A Prayer for Continued Progress

04 Thursday Sep 2025

Tags

Body of Christ, church, Colossians 1:9-14, Faith, Grace, Holiness, Meditation, Prayer, Resolution, Scripture

A reflection on Colossians 1:9-14

The first Scripture reading for today is from Colossians and, in my New American Bible, it’s labeled, “Prayer for Continued Progress”. In it, St. Paul affirms that he and Timothy continue to pray for the Church in Colossae for growth in holiness. My first thought as I read this was that it is a great prayer to say for the men to whom I serve as their Spiritual Mentor. And then I thought why limit it to just those ten men, why not pray it for all my friends and all the faithful in my parish? Then, why stop there, why not pray it for the entire body of Christ?

Thinking I had just determined what my resolution would be for today to do God’s will, I began to wrap up my prayer time. But then the thought came to me, what if someone else is praying this same prayer and it is me who is the object of their prayer? Am I doing all that they are desiring of me for growth in holiness? With that, I had to reopen my Bible and read the passage again from a personal point of view.

“Therefore, from the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding…” (v.9).

Do I know His will for me? Can I articulate it? Do I spend time daily in prayer discerning His will and resolving to do it that day?

“…to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing [to Him]…” (v.10a)

Do I live my life in a manner that is worthy of Jesus and in a way that pleases Him?

“…in every good work bearing fruit…” (v.10b)

Do my actions and the way I live my faith bear fruit for the Kingdom? Am I doing what I need to do to bring Jesus to others or bring others to Jesus?

“…and growing in the knowledge of God…” (v.10b)

Do I consistently make the effort to grow in understanding my faith and grow in my relationship with the Lord? Do I have a good grasp of our Catechism and knowledge of the saints?

“…strengthened with every power, in accord with His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy…” (v.11)

Do I receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist regularly so as to be strengthened to face the trials of day to day life, to be patient and humble when things don’t go my way, and yet find joy in not only the process but the outcome?

“…giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.” - (v.12)

Am I grateful for all that God has given me, even those things which I did not choose, didn’t like, and couldn’t change because He knew them to be in my best interest?

“He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” - (vv. 13-14)

Do I believe and accept that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was for my redemption, that He has forgiven my sins, and do I attempt to lead a sinless life but repent when I fall short?

Wow! That was an exercise I hadn’t planned on today! A line from a Jerry Jeff Walker song, “The hardest thing for a man to do is look inside and see the truth about himself” easily came to mind. Yeah, there are some things I do better than others, but I really need to work on a couple of these.

In reading this passage, what is God putting on your heart to ask yourself? What can you work on today to grow in holiness?

“Generous and loving God, thank You for letting me see how I can use Your Word in today’s Scripture for not only the benefit of others but my own as well. I pray for the grace to work and improve on the one or two that need prompt attention. Amen.”

(A Prayer for Continued Progress was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

©2013-2025 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.

The Big Stuff

06 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Faith

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Big Stuff, Body of Christ, Eucarist, Faith, Friendship, God, Grace, Jesus, Love, Marriage, Mass, Thanksgiving

I don’t know if it’s just the time of year, or the change in the weather, or some straggling ragweed still in the air, but I felt puny all last week. I decided to take Friday off and I made a 9:15 a.m. appointment to see my doctor. On Thursday night before bed I told my wife that I was looking forward to sleeping in an extra hour or two. Then she asked me if I would like to go to 7:30 a.m. mass with her, something I never get to do because of my work hours. I replied I would be glad to, but then thought to myself I need to change that “hour or two” of extra sleep to just one hour.

Melinda woke before me on Friday morning and was already down stairs when I rolled out of bed. We met up after I showered and dressed and, unlike every normal work day, I had a chance to give her a big hug and good morning kiss. I growled, “I love you”, in my broken voice that was about two octaves lower than normal. Melinda replied, “You don’t sound too good!”, to which I said, “I feel great, I got an extra hour of sleep and I’m getting to hug you this morning. My day is starting off fabulously!” She responded, “Boy, it just takes little stuff to get you feeling good.” I didn’t tell her but I thought, “No, darling, this isn’t little stuff. This is big stuff. This is why I decided I’m going to retire. These little moments of intimacy are the big reward. They’re what makes life worth living.”

We went to mass and got there a couple minutes late. I seldom get to go to weekday masses and always get a little confused with the slightly abbreviated version as compared to the usual Sunday mass. In one way I miss the hymns (the people around me probably didn’t miss my singing!) but then without them it gets me to the Celebration of the Eucharist that much quicker. Receiving Holy Communion is always the high point of my day. As I accepted the Blessed Sacrament I marveled at how that one little round disk, which just a few moments earlier was simply a wafer of bread, can, with its transformation, transform one’s whole life. And, then, with a glance towards the crucifix which hung above the altar, I thought, “That’s not just a little round wafer of bread, no, that’s BIG stuff! Bigger than BIG! It is truly the body of Christ!” Upon kneeling back at my pew I gave thanks to Jesus for the unity with Him, for His nourishing my spirit, for His forgiveness of my sins and for the grace to avoid sinning, and for giving me the grace to listen to the Holy Spirit and let it fill my heart with love. Yeah, that’s real big stuff. It’s what makes life worth living.

Later that afternoon, I had the opportunity to join a friend to talk about our faith. We meet weekly to share with each other how our prayer life has been going over the last week, what we’ve been doing to study and grow our faith, and what actions we have taken to spread the word of God or bring Christ to others. We’ve found that this weekly exercise helps us hold each other accountable so that we don’t get lazy in our faith. It only takes an hour. To some it may seem like small talk, but to me it’s that man to man time when we can be honest with each other and we know that we can trust the other to help keep us on the right path. More big stuff. And, more of what makes life worth living.

I love the big stuff. How about you? What’s your big stuff?

“Heavenly Father, thank you for opening my eyes to the big stuff in life and helping me decide to turn away from the things that have kept me from the big stuff. As I move into retirement I pray that I can always keep the big stuff the big stuff. But, Lord, I know I will lose focus from time to time and I pray you will gently bring me back. Amen.”

(The Big Stuff was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic.)

©2016 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.