February 7
"A human person...as we know, cannot be an object for use."
- Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II)
Today's Reflection:
Are there times when our focus on material possessions diverts our energy away from the people God has placed in our lives? Seek to find one way to focus less on things and more on people today.
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February 6
"And as [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'...And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions."
- Mark 10:17, 21-22
Today's Reflection:
Everything we own belongs to God. How do we cultivate a spirit of detachment in our lives and in our families?
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February 5
“In our language families and generations are called 'houses,' the Hebrews themselves called the generation of children 'building up a house.' In this sense it is said that God built up houses for the Egyptian midwives to show that raising a house -- that is, a family -- does not consist in building a splendid residence and storing up vast worldly possessions but in training children well in the fear of God and in virtue. No trouble or labor should be spared to do this, for children are their father's and mother's crown."
- St. Francis de Sales
Today's Reflection:
How do we "train" our children to have a proper perspective toward material possessions? Toward media? Toward their usage of time?
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February 4
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these."
-Matthew 6: 24-29
Today's Reflection:
Do you trust God? How is this evidenced in how you treat your material possessions?
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February 3
"So also you can possess riches without being poisoned by them if you merely keep them in your home and purse and not in your heart."
-St Francis de Sales
Today's Reflection:
How do we cultivate the type of detachment that is referred to in this quote from St. Francis de Sales?
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February 2
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world."
-1 John 2:15
Today's Reflection:
Are there any particular areas where you tend to "love the world?"
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February 1
"A greedy man stirs up strive, but he who trust in the LORD will be enriched...He who gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse."
- Proverbs 28: 25, 26
Today's Reflection:
In light of the passage above, do you feel that you have a proper attitude toward your material possessions?
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