Daily Reflection for Thursday May 06, 2021
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Thursday's readings at this link:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050621.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Acts 15:7-21
Responsorial: Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10
Gospel: John 15:9-11
Our reflection on Thursday’s readings:
Remain in my love. (John 15:9)
If I was able to efficiently count how many decisions on any given day, I wonder what that number would be? It seems as soon as my eyes open to greet the morning, my mind races and the decision-making process begins. Some are automatic and very subtle and, on some days, those decisions are life changing.
I receive such strength from today’s Gospel. Jesus continues to provide insightful wisdom to His disciples as they continue following Jesus. Jesus simply states, remain in my love. Jesus suggests a simple approach that when followed, the disciples are able to stay in right relationship with themselves, their neighbors and with God. “Remain in my love”-- a powerful message in four words. A mantra in discerning daily decisions.
I just finished a book club on the topic of forgiveness. In one of the sessions, the facilitator asked, “In which garden do you spend more time?” The choices were between a garden that is planted in good soil and a garden that is planted on dried land. In my journal, I drew a picture of a garden. I didn’t divide it or label them as good-soil-garden versus bad-soil-garden. I just drew one garden; in that garden, there is good soil and there also exists a patch of dried soil. As I reflect on my days in my journal, this image helps me assess where I spend most of my day.
There are so many decisions in my daily life that I know are grounded in good soil. They are decisions that are rooted in God’s love. Yet I must admit, there are decisions that I make that are rooted in dried land. Decisions are often made, distant from the love that Jesus tells me to remain in, in today’s reading. I don’t live in two gardens, a good garden or a bad garden. I live in one garden with so many decisions to make in a given day. Jesus, the Master Gardener, guides me in my daily decisions as I tend to my garden. And as I remain in God’s love throughout the day, I am keenly aware that I stay longer on the side of the garden that produces good fruit.
May you remain in God’s love as you make decisions today,
Margarita Solis Deal