Introduction to Year A "Bottom Line" Meditations

I am sure you have heard it said, "Life is a journey." I believe this is true, not only in your physical or "Worldly" life, but is even more true of your spiritual or "Godly" life. The most important part of this journey is developing a better understanding of who God is and how to satisfy the yearning for a closer relationship with Him.

God has revealed Himself through biblcal scriptures. But many of these can be interpreted in multiple ways. In particular, we can interpret them in a literal or "Wordly" way or in a spiritual or "Godly" way. The easy way is to interpret them literally or in a "Worldly" way, but you have probably already found that this doesn't give you a better understanding of who God is. It leaves you with a bunch ideas that don't always make sense and quite often don't mesh with each other. If you really want to narrow the gap between where you are and where you want to be, you must learn how to discern the meanings of God's revelation of who he is in a spiritual or "Godly" way.

To assist you in your journey, I am publishing two posts per week during the Year A Church Calendar. Published on Mondays, the "Bottom Line" meditations are designed to help you understand the weekly meditations, published on Thursdays, in a more "Godly" way rather than the more typical "Worldly" way.

These "Bottom Line" meditations are short and will provide you with a different way of thinking about the week's scriptures discussed in the weekly meditation published the following Thursday. Each will illustrate an alternate "Godly" way of thinking about these readings. Ideally, you can take some time to ponder the difference it will make if you think about these scriptures in a "Godly" way versus a "Worldly" way. These meditations are short so that you can carry them in your mind during your daily routine and ponder the differences as you have time. Spending a few moments with each of these during your day will hopefully give you insights into their meaning and application. By doing this, I hope that your understanding of the meditations published on Thursday can be greatly enhanced.

These are also intended to spur a dialogue between us. Please, if you have any comments or questions, please take a little time to write them in the comments section below each publication. I will provide a reply as soon as I can. It is my desire that this dialogue can enhance both your and my spiritual or "Godly" understanding of these meditations.

Fr. Paul