Reflection
In the 2023-24 Pew Research Center study, 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christian. This includes 40% who identify as Protestant, 19% as Catholic, and 3% as other Christian denominations. Does our current situation in America reflect this? Are we as a people acting according to what we claim is our belief system? If we were following the teachings of Jesus Christ would there be major public outrage at some of what is happening here to both people and planet? Throwing off responsibility by blaming things on politics is no excuse. Shouldn’t we Christians be trying to live according to the values of the gospel?
Prayer
May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.
Psalm 25:21
Action
Take time to reflect on your own behavior and attitudes toward persons and current issues. How are they aligned with the gospel? What must you do?
Suggested Reading
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Philippians 1:27
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of God will enter.
Matthew 7: 21-23
In the gospel, Jesus tells us that to be a Christian is not to have a ‘label’ but to live and testify to faith in prayer, in works of charity, in the promotion of justice, in doing good.
Pope Francis
t is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.
Francis of Assisi
It is the duty of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbor.
Martin Luther
We forgive ourselves our disinterest in the questions of our age on the grounds that those things have nothing to do with being Christian. Only the laws and the customshave something to do with being Christian, we argue, not the gospel.
Joan Chittister
Inescapably, we are challenged to encounter and befriend the Holy One, not in a heaven hereafter, but in the evolutionary revelatory power of the sacredness in which we are immersed each day.
Diarmid O’Murchu
Jesus challenges us to look into our hearts,to examine the way we are neighbor,
to overcome our prejudices,to put an end to divisions,to stretch our generosity,
to overcome our fear of the mystery,to see God present in our everyday loving,
and to make the “reign” of love visible throughout the world.
Michael Morwood
“Philippians 2:5: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” The words call us up short as to what we are actually supposed to be doing on this path: not just admiring Jesus, but acquiring his consciousness.
Cynthia Bourgeault,
I’m concerned that our churches and Christians are more shaped by the political voices rather than helping to shape them.
Denis Edwards
The Christian life is not slightly better, but completely different.
Clarence Sexton
Religion is often used as a sword to divide, rather than as a balm to heal.
Jim Wallis
God calls us to go against the grain when the grain is going against God.
Tony Evans
Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.
Phillips Brooks