Change (1 Jn 2:24) by Bishop Thomas John Paprocki

02 Jan Change (1 Jn 2:24) by Bishop Thomas John Paprocki

Welcome God now with this LIFE Group Devotion (FB), provided by LIFE Runners (FB). Leaders. Guest Authors.
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“Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.” ~ 1 Jn 2:24 (full readings)
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Bishop Paprocki’s Reflections: Looking back at this past year, the horrendous shootings that took place on December 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, will cast a dark shadow on the whole year. President Barack Obama was absolutely correct when he said the following words at the Sandy Hook Prayer Vigil on December 16: “We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.” Yes, we must change, but that change must start with placing our faith in God and following His commandments. Therein, however, lies one of our nation’s greatest challenges. With the teaching of religion banned from public schools and with so many parents who don’t take their children to church or teach them about God, where do children learn about the commandments that come from God? Where do they learn that it is a mortal sin to break the fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”? Public schools can teach children that murder is against the law, unless it is perpetrated against a baby in his or her mother’s womb or to end the life of a terminally ill person (in certain states), but they can’t teach that God’s punishment for murder is eternal damnation and suffering in hell. The kind of change we need to end these atrocities is to put into practice what we have heard from the beginning about God’s commandments and let that teaching remain in us.
*Bishop Thomas John Paprocki is the Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. He has run 19 marathons, including the St. Louis Marathon with the LIFE Runners in October. He and his brother Joe have finished writing a book called Holy Goals for Body and Soul: Eight Steps to Connect Sports with God and Faith. It will be published in early 2013 by Ave Maria Press at Notre Dame.
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Faith Challenge: It is no wonder that Blessed Pope John Paul II years ago prophetically called ours a “culture of death.” So we must change. We must promote a culture of life and peace.
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Counter-Culture News: LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel.
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Our Prayers: Prayer to end abortion. LIFE Runners Creed. Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, etc. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day: Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.
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Faith Quote: In his message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “The attainment of peace depends above all on recognizing that we are, in God, one human family. . . . Thoughts, words and gestures of peace create a mentality and a culture of peace, and a respectful, honest and cordial atmosphere. There is a need, then, to teach people to love one another, to cultivate peace and to live with good will rather than mere tolerance. A fundamental encouragement to this is to say no to revenge, to recognize injustices, to accept apologies without looking for them, and finally, to forgive, in such a way that mistakes and offenses can be acknowledged in truth, so as to move forward together towards reconciliation.”
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Sincerely yours in Christ,
+Bishop Thomas John Paprocki