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Tuesday, February 4, 2003

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Hebrews 12:1-4
Psalm 22:26-28, 30-32
Mark 5:21-43

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having trouble focusing?

"Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, Who inspires and perfects our faith." —Hebrews 12:2

We naturally tend to focus on ourselves and on our problems. We tend to take center stage. This means that our problems are "in our face," and Jesus recedes into the background. With Jesus obscured by our preoccupation with ourselves, we are "out of focus."

Did you ever try to drive a car when your eyes were not focusing properly? You were in serious danger. Likewise, if we try to live our lives while so focused on self that Jesus is obscured, we are in serious trouble.

Therefore, let us decrease so Jesus will increase (see Jn 3:30). By God's grace, let us recede into the background, as Jesus is brought into the foreground. Let us speak decreasingly of ourselves and increasingly of Jesus (see Church in America, Pope John Paul II, 67). If we focus on Jesus, we will walk on the waters of sin, evil, and death (see Mt 14:29). Conversely, if we focus on ourselves and our problems, we will sink in these waters (see Mt 14:30ff). Only when we fix our eyes on Jesus are we "in focus" and able to live the abundant life (see Jn 10:10). Focus on Jesus.

Prayer:  Father, free me from my addiction to self.

Promise:  "Daughter, it is your faith that has cured you. Go in peace and be free of this illness." —Mk 5:34

Praise:  Even at the young age of seventeen, Mallory's favorite Scripture passage is: "He must increase, while I must decrease" (Jn 3:30). She knows that Jesus must have the primary place in her life.

Reference:   

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, August 1, 2002


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 7, 2002