WSC Reflection Guide 10/6-12/2024

OBEY THE COMMANDS OF THE LORD AND BE BLESSED! 

Word Sharing Circle (WSC) Reflection Guide

October 6, 2024 (Cycle B, Yr. II) – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Community Word: Following God’s will leads us to the glory of His Kingdom.

Theme: We are led to God’s Kingdom when we are always faithful to His commandments.

Promise: “Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!” (Ps 128:1) 

Reflection:

What is God’s kingdom? The kingdom of God is populated by souls who devote themselves to doing the will of God. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It occurs in every country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It arises in every community whenever someone feeds a hungry, or shelters a homeless person or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, correct an injustice or avert a war. Its manifestations are love, justice, and peace. 

It is the dominion of God in our hearts and primarily about relationships. Entering and remaining in the kingdom of God requires self-denial, humility and childlike faithfulness. This is the message of the Gospel reading and the community theme for the 27th Sunday in ordinary time which says – We are led to God’s Kingdom when we are always faithful to His commandments.  Faithfulness is the groundwork that bonds any relationship together. As with our BLD covenant, our relationship with God grows stronger when we remain faithful to Him and the first way to show our faithfulness is to believe in Jesus’ words and obey His commandments. 

There will be many good people turned away from entering the kingdom of heaven because they failed to acknowledge and follow the Lord’s commandments and His plan of life. They are more interested in following the doctrines of the men than they were in following the commandments of the Lord. We will know His commandments through constantly reading the Bible. As we study the Holy Scriptures, we should spend more time listening to His voice. We listen to seek guidance on how to model our life after His counsel, revealing it by our daily actions particularly in our relationship to others, on how we treat them. 

A faithful person is someone whom God can trust, in whose heart He can implant His laws and commandments, and who will carefully obey them in every detail. He is immovable; he does not waver. Whoever walks on the way of faithfulness also walks on the way of obedience in everything, that is, obedient to each commandment that God inscribed in our heart, always, without exception. Even if it is difficult and our feelings are against us, we should remain faithful. 

In many ways, we tend to follow only certain commandments and neglect to follow others. We ignore those that are difficult to obey, those commandments that challenge our comfort, convenience and our desire for pleasure. There are those that are opposite to what the world offers us. Thus, we need the power and grace of the Holy Spirit to give us strength and transformation to enable us to change our character and way of life, yielding our flesh to God’s will. 

As we serve our community, do we work for God in His way, fulfilling His commandments and doing His will? Let us be reminded of God’s promise for this week from the book of Psalms, “Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways!” (Ps 128:1). Self-will is a hindrance to merit the blessings that accompany our most zealous service. It is our holy fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, that encourages us to love, follow and serve Him and His people.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, make us Your faithful children. We need the grace of Your Spirit to empower us to remain obedient to Your commandments. We place our trust in You to continue to regenerate our hearts to be holy. Allow us to deeply hunger for Your word so that our minds are renewed against the temptations of the flesh and the world. Enable us to be always conscious that “you see all things and you will appropriately judge all things – either with blessings or discipline.” Lord, we believe that You go before us, be with us always. Keep us strong to face all temptations and adversities. Never leave nor forsake us. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Reflection Questions:

1. What are the areas in your life that prevent you from being faithful to God’s commandments? What specific sin (s) are you struggling to get rid of? 

2. In what ways can you overcome these obstacles? Are you mindful of God’s word and go to confession regularly? 

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:

Oct 6, 2024 (Sun) – Gn 2:18-24/ Ps 128:1-6/ Heb 2:9-11/ Mk 10:2-16

Oct 7, 2024 (Mon) – Gal 1:6-12/ Ps 111:1, 2, 7-10/ Lk 10:25-37

Oct 8, 2024 (Tue) – Gal 1:13-24/ Ps 139:1-3, 13-15/ Lk 10:38-42

Oct 9, 2024 (Wed) – Gal 2:1-2, 7-14/ Ps 117:1, 2/ Lk 11:1-4

Oct 10, 2024 (Thu) – Gal 3:1-5/ Lk 1:69-75/ Lk 11:5-13

Oct 11, 2024 (Fri) – Gal 3:7-14/ Ps 111:1-6/ Lk 11:15-26      

Oct 12, 2024 (Sat) – Gal 3:22-29/ Ps 105:2-7/ Lk 11:27-28 

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

Council of Servant Leaders

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Alfred S. Kudemus

CSL Secretariat

BLD Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16