TOPIC:
THANKSGIVING
NEW YEAR’S EVE 2022, Luke 12:22-31, December
31, 2022
1) STORY
Recently two friends, John and Bob,
were walking on the beach when they had an argument and Bob slapped John. John then wrote in the sand, “My best
friend slapped me in the face.” As
they continued to walk on the beach, Bob saved John who had fallen into a small
river. John then carved these words into a stone, “My best friend saved me from
drowning.” Bob asked his friend why he
wrote one message in the sand and carved the other message on a stone, John
replied that “hurts” should be written in the sand where the “winds of
forgiveness” will erase the hurts; but when someone
helps you, it should be carved in stone. There it will always be
remembered. Now they understood what to
forget and what to remember.
2) GOSPEL: Luke 12:22-31
A) GOD’S BLESSINGS
God
blesses us with life, food, clothing, housing, and all the necessities we need to
live a normal life. “God knows what we
need.”
B)
STRIVE FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Jesus
tells us that we have to work for the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. We learn from the Our Father that the kingdom
comes “when thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of God will come when we obey God.
3) APPLICATION TO LIFE
A) GRATITUDE
We
must thank God for his many material blessings such as food, clothing, and a
place to live. We must thank God for his
many spiritual blessings such as Jesus, our faith, the word of God to instruct,
the Eucharist to give us spiritual food, and the sacrament of confession to
wash away our sins.
B)
PRAY FOR GOD’S KINGDOM
We pray for the coming of the kingdom of God by
asking God to help us forgive and forget the hurts we have received during the
year. We ask God to help us to remember
all the blessings that we have received.
Forget the hurts but remember the blessings.
4) CONCLUSION
As we end this year, we thank God for
all his material blessings and his spiritual blessings. We ask God to help us forget the hurts and
remember our blessings. This is how we strive for the kingdom of God.
