Christian Reflection and Prayer

Verse

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life
worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
Ephesians 4:1

Voice

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world
on fire.
St. Catherine of Siena

Prayer

God, give us the courage to live into our calling. Do not
let us flee the challenges we know we must face. May we,
together, set the world on fire by living as who you meant
us to be. Amen.

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does
this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD
brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’”
Exodus 13:14

The Hebrew word for “knowledge” is chochma. Broken down,
that word becomes coach mah, which translates as “the power
of asking what.” The more powerful our questions, the greater
our wisdom. We must teach our children and ourselves to ask
questions. It’s the only way to arrive at the most powerful and
life-changing knowledge. When he was 89, Isidor had an MRI
done, a lifesaving procedure made possible by one of his
inventions — an invention that was the result of all his
questioning.

What good question can you ask today? “How can I make the
world a better place?” “Do things always have to be as they are?”
“What would I try if I wasn’t afraid to fail?” Or simply, “Can I be a
better person today than I was yesterday?”

The more we ask, the more we’ll know, and the better the
questions, the greater the wisdom to follow.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Verse

Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you,
this poor widow has put in more than all those who are
contributing to the treasury.'
Mark 12:43

Voice

People may come to our communities because they want to
serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered
that they themselves are poor.
Jean Vanier

Prayer

God, may all who serve the poor do so in humility. May our
service reveal our own poverty. And may we honor the
contribution of the poor widow just as we honor the gifts of
the wealthy. Amen.