TEMPER(ance) Sagittarius July 2021

You want to avoid creating negative karma if you’re like us and believe that whatever you intend, say or do comes back to you. Even if you don’t share our theories, you still want to do the right thing in all situations, assuming you have a conscience.

Back in May, I shared with you that my theme for the year is “Spiraling Upward.” For those of you that may have missed that article, here’s a quick recap. In February, we attended the annual International Regrouping Retreat in Puerto Rico.

We all feel more at ease praying in church. There’s something about the familiar sights, the smell of the candles and incense, and the sacred silence of a church. Of course, the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle is the main reason for Catholics to pray in a church. But what can we do to capture a sense of that sacredness in our home? Let’s explore creating a sacred space for our daily prayer.

A very common piece of advice for learning how to pray is to set aside a specific time to pray every day. This is excellent advice. But you cannot take full advantage of it unless you understand why it’s so effective. Let’s explore why creating sacred time is so important to Catholic prayer.

Recently I’ve been chewing on and digesting God’s Word. I have been studying very deeply over the past three years. I used to think quantity of Bible reading was important, but now I see it’s a loss. When God tells us to meditate on it day and night for good success, it means we are to take a Word that He has given us or that we have seen in the Bible that jumps out at us to be pondered…

Have you ever wondered what life was like for Jesus Christ? Reading the four gospels gives us a clear answer to this question.

In Mark 1:35 we read a most amazing verse. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

When we open the New Testament, we find four books called “gospels” – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All four present compelling accounts of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah (the Christ) and Son of God.

The baptism of Jesus marked the beginning of his public ministry. After spending 30 years in Nazareth, he goes to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptizer (Mark 1:9).

In Mark 1:21-28 we read a fascinating account of Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum. On the Sabbath, Jesus and his four recently called disciples (Peter, Andrew, James and John) attend the weekly worship service, as any faithful first century Jew would do.

Jesus, himself, mandated that we go beyond our local town or city, into the country, beyond our country, into all the world. Not that Jesus is calling everyone to ‘go’, but he is calling us all to be involved – to pray, to support, or to go.