About Me

My photo
This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less. I'd love to hear from you! Comments, questions, conversation. rebecca.labriola@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

John 3:7-10. Tuesday, April 17. 2012.

Jesus is hilarious.
As I listened to the gospel be read during mass this morning,
I had to try hard to not laugh.
The gospels are so alive and it is so easy to picture exactly what might have happened.
Today's gospel came from John 3:7-15,
this post will talk about John 3:7-10.
This passage is a dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus.

Jesus says:

7 Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above.
8 The wind blows where it pleases; you can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Jesus was talking about how the Spirit moves within a person.
He likens the movement of the Spirit to the wind.
The wind can be heard and its effects can be seen
but the wind itself cannot be seen.

9 'How is that possible?' asked Nicodemus.

10 Jesus replied, 'You are the Teacher of Israel, and you do not know these things!

Here is where I had to contain my laughter.
Just picture it.
Jesus is talking to the Teacher of Israel, someone Jesus commissioned,
Someone who is to witness to the faith,
And even he cannot understand the movement of the Spirit.
I pictured Jesus hitting His forehead with His palm
and letting out a big Doh!
"Oy, Nicodemus! Learn your stuff bro!"

The Spirit is alive in each and every one of us.
We must spread the news!
The Spirit is alive and well.
We are called to the same job and Nicodemus;
to spread the good news of the lively Spirit.
But if we do not believe or do not understand,
then how are we supposed to spread the word?
Jesus calls us all to be His disciples and His messengers.
How are we to successfully spread the new of the Spirit
if we do not know the Spirit?
We must know the Spirit.
We must know the Lord.
We must become acquainted
if we are going to share the Spirit.

We are not of this world.
We are of the Lord's world.
Get to know the Spirit.
Love the Spirit.
Know the Spirit.
Share the Spirit.
Be the light of the world.











Tuesday, April 10, 2012

How Ready Am I For Heaven? Tuesday, April 10. 2012.

How ready am I for Heaven?
I was driving up the 405 pondering this question;
Almost as if it were a game show question.
The conclusion that I came to was that I am in no way ready to enter Heaven.
I am way too judgmental, I complain too much,
and I tend to be fairly prideful (can't you tell by all the I's?)
None of that will be allowed in Heaven so why should I put those things to practice on Earth?
Things like humility, love, charity, and most importantly, adoration of our Lord
will be welcomed in Heaven.
I should be practicing those things now.

Our God is a gracious God.
He knows that without His grace and mercy, we would have no hope of Heaven at all.
But still, that isn't enough for Him.
He loves us so much that He desires to do more for us.
Each and every day we wake up,
we have the chance to practice those virtues that will be found in Heaven.
And each day when we fail, that isn't the end of the line for us.
Our God is a merciful God; He gifts us, day after day, with time to better ourselves for Heaven.

The other day I read a sad story in the paper.
There was a teen girl who died in a pretty violent car accident.
It happened to be that she went to the college that I go to.
This morning when I was in class,
my criminal justice teacher told us that the girl who had died was actually in our class.
That was a real eye-opener.
It was so sad to hear my professor talk about what a beautiful and neat person this girl was.
Teen deaths are so hard to comprehend.
We want justification and answers and reasons.
Maybe, just maybe this beautiful girl was ready for Heaven.
Maybe she understood humility, love, charity, and adoration of the Lord.

Each day is a gift.
It is an opportunity.
Each day is a chance to better ourselves,
to lay down the pride,
and to glorify our great God.
Even when the days seem rough or monotonous,
all glory to Him.
Even the hardest day should be seen as a blessing and
as a gift to perfect ourselves.
He gave us life.
Let us give our lives to Him.
All glory to God.