11 January 2025 - Only By Grace Reflections

TOPIC: WHAT CAN KEEP ME FROM SEEING AND DOING GOD’S WILL?

First Reading: First John 5: 14-21
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 149: 1-2, 3-4, 5 and 6a and 9b
Alleluia: Matthew 4: 16
Gospel: John 3: 22-30

The powerful and prophetic words of St. John the Baptist should echo in our hearts every day. Jesus increasing means that He takes greater possession of our mind and will. It means that our number one goal in life is the fulfillment of His holy will in all things. Jesus now lives in and through us.

When John says that he must decrease, he means that his own will, desires, ambitions, hopes must dissolve as Jesus takes over. To decrease before God means to become humble. Humility is a way of giving up everything not of God and allowing only God to shine through.
 
John’s humility is a great lesson for us who are actively engaged in the Church’s mission. The key to understanding our mission is that we must seek to fulfill our role ⏤ and our role alone. We must never see ourselves in competition with others within the Church. We must know when we are to act according to God’s will, and we must know when we are to step back and allow others to fulfill God’s will. We must do the will of God ⏤ nothing more, nothing less and no other.

This is the 1721st installment of our CFC contemplation series focusing on the daily liturgical readings.

[NOTE: Let us listen to our brother Solphie Confiado, Country Coordinator for CFC Egypt, as he brings us today's reflection.

All the regular reflections are between 3-7 minutes long, enough time for us to ponder what God's message is for us individually and to pray that we may live them out in our lives. This video is also available on Couples for Christ’s Facebook page. In You Tube, just type ONLY BY GRACE