Luke 17:6
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke 17:6
Just a tiny bit of faith and I know that God can, God will, and God wants to.
Lord, grant me the grace to accept Thy divine will.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669
Two women teaching a child to walk
via Wikimedia Commons[Jesus said,] “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other,or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Luke 16:13
I always have a choice:
patience over impatience;
politeness over rudeness;
compassion over self-centeredness;
acceptance over prejudice;
love over indifference.
Who will I choose to serve today?
[Jesus addressed them,] “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27
My “own cross” is my responsibility to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and my neighbor as myself.
How have I shown love for God today? How have I loved myself today? Who are my neighbors? How have I loved a neighbor today?
Lord, let the light of your peace shine through me in my little corner of the world. Show me how to respect, honor, and love every member of your human family—those I know and those I will never meet.
[Jesus said,] “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Luke 12:34
The heart leads where the mind is afraid to go. The heart trusts what the mind cannot make sense of. The heart opens and welcomes when the mind stays closed and isolated.
The heart knows sorrow, experiences compassion, abounds in forgiveness. The heart recognizes God in the faces of all people, finds God in the beauty of the natural world, discovers God in silence. The heart shines out love, expands in gratitude, heals with grace.
Luke 12:13-21
Then [Jesus] told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ Luke 12:16-17
I’d like to cultivate a practice of open hands that give freely, reach out with compassion, touch gently, and comfort others in times of need.
I’d like to cultivate a practice of open hands that humbly express my need to be shown God’s will.
I’d like to cultivate a practice of open hands that let go of greed, resentment, and all that prevents me from loving God, my neighbor, and myself.
Luke 11:1-13
“Lord, teach us to pray…”
Ask and receive are two parts that make a whole. When I ask God to show me the next right thing to do, I receive God’s guidance—often pointing me to the simple tasks of everyday life. When I ask God to be with me in times of stress or sorrow, I receive God’s comforting presence—often through the compassion and kindness of friends, family, or strangers. When I ask God to make me more like the Lord, I receive God’s grace—often through opportunities to practice gratitude, forgiveness, and patience.
When I ask God to teach me to pray, I receive the longing to spend quiet time with God, getting to know the Lord more intimately. I receive the courage to take those quiet moments to be renewed in the Lord’s love. And I receive the joy of being in the presence of the One who loves me and who is teaching me to love more perfectly.
Mary Ann McSweeny 