**Listen to the Lord First*

         This is today's entire Gospel reading from Luke 10.

        Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

         We are very much like Martha, but we must listen to the Lord first and always, putting everything aside if necessary. This will be hard for many and they would probably argue that it won't work in real life. All I know is that if we listen to the Lord and do not be anxious or worry about things, everything will work out best. In other words, live your spiritual life right and your earthly life will follow in good order. Place God first and everything else second.

***We Are Before God!

         Also, in today's reading from Galatians 1, Paul made this side remark: "As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying." It's kinda cute. But seriously, it's good to be beware that whatever we do, we are doing it before God; so we'd better be truthful. (The world has gotten so evil because it's no longer aware that God exists.)

***God's Plan for Us

        In today's first reading from Galatians 1, Paul writes "When God, who from my mother's womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me . . ." We must believe that God has also set each of us apart when we were still in our mother's womb. In Jeremiah 1, we read that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." The Lord may not have revealed to each of us a specific appointment, but he definitely has a plan for each of us. The call to holiness and obedience should be obvious. If we follow Christ faithfully, our plan evolves simultaneously. I could hear the Lord saying: "Blessed are those who do not know their specific appointments and still follow me faithfully."

****Steps to Knowing Christ

        Many Christian spiritual messages are being preached and writings being published, providing reflections, insights, views, etc. How effective they are is to be measured by how well they succeed in drawing you closer to Christ. After all, to know Christ the Lord must be our foremost goal. We cannot be effective if we do not know him well ourselves, even with the best of intentions. The three steps to reach this goal are to accept Christ, to believe in Christ, and to surrender ourselves to Christ so that we may get to know him mostly intimately, as in union with him. 

**Whom Do We Seek to Please?

         In today's first reading from Galatians 1, Pail writes, Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. We try to please others all the time. If we do it for the sake of pleasing God, that's great. But if we do it in order to please ourselves, then our ego is involved and it can be sinful. Worst of all if we do it to please Satan! In any case, whatever we do, we should aim to do the will of the Lord to please him alone, no matter what others think or say. 

**My Mission on earth

          I want to praise Christ always. I want to extol his glory with all my heart and with all my soul. I don't just believe in him, I know that he is the true God. No one else can ever replace him, for there can be only one Lord. So hear me if you have ears. We are given just one life on earth to realize this truth. To remain lost forever is unthinkable. Try to get to know him; you have nothing to lose and only eternal life to gain. And you can always change your mind at any time, although I know that once you are with Christ, gladly following his will in all things, you'll never ever want to leave him. 

**Unbreakable Union

         Communion experience. The Lord entered me to affirm his union with me, a union that nothing in heaven and on earth can break. I am completely secure in the Lord.

***Our Calling and Fulfillment

        If Christ is your Lord, you must be in complete union with him. You cannot follow him without all your heart and all your soul. He has given us all of himself and we must reciprocate by giving all of ourselves to him. This is our sole calling and our perfect fulfillment.   

***Speaking Out!

        An urgent, important message for all Americans to hear. 

*Unself-Centered Rejoicing

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." The Lord hit the nail right on the heard. Knowing that God has chosen you is what truly matters and worth rejoicing about. The focus should always be on what he does for you and not on what you do for him.