Catholic Daily Reflections 16 December 2021 | Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Topic: The Promptings of God
(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors, who were baptized with the baptism of John, acknowledged the righteousness of God; but the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.) Luke 7:29–30
Catholic Daily Reflections 16 December 2021 Message
You’ve got to take a step in faith in order to grow in faith. This could be the lesson of today’s Gospel. It could be the lesson of this Gospel because those who stepped out in faith and were baptized by John also “acknowledged the righteousness of God.” Those who refused to accept the baptism of John also “rejected the plan of God for themselves.”
If we apply this same truth to our own lives, we should be able to find that it applies in many ways. First of all, we were already baptized into Christ, so we are not called to the baptism of John in a literal way. But the “baptism of John” could also be seen as an initial invitation from the Holy Spirit in our lives.
For example, if we feel God saying, “Read this book” and we ignore that prompting, we may be rejecting much more of the plan of God for our lives than we realize. Or if we sense God calling us to forgive that person, or spend more time in prayer, or spend extra time with family, etc., and we do it, we may find that it opens the door to many more wonderful graces in our lives.
Reflect, today, upon that which God is calling you to do or to accept as from Him. Even if it seems insignificant, don’t reject that initial invitation; rather, embrace it wholeheartedly. In that embrace you may just find that God blesses you in abundance in ways you never imagined.
Lord, help me to enter in to Your daily invitations in my life. May I always discern Your holy will and live it without reserve. Jesus, I trust in You.