Put yourself in your neighbour's shoes

Welcome to my blog.

God speaks to us each day through the readings from the Holy Bible. These are chosen under the inspiration of God’s Spirit and provided for us by the Church founded and lead by the Spirit of Jesus.

You will find them here. If we take time daily to read, understand and in silence to pray from our heart, Jesus, through his Spirit, will nourish us and our life will be transformed.

Let us ask ourselves: what is God saying to me today through these readings?

May the Spirit of God be with you.

Tuesday 23 June 2020

Put yourself in your neighbour's shoes

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

2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36

I will shield and save this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah with this message: “Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all other countries: they doomed them! Will you, then, be saved?’”

Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then he went up to the temple of the Lord, and spreading it out before him, he prayed in the Lord’s presence: “O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire; they destroyed them because they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. Therefore, O Lord, our God, save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria: I have listened! This is the word the Lord has spoken concerning him:

“‘She despises you, laughs you to scorn,

the virgin daughter Zion!

Behind you she wags her head,

daughter Jerusalem.

“‘For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,

and from Mount Zion, survivors.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.’

“Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast up siege-works against it. He shall return by the same way he came, without entering the city, says the Lord. I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.’”

That night the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, and went back home to Nineveh.

Prayerful reflection

It is 701 B.C. King Hezekiah is in mortal anger. Sennacherib, king of Assyria with his army is approaching the gates of Jerusalem. He is determined to take the city and deport the inhabitants to the different parts of their empire. Scattered, they would not be able to rebel.

Hezekiah is a man of God and rules with faith in Yahweh. He puts his trust in him. He prays. Isaiah, the prophet speaks to him on behalf of God, saying all will be well. All was well and Jerusalem was spared. For whatever reason, Sennacherib left. He would never return.

The message that pervades the whole Bible and in the teaching of Jesus also is ‘what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear...Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Search first for the Kingdom of God and his justice and all these things will be given to you’. Not only in times of distress, but in times of plenty, we should live our lives in the presence of our loving Father. He even knows how many hairs are on our head, such is his care for us!

Not that we will not have suffering in our life. That is part of living in this fallen world. For those who live in faith and trust, ‘all will be well’ and we are and will be victorious. We look at Jesus in agony, on the Cross and then in glory at his Father’s right side. As with him, so with his faithful ones – all will be well.

If we live with Jesus in times of abundance, then we will experience his presence in times of hardship and ultimate victory will be ours, through him.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11

God upholds his city for ever.

Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised

in the city of our God.

His holy mountain, fairest of heights,

is the joy of all the earth.

God upholds his city for ever.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”

is the city of the great King.

God is with her castles;

renowned is he as a stronghold.

God upholds his city for ever.

O God, we ponder your mercy

within your temple.

As your name, O God, so also your praise

reaches to the ends of the earth.

Of justice your right hand is full.

God upholds his city for ever.

____________________

John 8:12

Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;

whoever follows me will have the light of life.

Alleluia, alleluia.

____________________

Gospel

Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

Prayerful reflection

We are coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. “Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before swine”. As there is no point in sowing seeds on hard and waterless soil, so there is no point in giving the message of Jesus to those whose hearts are hardened and unresponsive. Then what must we do? Leave them to their own fate? No. As we prepare a barren garden with digging, fresh soil, water etc, so we must fast and pray for those whose hearts are as yet not ready to receive the Word of Life. We remember St. Monica who prayed for years earnestly with tears for her wayward son, Augustine. God’s grace can move even the hardest of us. We do all we can, and in love surrender them to the all merciful God. Are we doing all we can for the salvation of others?

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”  In our treatment of others this is a simple rule to follow in order to know what to do. Let us put ourselves in their place and see what we would like others to do to us. Then let us do that. If you follow this scrupulously, your life will be transformed. But, are you willing?

                                                                                                            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,

you feed us with the Food of your Word

and the Food of the Holy Eucharist.

Grant in your mercy that nourished

by this divine bread,

we may come to our eternal home

we you.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ our Lord.