The Catholic Calendar for Monday, May 23, 2005
Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Sirach 17:20-24
Psalm 32:1-2,5-7
Mark 10:17-27

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

In today's First Reading from the Book of Sirach we hear how God "provides a way back," for those who repent and "encourages those who are losing hope." What is the "way back" and the source of encouragement? The answer like most good answers is not complicated and not so far out of reach that it is impossible to grasp. It is in those gifts that Christ gave His Church: The Sacraments, and in what God gave to the world: The Word.

Therein are the remedies for our problems; Sacred Scripture which teaches us all we need to know, lifts us up and gives us direction and hope, and the Sacraments that give us the grace to put into practice what we have heard and learned.

It almost sounds too simple; but that's just the point. God didn't intend us to fail, but to succeed -- that we might have access to His power and one day share eternally in His glory.

Let us then, not "muck up the program" and make it something troublesome and complicated. Repent! Believe the Good News!

- Donna Raye Nelson, OCDS
(drn3rd at hotmail dot com)

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