Matthew 18:35 (forgiveness)

* 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

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart. Matthew 18:35

Living Faith snippets: "There are situations so horrendous that it is impossible for us to forgive others and be merciful without the power of the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus in us who extends divine mercy to others. That mercy is to flow through our words and attitudes because of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. To withhold this mercy from our fellow sinners is to deny discipleship." by Bishop Robert Morneau

Rich's comments: You might have heard the saying before that "holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." Forgiveness is not only about showing mercy to the one who wronged you, but it is also a critical part of our own healing process. When I find it difficult to forgive someone, I remember the saying "to err is human, to forgive divine." This means to me that it is impossible for me to forgive without the power of the Holy Spirit, and that I need to pray for God's help. Lord, give me the strength to let go of the pain that I am holding on to so that I may forgive through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

Feast Day (St. Maximilian Kolbe): Read more about this amazing saint who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe)

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), Deb Kayser (rotator cuff and hand surgeries), Jomary Chenet (daughter Jolie recovering from surgery), Ross and Kacie Paulick (discerning God's direction for their lives)

Faith Quotes:

“Teach me to feel another's woe, To hide the fault I see, That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.” by Alexander Pope

"If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive." by Mother Theresa

Through Christ Our Lord,

Rich

Romans 12:12

* 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)!