Holy Spirit, help my faith, hope and love be genuine...

I Corinthians 11:17-33 & Luke 7:1-10

Jesus, along with St Paul and all the saints, as well as the centurion of Capernaum, were the real thing – they were genuine because their faith, hope and love were genuine. As I rush through life, moving from one task to the other, jammed right against the next appointment, itself nose-to-nose with the next text or the next obligation, there is little room for either preparation or reflection. This race through life plays havoc with my deliberate commitment to mercy-driven faith, hope and compassion.  On the fly, it is much easier to depend on my own resources and sense of justice than on Grace; to snap back with a smart-mouthed reply; to make speedy assumptions and then rely on faulty expectations. Then my life becomes littered with sharp-edged fragments of communication and knee-jerk speeches and acts of passive or violent aggression. But when I take time to mindfully be kind and patient, and a heart with ears* with the person at hand, whether man, woman, child, or God himself, then my faith, hope and love grow from roots of mercy and I also become genuine. What do I need to ‘suffer’ and to hear-fully engage in order for my faith, hope and love to become genuine? Holy Spirit of God, help my faith, hope and love to be genuine.  
                        
I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.  (Psalm 40:8)
 
Fill up the spare moments of your life with praise and thanksgiving. This joyous discipline will help you live in the intimacy of My Presence. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (Jan 7)
*See Dr. Marshall Rosenberg’s work on Non-violent Communication. (2005) Practical Spirituality: The Spiritual Basis of Nonviolent Communication. (32 pages) ISBN 978-1892005144
 
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Soli ad gloriam Dei