Give us trust and oedience

Welcome to my blog.

The Catholic Church provides each day with God’s Word. If we put aside time each to read, meditate and pray over his Word we will come to know the truth and grow in love.

Here in my blog, you will find the readings from Bible chosen for us by the Church. The New Testament was written by members of the Church. It was the Catholic Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which decided which books were inspired and which not. We should read the Scripture listening to the Spirit, who inspired those who first wrote these words. May he speak to you too.

Saturday 27 June 2020

Give us trust and obedience

Ps 27: 8-9

The Lord is the strength of his people,

a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage,

and govern them for ever.

____________________

Prayer

Father in heaven, grant

that we may always reverence and love you,

for you never deprive of your guidance

those whose life is firmly founded on love for you.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.

First reading

Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19

Cry out to the Lord over the fortresses of daughter Zion.

The Lord has consumed without pity

all the dwellings of Jacob;

He has torn down in his anger

the fortresses of daughter Judah;

He has brought to the ground in dishonour

her king and her princes.

On the ground in silence sit

the old men of daughter Zion;

They strew dust on their heads

and gird themselves with sackcloth;

The maidens of Jerusalem

bow their heads to the ground.

Worn out from weeping are my eyes,

within me all is in ferment;

My gall is poured out on the ground

because of the downfall of the daughter of my people,

As child and infant faint away

in the open spaces of the town.

In vain they ask their mothers,

“Where is the grain?”

As they faint away like the wounded

in the streets of the city,

And breathe their last

in their mothers’ arms.

To what can I liken or compare you,

O daughter Jerusalem?

What example can I show you for your comfort,

virgin daughter Zion?

For great as the sea is your downfall;

who can heal you?

Your prophets had for you

false and specious visions;

They did not lay bare your guilt,

to avert your fate;

They beheld for you in vision

false and misleading portents.

Cry out to the Lord;

moan, O daughter Zion!

Let your tears flow like a torrent

day and night;

Let there be no respite for you,

no repose for your eyes.

Rise up, shrill in the night,

at the beginning of every watch;

Pour out your heart like water

in the presence of the Lord;

Lift up your hands to him

for the lives of your little ones

Who faint from hunger

at the corner of every street. THE WORD OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

The author, whoever he is, sits among the ruins of Jerusalem and the desolation of the city and the misery of the few who remain. The fate of Jerusalem in 587 BC is a sign for all, individuals or nations, who abandon the true God and worship their idols of wealth, power, fame and pleasure. The wages for sin are death, whoever we are. And the ultimate is eternal death. This is not the work or will of God, but the very nature of sin. We cannot live without God, who breathed the breath of life into us (Genesis 2:7) and through sin we deliberately cut ourselves off from the God of life (John 10:10). The people of this secular age are walking on the same road that the people of Judah walked before the destruction of Jerusalem. What are we to do? We are to begin with ourselves. As an individual I must not harden my heart, but listen to the voice of the Lord (Psalm 95). We must create families of love and faith. We must influence others as far as we can. We must pray for the world as our Blessed Mother warned us at Fatima and other apparitions approved by the Church. Are you so concerned for the future of the world that you will begin the reconstruction today?

Psalm

Psalm 74:1b-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21

Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?

Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?

Remember your flock which you built up of old,

the tribe you redeemed as your inheritance,

Mount Zion, where you took up your abode.

Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Turn your steps toward the utter ruins;

toward all the damage the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

Your foes roar triumphantly in your shrine;

they have set up their tokens of victory.

They are like men coming up with axes to a clump of trees.

Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

With chisel and hammer they hack at all the panelling of the sanctuary.

They set your sanctuary on fire;

the place where your name abides they have razed and profaned.

Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Look to your covenant,

for the hiding places in the land and the plains are full of violence.

May the humble not retire in confusion;

may the afflicted and the poor praise your name.

Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Matthew 8:17

Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ took away our infirmities

and bore our diseases.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 8:5-17

Many will come from east and west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour his servant was healed.

Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.

When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfil what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:

He took away our infirmities

and bore our diseases.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

The pagan military officer comes to Jesus. He is concerned about his servant and tells Jesus about him. He is seriously sick, paralysed and suffering greatly.

He does not ask Jesus to heal him or come to his house. He has trust in the mercy of Jesus. In accordance with this trust, it is Jesus who says he will come and heal him. This pagan is a model for us. Jesus always responds according to our trust in him. If you can trust in the goodness and love of Jesus, you are blessed and will be more blessed.

Not only does the officer not ask, but humbly professes that he is unworthy to receive Jesus into his home. ‘Just say a word. That will be enough’. He thinks in his own terms as a military officer. If he gives an order, then the soldier carries it out immediately. Jesus too can give an order to a sickness and that is enough. He realises that Jesus is all powerful and all merciful too. Do I have this trust? Do you?

The verdict of Jesus: he has found some faith among the chosen people, but nothing like this. To our shame. Jesus may find more faith outside the Catholic Church than in it. Jesus looks for humble trust today too. Those who have it, be they members of the true Church or some other Church, or no Church at all, are the blessed ones.

The Catholic Church is the true Church which has preserved the faith of the earliest Christians. However, just because we are members of it, does not mean that we are close to Jesus. The essence of the Christian faith is a personal relationship of love and trust in Jesus.  Without this, membership and ‘promotion’ in the Church has no value. Where do you stand?

Jesus healed everyone who came to him or were brought to him. Will he not do the same today? He is the same for ever (Hebrews 13:8). Trusting in his goodness, do you cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus? He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases. There are greater infirmities than physical sickness. He will always do the best for those who trust.

Jn 10: 11, 15

I am the Good Shepherd,

and I lay down my life for my sheep, says the Lord.

Prayer

Father in heaven, through the Bread of your Word

and the Bread of your Holy Eucharist,

you constantly nourish us.

We pray that we may receive this food

wholeheartedly and so receive the eternal salvation

you promise us.

We may our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.