25 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Humility before Christ is always the best policy, and the Church’s Magisterium is Christ’s voice guiding us.
Mar 8 2015, 8:25 PM
Carol Ann: Me too. the hour flies by so fast
Mar 8 2015, 8:25 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): God bless everyone. Thank you!!!
Mar 8 2015, 8:25 PM
SrSusan (guest): I so appreciate yourdepth of conversation and faith!
SrSusan (guest): I will be in DC next Sun nite.
Mar 8 2015, 8:27 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Chaplet and rosary?
Mar 8 2015, 8:27 PM
Anne M: Judy, she was praying a devotional prayer her way,Loudly, over him, when he was leading us in devotions, rather than following from the booklet. Not during mass.
Mar 8 2015, 8:27 PM
Lisa C: Sr. Susan where?
Mar 8 2015, 8:27 PM
Misericordia0300 (guest): Or just DMercy chaplet
Mar 8 2015, 8:28 PM
SrSusan (guest): Georgetown Monastery with Sr Roberta