Information & Resources For this Six Week Bible Study

Catechism of the Catholic Church, free online version click here: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

Although Lysa illustrates in her videos the bible version her scriptures are sourced from, if you are Catholic we take our scripture readings from the New Revised Standard Catholic Edition - OR - Douay Rheims.

To use the free online version of NRSCE visit https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-Revised-Standard-Version-Catholic-Edition-NRSVCE-Bible/ and type in any of the scripture passages Lysa uses in her video.

Why do Catholics use a different bible? Great question - you can find the answer using this link…

https://aleteia.org/2021/12/02/why-is-there-a-difference-between-catholic-and-protestant-bibles/

this is a self guided book study

Welcome to Week One

This week our goal is to read chapter 1 to 3 in the Uninvited Book

“In the quiet of an early morning, honesty finds me. It calls to me through a crack in my soul and invites the real me to come out, come out, wherever you are. Not the carefully edited edition of the me I am this year. No, honesty wants to speak to the least tidy version of the woman I’ve become. The one I can’t make look more alive with a few swipes of mascara and a little color on my lips.

Honesty is a suitor with piercing vision who isn’t swayed by pretending and positioning. I can try and make things appear better than they seem, but honesty will have none of it. So, I throw my hair in a messy bun and let my face stay splotchy. I don’t suck in my stomach or whiten my teeth or spritz on some perfume. I simply emerge.”

Excerpt from Chapter One of Uninvited

This week's statement to hold on to

Live from a deep assurance that you are fully loved... live loved!

Wisdom of the Catholic Catechism

The Importance of Living According to the Beatitudes

CCC 1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.

CCC 1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it: We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.

“How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.” ~ St. Augustine

“God alone satisfies.” ~ St. Thomas Aquinas

CCC 1719 The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith.

Reflection Questions

Too often we allow our rejections to scream louder than the truth of God’s Word. Read Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

1. What do you think means to be renewed by God’s love? Have you rehashed your hurts more than you’ve rejoiced in God’s love? How can Zephaniah 3:17 help you change your pattern? What is a daily way you can dwell in the deep assurance of God’s love so His voice is the loudest in your life?

   Mission Statement: I am going to deal with my rejection, but I am not going to dwell on them. I will dwell on the loving declarations of God’s love. Therefore, I can live loved.

2. Think about the past twenty-four hours. What got in the way of your living loved? Did anything help you to live loved? If so, what?

   Mission Statement: I will reconnect with the One who knows how to breathe live and love into my dead, depleted places by embracing a slower rhythm and delighting in Jesus.

3. What do you typically turn to when you don’t feel loved? List of those things in your journal. Make a mental note of one point on your list that you desire to change.

   Mission Statement: I will submit the point I most desire to change to the Holy Spirit, trusting in the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to me at Baptism and strengthened through Confirmation.

   This week pray one decade of the rosary, specifically the “Second Glorious Mystery” to obtain the spiritual fruit of “Christian Hope”. Turning to Mary’s intercession may we be blessed by this grace and renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Please include, in this prayer, an extra Hail Mary at the end of your decade for all participants in this study. To pray for one another is a spiritual work of mercy.

Week Two

This week our goal is to read chapters 4-8

tHIS WEEK’S STATEMENT TO HOLD ONTO

“I can choose to bring my emptiness or God’s fullness into any situation I face.”

Reflection Questions

1. Do you walk into situations like a shepherd, eager to love Jesus more than these, free to look for ways to bless others? Or do you walk in looking for ways for others to bless you? What part of the video had the most impact on you?

   Consider This: Bring an inviting spirit to fill the room with the loving presence of God. Feed the lambs. It’s our choice. We can bring the fullness or the emptiness. Each day is a new day, deciding not to live uninvited but to live in God’s fullness.

2. Think of a situation when you had a choice to walk into it full of Christ, living loved and looking for ways to bless others, or to walk in looking for others to bless you in your emptiness. What choice did you make? What were the results? What would you do differently, next time, if anything?

   Meditation on this question: Is quietness a welcome break? Or an uncomfortable void?

3. Choose one situation you can remember where you felt blessed by quietness or unnerved by it. In light of the lesson this week, do you think you would perceive the situation differently?

This week pray one decade of the rosary, specifically the “Fifth Glorious Mystery” to obtain the spiritual fruit of “Perseverance”. Turning to Mary’s intercession may we be blessed by this grace and renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Please include, in this prayer, an extra Hail Mary at the end of your decade for all participants in this study. To pray for one another is a spiritual work of mercy.

Wisdom of the Catholic Catechism

We have the Fullness of God in the Liturgy with The Communion of the Holy Spirit

CCC 1108 In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body. the Holy Spirit is like the sap of the Father's vine which bears fruit on its branches. The most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Church is achieved in the liturgy. the Spirit who is the Spirit of communion, abides indefectibly in the Church. For this reason the Church is the great sacrament of divine communion which gathers God's scattered children together. Communion with the Holy Trinity and fraternal communion are inseparably the fruit of the Spirit in the liturgy.

CCC 1109 The epiclesis is also a prayer for the full effect of the assembly's communion with the mystery of Christ. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit"have to remain with us always and bear fruit beyond the Eucharistic celebration. the Church therefore asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of the faithful a living sacrifice to God by their spiritual transformation into the image of Christ, by concern for the Church's unity, and by taking part in her mission through the witness and service of charity

CCC 1110 In the liturgy of the Church, God the Father is blessed and adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and salvation with which he has blessed us in his Son, in order to give us the Spirit of filial adoption.

“Lord, You are teaching me so much about trusting You. Fully. Completely. Without suggestions or projections I’m choosing to embrace the very next thing You show me. I’ll take this first step. And then I’ll take the next. I finally understand I don’t have to fully understand each thing that happens for me to trust You. I don’t have to try and figure it out, control it, or even like it, for that matter.

In the midst of uncertainties, I will just stand and say, “I trust You, Lord.” I visualize me taking my fear of rejection from my incapable clutches and placing my trust in Your full capability. And as I do, I make this all less about me and more about You. I replace my fragile efforts to control with Your fortified realities.

You are the perfect match for my every need. I am weak. You are strength. I am unable. You are capability. I am hesitant. You are assurance. I am desperate. You are fulfillment. I am confused. You are confidence. I am tired. You are rejuvenation. Though the long path is uncertain, You are so faithful to shed just enough light for me to see the very next step. I now understand this isn’t You being mysterious. This is a great demonstration of Your mercy.

Too much revelation and I’d pridefully run ahead of You. Too little and I’d be paralyzed with fear. So, I’m seeking slivers of light in Your Truth just for today and filling the gaps of my unknown with trust. TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited (p. 65). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited (p. 65). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Week Three

This week our goal is to read chapters 9 - 11

“I pulled out my journal today and tried to capture the raw essence of what makes rejection so awful. But in the end I couldn’t capture the depth of it with finely crafted words. Instead of diving deep with my thoughts, I let them come in simple, personal phrases.

I like stability. I don’t like getting caught off guard.

I like feeling known. I don’t like feeling thrown away.

I like for people to believe the best about me.  

I don’t like being misunderstood.

I like feeling that my presence draws people close.

I don’t like feeling that they saw me but pretended they didn’t.

I like to be liked.

I don’t like to be left out or walked away from.

I like feeling that this person is my person.

I don’t like knowing this person was my person but is not any longer.

As I kept making this list, one line finally emerged that seemed to sum up rejection better than the others: I don’t want my normal to be snatched away. Life feels impossibly risky when I’m reminded how unpredictable circumstances can shatter and forever change what I know and love about my life.”

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited (p. 76). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

This week’s statement to hold onto

The Yolk of God is Freedom: Attention… Intention… Prevention

“Abigail spoke her words of truth in the tone of grace. After all, remember David was leading a mob of four hundred men with drawn swords to kill Nabal and all the males who belonged to him. And there were two hundred others who had stayed back to watch the supplies but were just as thirsty for a bloody revenge. But that’s not who David was at his core. David was a man who belonged to God. So she spoke to who he was, not how he was acting in the moment:

 • You are a fighter of the Lord’s battles. (You are known. You matter to the Lord.)

 • The Lord has a plan for your dynasty to last. (You are important.)

• Someone is pursuing you to take your life, but God has a plan to keep you safe. (You are valuable.)

• Remember what God did when you hurled that stone from the pocket of a sling toward Goliath. God was faithful that day and is faithful this day too! (You are secure.)

Abigail soothed the deep wound Nabal had reopened. In counseling terms this is called “the corrective experience.” She revisited the hurt place of David’s heart with healing words that corrected or rewrote the lies that had wounded him so deeply.” Uninvited, page 100

Refection Questions

1) Remember a time where you reacted poorly to a rejection you experienced. Think about your original intention. What happened to that intention once you were rejected? Did the emotion of the situation make you say or think things that you otherwise would have never expressed? (for example: you intended to give and receive love in a relationship. Instead, when you that person rejected you, you spewed hurtful things about him or her on social media. Or, even if you didn’t post those things on social media, maybe you entertained those hurtful thoughts about the person. Your intention wasn’t to ever say or think those hurtful things, but rejection’s pain sidetracked your real intention.)

2) Spend a few minutes pouring out your heart to God on paper about an experience of rejection that is still painful for you. Tell God what you feel, where your attention is, what your intention was, and how that worked out. Tell God what you need from Him in this painful place.

ROSARY PRAYER

The decade of the Rosary that we are going to focus on this week is the first Joyful Decade, The Annunciation — for the Spiritual Fruit of Humility. To act with the prudence that Abigail did, in the stressful situation she faced due to an imprudent spouse, took tremendous humility. We know, through scripture, that Abigail’s humility won David’s heart and God blessed her. Let us pray for greater humility when faced with difficult situations and the grace pause and pay attention, remember our intention, and exercise prevention in letting the situation get out of hand. Humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought,’ are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. (CCC 2559)

Catholic Catechism

The Lords Prayer… “as we forgive those who trespass against us”

Wisdom of the Catholic Catechism

CCC 2842 This "as" is not unique in Jesus' teaching: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"; "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful"; "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." It is impossible to keep the Lord's commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make "ours" the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Then the unity of forgiveness becomes possible and we find ourselves "forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave" us.

CCC 2843 Thus the Lord's words on forgiveness, the love that loves to the end, become a living reality. The parable of the merciless servant, which crowns the Lord's teaching on ecclesial communion, ends with these words: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." It is there, in fact, "in the depths of the heart," that everything is bound and loosed. It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession.

CCC 2844 Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high point of Christian prayer; only hearts attuned to God's compassion can receive the gift of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world, love is stronger than sin. The martyrs of yesterday and today bear this witness to Jesus. Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children of God with their Father and of men with one another.

CCC 2845 There is no limit or measure to this essentially divine forgiveness, whether one speaks of "sins" as in Luke (11:4), "debts" as in Matthew (6:12). We are always debtors: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another." The communion of the Holy Trinity is the source and criterion of truth in every relationship. It is lived out in prayer, above all in the Eucharist.

God does not accept the sacrifice of a sower of disunion, but commands that he depart from the altar so that he may first be reconciled with his brother. For God can be appeased only by prayers that make peace. To God, the better offering is peace, brotherly concord, and a people made one in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SHEEP

“A sheep can’t be trained to lie down the way a dog can be. Sheep lie down only when they have had sufficient food and water, are not in danger from predators, and are not afflicted by biting insects. Sheep can graze on the dry, brown grass of summer, but the best grazing land is green grass near a source of still water. Green grass is available in Israel for about three months a year, so this ideal food source is a rare blessing. Sheep won’t drink from a swiftly flowing stream. They are afraid of rushing water, so the shepherd has to find still water or dig a dead-end channel off from a stream, where still water will pool. Grazing land often has many faint trails worn down by countless flocks over the years, and sheep easily stray onto the wrong path. A good shepherd goes looking for them and leads them back onto the right path toward home. It would be terribly dangerous to try to lead sheep through one of the many narrow, deeply cut ravines in Israel. They could easily drown in an unexpected rush of water unless the shepherd knows of a safe trail through the area. The shepherd’s rod is a weapon to protect the sheep from thieves and wild animals. It is about two and a half feet long with bits of iron embedded in the head. The shepherd’s staff is longer with a crook in one end, and is used to guide the sheep. It can also hook a lamb to lift it out of danger.” 2 2 Kenneth E. Bailey, The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 37–52.

Week Four

This week our goal is to read chapters 12-14

“There’s a common thread that weaves through Hannah’s story, and yours and mine. We all desperately want something that we see the Lord giving to other women. We see Him blessing them in the very areas He’s withholding from us. And while these other women may not be obnoxious like Peninnah in their reminders of their blessing and our lack, it’s increasingly painful each time we see a reminder. We look at them, and we feel set aside. Why them? Why not me? Then the seemingly unjust silence from God ushers us from a disturbed heart to weeping with bitterness of soul. And we start to feel something deep inside that comes in conflict with everything we hold true. If God is good like we talked about in chapter 2, why isn’t He being good to me in this?”

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited (pp. 113-114). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

This week’s statement to hold onto

“I’m not set aside, I’m set apart.”

Discussion Questions

1) How do you deal with these prayers to which God has said “no” or “wait”?

a) I’m still asking persistently

b) I’ve buried this desire in my heart and tried to move on

c) I’ve decided that God has said “no” and I’m trying to be at peace with that

d) I’m frustrated that God is not responding

e) I’m blaming myself for the lack of answer

f) Other (describe it)

2) How do you view God in light of these prayers to which He hasn’t said “yes”? Have you grown at all suspicious of Him, doubting His love for you? Or do you have some other view of Him?

3) What possible good may come from your having to wait for the answers to your prayers? How could you grow? What is one good thing you can learn? How could others benefit?

4) Disqualified. Unworthy. Foolish. Selfish. Isolated. Not important enough. Not good enough. Insignificant. Too demanding. Left out.

When we label ourselves like this, we orchestrate a rejection by God, when in reality He isn’t rejecting us at all. He’s merely waiting to answer our prayer at the best time, or He’s saying no because that will be best for us in the long run. What label(s) are you tempted to put on yourself because of an unsatisfied prayer or a painful rejection?

Wisdom of the Catholic Catechism

Part Four Christian Prayer

2562 Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain.

2563 The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.

2564 Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man.

2565 In the New Covenant, prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Kingdom is "the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human spirit."Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ's love.

Week Five

This week our goal is to get caught up on our reading and try to finish up to chapter 16. Next week we will focus on the lessons in chapter 15, our hand outs will be on the bonus chapter “what’s it like to do life with me.”

Chapter 14

“It only takes a teaspoon of rejection to drown an otherwise very alive soul with sorrow. Its poisonous flow has such a sharp potency that cuts through skin and bone. In milliseconds it gets into the very core of our chests, causing oxygen to be blocked, and suddenly a hollowed-out urgency for air sets in.

We don’t give air much thought breath to breath, day to day, until it’s taken from us. Love is like air in that way. When relationships are good there seems to be so much life, we hardly remember what a gift it is. But the minute love packs its things and walks away, the atmosphere seems depleted of all that air.

A desperate, wide-eyed panic envelops us right down to the cells of our souls. And we find ourselves choking on utter emptiness. And the worst horror of all is you’re wide-awake for the entire experience. Though you can feel the best parts of you dying, your collective whole is forced to keep going. And even when time allows you to find your breath again, it leaves behind deeply gnarled scars.

Constant reminders that love is doubly edged with the most beautiful potential and the most dangerous pain. Being intimately aware of both means breathing is no longer the effortless habit it once was. Doubt sets in. Fear entangles. Every breath takes way more effort than it ever did before.

We’re no longer standing in that moment of being rejected, but we’re not on the other side of it either. It’s the desperate in-between. And it’s at this exact place where we must make a crucial choice…

If we place our hope and future in the hands of our unchanging, unflinching God who never leaves us or forsakes us, we’ll find healing and freedom.”

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited (pp. 172-173). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

This week’s statement to hold on to

Resisting God’s promises will make us forget God’s presence. But resting in God’s promises, and reciting God’s promises, will help us remember God’s presence.

Reflection Questions

In Mark 6:30-52 we see the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Jesus put the disciples on a boat to Bethsaida to go on ahead of Him, while He remained to pray. The disciples found themselves in rough water because the wind was against them. Read Mark 6:30-52. Try to picture the scene in your mind, what small details jump out at you as you reflect deeply on the story.

What does Jesus want you to learn and take to heart from this story, so that you don’t have a hardened heart about it?

What would you do differently in your life if you truly applied this insight to yourself?

“Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24

What are some tangible ways you can put off your old nature and put on the new nature?

JESUS ISN’T RUNNING FROM YOUR MESS. HE’S CLIMBING INTO THE BOAT WITH YOU

Think about a situation you are currently facing that seems like a mess. Here are some good questions to ask ourselves:

• Information » Have I sought out God’s truth regarding this situation?

• Application » Have I applied God’s truth without compromise to this situation?

• Transformation » Do I now own this truth as a personal revelation from God to use in future situations like this?

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited Study Guide (p. 99). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Wisdom of the Catholic Catechism

THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON THE VIRTUES

CCC 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.

The cardinal virtues

CCC 1805 Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal"; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. "If anyone loves righteousness, [Wisdom's] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage. These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.

CCC 1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is going. Keep sane and sober for your prayers.” Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.

CCC 1807 Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the "virtue of religion." Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor.

CCC 1808 Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. "The Lord is my strength and my song." "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

CCC 1809 Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. "Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites." In the New Testament it is called "moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world."

To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence).

Week Six

Here we are at our last week together. This week we wrap up our reading including the bonus chapter “What’s it Like to do Life with Me?”

Bonus Chapter “What’s it Like to do Life with Me?”

““Above All Else, Guard Your Heart, for Everything You Do Flows from It” This Deals with My Attitude Have you ever interacted with a know-it-all? Know-it-alls see themselves as a resident expert on almost every topic and are very bold with their opinions. As a matter of fact, they don’t see the thoughts they express as opinions at all. They feel all that they share are absolute facts and aren’t shy about shooting down contradictory ideas. Does someone’s face pop into your mind as you read that description? Me too! Actually, a couple of people fall into that description for me.

Now, mentally shift your criticism of them to a place of grace for a bit. And let your own picture be the one you see matched with this description. I know, I know, this doesn’t perfectly describe you. But what piece of it does? Usually at least one relationship we have brings out little bits of the know-it-all in us. Seek to see it, even if it’s just a hint of it, and determine to try something the next time it starts happening: Guard your heart from the many slippery slopes. One of the most damaging elements in relationships is pride. That need to be the expert, the right one, the most knowledgeable—it pulls us down into a pit of pride we probably would never label as such. And because pride is so hard to see, here’s a hint of how to know it’s there: The less we feel we need to address pride in our lives, the more it has already blinded us.

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited (p. 217). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

This week’s statement to hold onto

Lessons from the Olive: The oil is coming, and where there is oil, there is the potential for light.

Reflection Questions

Lysa prayed, “Yet not what I will, but what you will” about her father’s rejection of her. She prayed it to let go of wanting to change her past. What events of your past do you need to let go of in this way?

Part of letting go and not letting rejection define you is to allow it to develop you and direct you to Jesus. How do you see this being worked out in your life?

What are the benefits that come from praying this prayer and meaning it?

What life lessons can we learn from each of the following facts about the olive?

a) In order to be fruitful, the olive tree needs both the harsh east wind from the desert and the refreshing west wind from the sea

b) The olive is too hard and bitter to eat in its natural state. To become edible, it has to be washed, broken, soaked, and sometimes salted. This all takes time.

c) The most valuable part of the olive, the oil, comes only when the olive is pressed and pressed again.

TerKeurst, Lysa. Uninvited Study Guide (p. 124-126). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Catholic Catechism

Christ the physician

CCC 1503 Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has visited his people" and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins; he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of. His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and you visited me. "His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them.

CCC 1504 Often Jesus asks the sick to believe. He makes use of signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands, mud and washing. The sick try to touch him, "for power came forth from him and healed them all." and so in the sacraments Christ continues to "touch" us in order to heal us.

CCC 1505 Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world," of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion.

"Heal the sick . . ."

CCC 1506 Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn.113 By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them."

CCC 1507 The risen Lord renews this mission "In my name . . . they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." and confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking his name.116 These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly "God who saves."

CCC 1508 The Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing so as to make manifest the power of the grace of the risen Lord. But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all illnesses. Thus St. Paul must learn from the Lord that "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," and that the sufferings to be endured can mean that "in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church."

CCC 1509 "Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies. This presence is particularly active through the sacraments, and in an altogether special way through the Eucharist, the bread that gives eternal life and that St. Paul suggests is connected with bodily health.

CCC 1510 However, the apostolic Church has its own rite for the sick, attested to by St. James: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [presbyters] of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." Tradition has recognized in this rite one of the seven sacraments.