Matthew 19:20 (perseverance)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com). All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17

All of these I have observed. What do I still lack? Matthew 19:20

Living Faith snippets: "From today's readings, I sense that God, too, gets disappointed with us and the work we leave unfinished. "What a fickle race they are, sons with no loyalty in them" (Deut 32:20). Perhaps this is why we pray for final perseverance. It is God's gift to us, an antidote for the wayward soul, so that having lived our whole life faithfully following the Gospel, we will not come to the end and, like the rich young man, walk away sad. Lord, help the seeds you have planted bear fruit that will last." by Rebecca Sande

Sister Francelle: Read her wonderful devotion "Unless you become as little children..." at http://sisterfrancelle.blogspot.com/. Here is the intro..."Recently, I read about a young college student in Chicago, Jerry, who had been raised as an atheist. In fact, his parents tried their best to teach him there is no God. His roommate, Joe, was a Christian and was not silent about it. He tried his best to convert his friend, but he never had any success. Jerry was an excellent swimmer and even trained for the Olympics. One evening, as he was driving home, he decided to go for a late night swim..."

Pat nuggets: Speaking of perseverance (and celebrating God's gift of life while offering it up for ProLife), despite a thunderstorm at the base and a snowstorm at the summit, some of our devotions group members ran the Pikes Peak Ascent or Marathon this past weekend (Scott Casmer, Doug Young, Courtney Schumann, Steve Castle, Angi Castle, and myself). Thank you, Jesus! (Attached picture is Pikes Peak on Sun morning.)

ProLife news: http://www.lifenews.com/.

Our Prayers: Abortion, chastity, our enemies/our troops, natural disasters, depression/ despair, dementia, cancer, prisoners, Liz Curry (Drew, 2 yr old, kidney tumor surgery recovery)

Faith Quote: "Sometimes it is challenging to find a reason for what appears only as a difficulty to be overcome or even pain to be endured. Yet our faith helps us to break open the horizon beyond our own selves in order to see life as God does. God's unconditional love, which bathes every human individual, points to a meaning and purpose for all human life. Through His Cross, Jesus in fact draws us into His saving love (Jn 12:32) and in so doing shows us the way ahead...the way of hope which transfigures us all, so that we too, become bearers of that hope and charity for others." by Pope Benedict (Apr visit to USA)

Through Christ Our Lord,

Pat

Phil 4:13

* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml. Reflection on readings at http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html

* Prayer: Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson lyrics, “When God's people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can't explain await!” "If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him."

* Defend the unborn: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa. Prayer to End Abortion. Ask Blessed Margaret of Castello for her prayers to end abortion.

* Evangelization: Let's make room for non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead friend to Christ) and perpetual re-evangelization of self and those near us, by way of daily prayer (relationship) and following Christ's example of selfless love, mercy, and service.

Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)!