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Friday, July 31, 1998

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St. Ignatius of Loyola


Jeremiah 26:1-9
Psalm 69:5, 8-10, 14
Matthew 13:54-58

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give me the works

"He did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith." —Matthew 13:58

If we are seeing only occasional miracles in our lives, we should repent of our lack of faith. If we are seeing only a few people converted every few weeks (see Acts 17:34), we must repent because the Lord wants to give us a great harvest of conversions, as He adds to our number daily (Acts 2:47). If we never go beyond moving mountains with our little faith (Mt 17:20), we should repent of not letting the seed of faith grow. In our watered-down, lukewarm Christianity, those things seen in the Bible as failures can appear to us to be successes. But we must not settle for anything less than the total fulfillment of God's promises and the abundant life (Jn 10:10).

The Lord has promised us immeasurably more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). Therefore, we must not expect anything less. The Lord has promised us: "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9). If we love Him, we must expect and receive the unseeable, unhearable, and the unthinkable. "Is it possible that He Who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for the sake of us all will not grant us all things besides?" (Rm 8:32)

Prayer:  Father, may I let You do everything You want.

Promise:  "I pray to You, O Lord, for the time of Your favor, O God! In Your great kindness answer me with Your constant help." —Ps 69:14

Praise:  The following prayer is attributed to St. Ignatius Loyola: "Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my whole will. You have given me all that I have, all that I am, and I surrender all to Your divine will, that You dispose of me. Give me only Your love and Your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask."

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 29, 1997


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 2, 1997