Yesterday I attended a Matthew Kelly talk. Have you ever heard him speak? He does presentations all around the country and he also has many CDs and books that he has produced/written. You can take a look around his website or there might even be some available at your local parish.
I wanted to share some of my favorite points the Matthew made during yesterday's talk.
He began talking about the qualities of people who are engaged. The first is that they are hungry for "best practices", the second is that they are committed to continuous learning. The got me thinking not only about my religion but also about the people who I manage. Looking through the lens of the qualities, I can really identify the people around me who are engaged in what they are doing. The ones who want to do the best job correctly, and constantly want to learn more. These are the people I want to surround myself with.
Among the three areas that he talked about hearing the ordinary voice of God every day, he mentioned getting some time in the classroom of silence. The noise of the world consumes us and we are not listening for God anymore. The three areas where we should be listening are our legitimate needs, our talents and abilities, and our deepest desires.
One of the strongest points Matthew made that will stick with me for a long time is about what some people say about Jesus. There's little doubt that you have heard different people and even different religions say that Jesus was only a great prophet and teacher. Here's the thing though...Jesus said he was the Son of God, so if you deny that he was the Son of God, you are saying that he was a liar. Would you call a liar a great prophet and teacher?
Of course there were many other things that Matthew spoke about and I took a lot of notes, but these are a couple that I wanted to share.
Speaking of notes, we were given a little notebook to take notes in and on every page there were quotes and sayings by various people. Here are some of my favorites:
“Anyone or anything that does not help you become the-best-version-of-yourself is too small for you.” ~Matthew Kelly
“Some people are going
to like me and some people aren’t, so I might as well be me. Then, at least, I
will know that the people who like me, like me.” ~Hugh Prather
“The dictionary is the
only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay
for success. I think you can accomplish
almost anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” ~Vince Lombardi
“We who lived in
concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting
others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in
number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man
but one thing: The last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any
given set of circumstances – to choose one’s own way.” ~Victor Frankl
“The challenge life
presents to each of us is to become truly ourselves – not the self we have
imagined or fantasized about, not the self that our friends want us to be, not
the self our ego would have us be, but the self God has ordained us to be from
before we were in our mother’s womb.” ~Matthew Kelly
“What lies behind us
and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Christ is God in the flesh, sent as a sacrifice for all man kinds sins. wow think on that,we accept a free gift of salvation for his sacrifice,blood sacrifice. wow we don't have to do penance, work faith, schooling in belief, nothing. just believe he is Lord. i for one don't deserve
ReplyDeleteThe Church understands that we are all sinners in need of a savior (Rom 5:12-21). We are inheritors of original sin and all its consequences, and by actual sin we distance ourselves from God. We can't save ourselves, but we don't need to: Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sins. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation comes through Jesus alone (Acts 4:12), since he is the "one mediator between God and man" (1 Tm 2:5-6).
DeleteThe saving grace won by Jesus is offered as a free gift to us, accessible through repentance, faith, and baptism. We turn away from our sins, we are sorry for them, and we believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel. Repentance shows our willingness to turn from things that keep us from God, and baptism renews us, filling us with the grace necessary to have faith and to live it. This belief is more than just "head knowledge." Even the demons have that (Jas 2:19). It's more than just believing you're saved. Even the Pharisees had that (Jn 5:39). True, saving faith is one lived and exhibited daily: It is "faith working through love" (Gal 5:6, cf. Jas 2:1-26).
Sometimes the Church is accused of teaching "salvation by works," but this is an empty accusation. This idea has been consistently condemned by the Church. Good works are required by God because he requires obedience to his commands (Mt 6:1-21, 1 Cor 3:8, 13-15) and promises to reward us with eternal life if we obey (Mt 25:34-40, Rom 2:6-7, Gal 6:6-10, Jas 1:12). But even our obedience is impossible without God's grace; even our good works are God's gift (Rom 5:5, Phil 2:13). This is the real biblical plan of salvation.
(From Catholic Answers - http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/what-is-the-catholic-understanding-of-the-biblical-plan-of-salvation)