Acting on the Word

Just a little shout out to my brother Bill on his birthday, October 9th. 

Bill, we will keep you in our prayers today.  Have a blessed and happy birthday--and keep the fire extinguisher handy! 

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Whether rich or poor, famous or unknown, talented or ordinary, whether popular or not - it doesn't matter what our state in life is - if we choose to listen to the word of God and act upon it, we're blessed. Part of listening is hearing properly - that is, spending enough time with the Word so that we know and understand what He says.




Too, we must take our guidance from teachers within the Church who help us to understand the word of God. Too much has gone wrong when we listen and go off on our own. Any idea that occurs to us in listening to the word of God should be tested by the solid grounding of Church teaching. One only needs to look at the Reformation to see how easy it is to go astray when we reject proper guidance.


Then after listening, we must act upon what we hear. Listening and saying, "Yep, that sounds good," and then turning up the television a little louder, isn't enough. The Gospel feeds action - action helping and loving all of God's children. Communion is the food that supports that action - we are fed by His Body and Blood; we are also fed by His word. But to properly "eat" the word, we must put it into action, otherwise it is the seed that falls on stony ground.


So, if today you hear His voice, harden not your heart - respond, even if only a little. A bud opens a little at a time to become a beautiful flower.