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Home Sections The Daily B.R.E.A.D. March 11, 2009 - Wednesday Meditation (You Can Control Your Attitudes!)
March 11, 2009 - Wednesday Meditation (You Can Control Your Attitudes!) PDF Print E-mail
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Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D.
Monday, 09 March 2009 21:40
You can choose what to put on your calendar, but you can't control today's circumstances.
 

Jeremiah 18:18-20
Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16

Matthew 20:17-28  And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, (18) "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him  to death, (19) and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." (20) Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. (21) And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." (22) But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." (23) He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." (24) And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. (25) But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. (26) It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, (27) and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; (28) even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
 
 
 
Meditation by Howie Kalb, S.J.

It’s difficult today to pick up a newspaper, magazine or dial in a TV program engaged in some controversial article and not find the Catholic Church on the wrong side of the cultural majority.  It could be a question of capital punishment, abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, immigration, population control or dozens of other social and scientific dilemmas.

Some of us get very offended and defensive that we Catholics are always the popular game for caustic cartoons and snide jokes because of our positions.  Maybe if we just reflected on today’s reading we would understand what’s happening.  It’s nothing new.  Jesus told us this would happen since such attacks have always been the consequence for those who follow him.

In our first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, he had the task from God to explain to his people what their idolatrous conduct was going to cost them.  Not a very popular message. So he lamented that his listeners hoped to “destroy him by his own tongue, let us carefully note his every word.”

Jeremiah questioned why good was repaid by evil?  Why his life was threatened by destruction in a pit?  Why he had to be the subject of ridicule and mockery?   In today’s Gospel, Jesus alerts his twelve disciples, that in Jerusalem he will be handed over to the Jewish and Gentile authorities, mocked, scourged and crucified.  Because he followed his Father’s plan Jesus himself was subjected to mockery, ridicule and even death.

We all know the account of the two disciples who ambitioned the right and left places next to Jesus in the Kingdom.  He simply asked his two aggressive followers “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”  They said they would and they did.  The content of the chalice was mockery, ridicule and possible death. 

For us the challenge is to do the same.  So we can’t be surprised when we find ourselves experiencing the mockery and ridicule that Jeremiah, Jesus and his apostles all had to suffer before us.
 
 
Supplementary Reading
Control What's in You 
 

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself – Matthew 6:34

 
Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, one of the greatest coaches who ever lived, said, "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." Wooden was known for stressing excellence to his players and encouraging them to work toward their potential. He never made winning a championship his goal. He focused on the journey, not the destination. Yet his work ethic and focus on the things within his control earned his UCLA teams four undefeated seasons, an eighty-eight-game winning streak, and an incredible ten national championships. No one had ever done that before him, and no one has done it since.

As you move forward on the success journey, you need to remember that what happens in you is more important than what happens to you. You can control your attitudes as you travel on the journey, but you have no control over the actions of others.

You can choose what to put on your calendar, but you can't control today's circumstances. Unfortunately, the majority of the fear and stress that people experience in life is from things they can do nothing about. Don't let that happen to you.

* * *
Focus on the things you can do something about today. Forget the rest!
Share your thoughts...
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Note: Taken from the Maxell Daily Reader
 
 
 
GOD BLESS US ALL!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 March 2009 12:00
 

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