Some Strong Coffee !

There is nothing like a hot cup of coffee to get you started in the morning.  The aroma gets the blood flowing even before you get the first scalding sip past your lips.  When your body feels that first sip it recognizes its old friend caffeine and brain cells all of a sudden snap on and you are finally awake and ready to take on the day.  Well the reading at Mass today from Philippians 3: 8-14 can do for our soul what coffee does for our brain. This reading becomes a shot of espresso for our soul once we read the first few sentences and use the proper Greek translation for one word. It does not change the meaning of the text but I think that it enhances it and strengthens it.  The beginning of the reading reads as follows:  "More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus  my Lord. For his sale I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him,,," 

The word we need to change is rubbish. The Greek word that is used here actually translates as "sewage."  The word sewage is much stronger than rubbish and I think it shows Paul considered Christ more important than anything.  Lest you think I am some sort of Greek scholar, I am not.  I gleaned this coffee bean from the homily at Mass yesterday. 

This is just food for thought. What place do we give to our relationship with Jesus in our life?  Is it the most important thing? Is it maybe in the top ten?  Or do we just think about it on Sunday morning as we sit in Church waiting for it to be over so we can tear into a jelly doughnut? 

This reading and the young deacon (man he looked young) that shared this nugget of wisdom with me has forced me to think on how much importance I place on my relationship with the Lord.  I know he is in the top ten, but if I was going to be honest I could not say that at this moment he is number one in my life.  This of course is something I will have to work on. 

I am going to challenge you today to think about the place of Christ in your life. Are the burdens of day to day life taking precedence or are we inviting Jesus into the little fiddly bits our life?  Are we letting his wisdom show us the way or are we picking and choosing? 

In this season of lent we have the luxury of time to reflect. I for one am going to examine my spiritual life and how it mates with my physical life. Where do I and Jesus connect?  Where do Jesus and I disconnect?  It's going to be a long process I am sure but in the end it will be worth while.  

God bless you today.  Catholics - here is a suggestion to get you started.  Have you been to confession lately?  Try it, taking out the garbage and receiving the forgiveness of Christ is certainly a good starting place.