Walk in the Spirit February 2020

Friday 21st February 2020
James:2/14-24, 26
Psalm: 111/1-6
(112/1-6)
Mark:8/34-9/1
The First Proclamation
Please read James 2/14-24, 26 prayerfully,
Prayerful Awareness
The first reading presents to us a very
important teaching. It says Faith should
follow deeds. Then only it becomes active
in our lives. at is the use of all the wisdom
if we do not apply it in our lives. Father
Abraham is a good example. His faith was
active along with his deeds and became
perfect by what he did. So the Word of
Scripture was thus fulfilled. He believed
in God and was considered a righteous
person and he was called the friend of
God. "Just as the body is dead without the
Spirit, faith without deeds is also dead.".
The Gospel Proclamation
He called the crowd with his disciples,
and said to them, "If any want
to become my followers, let them deny
themselves and take up their cross and
follow me. For those who want to save
their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake, and for the sake
of the gospel, will save it. ...
Gaze at Jesus
Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this
world for the great purpose of executing
God's plan to build the Kingdom of God
and to win salvation to all mankind. To
fulfill this promise He had to give up His
heavenly glory and take the nature of a
servant, deny Himself and ultimately go
through the suffering of the cross. With the
Baptism of the Spirit at the river Jordan
He was empowered to deny Himself and
depend solely on His Father God. The
birds had nests and the foxes had caves,
but the Son of Man did not have anything
"Abba Father! Abba Mother!"
27
to lie on. Although He was the Son of God
He learnt suffering through obedience. he
was destined to face an unjust judgement
and had to undergo a horrible crucifixion
on the cross. With all this in mind, Jesus
responded to God's Will, by healing all
forms of diseases of the people, relieving
those who were possessed with evil spirits,
freeing the captives and consoling the
suffering. People came to Him in flocks
to achieve all these advantages but not
to contribute to Jesus' mission. Even the
disciples who left everything and followed
Jesus did not really understand what true
discipleship is. However, Jesus made them
understand that they are destined to win
the resurrection when they dedicate their
lives on behalf of Jesus and the Gospel
and so they responded. All these were
possible through the empowerment of the
Holy Spirit.
Take up the Cross means to follow
the same path which Jesus undertook. In
a way renounce our life or we must risk
ourselves for something noble instead of
being concerned about our own future.
We have to take up our cross by accepting
freely the sacrifices that the Father sends
each day. In return we receive something
more marvelous than what was sacrificed
- inner freedom and more profound happiness
(Mark 10;30).
It is time to think seriously about what
Jesus tells us in today's Gospel proclamation.
"Does a person gain anything if he
wins the whole world but loses his life?"
Life is not a bed of roses as the saying
goes. Every Christian has to go through
hardships and we have to face them freely,
without grumbling, because the Holy
Spirit is empowering and guiding us all
the way. Christ went through all the trials
on behalf of all mankind to win salvation
for all the people. Let us follow Him to
win resurrection which He had promised.
Prayer Starter
Dear Father God, give us more and
more faith in order to live according to
Your ideals.