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.
Monday 15
June 2020
To have the
mind of Christ Jesus.
Ps 26: 7,
9
O Lord, hear
my voice, for I have called to you; be my help.
Do not
abandon or forsake me, O God, my Saviour!
Prayer
Father,
strength of those who hope in you,
graciously
hear our prayers,
and, since
without you, we can do nothing,
grant us
always the help of your grace.
May we always
follow your commands
and so please
you by our resolve and our deeds.
We
make our prayer through your Son,
Christ
Jesus our Lord.
____________________
First reading
1 Kings 21:1-16 ·
Naboth has been stoned to death.
Naboth the
Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of
Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in
exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” Naboth
answered him, “The Lord forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.” Ahab went home disturbed and
angry at the answer Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him: “I will not give you
my ancestral heritage.” Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and
would not eat.
His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, “Why
are you so angry that you will not eat?” He answered her, “Because I spoke to
Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or, if you
prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’ But he refused to let me have
his vineyard.” His wife Jezebel said to him, “A fine ruler over Israel you are
indeed! Get up. Eat and be cheerful. I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite for you.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and, having
sealed them with his seal, sent them to the elders and to the nobles who lived
in the same city with Naboth. This is what she wrote in the letters: “Proclaim
a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. Next, get two scoundrels to
face him and accuse him of having cursed God and king. Then take him out and
stone him to death.” His fellow citizens –the elders and nobles who dwelt
in his city – did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing, through the
letters she had sent them. They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head
of the people. Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation, “Naboth
has cursed God and king.” And they led him out of the city and stoned him to
death. Then they sent the information to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to
death.
When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned
to death, she said to Ahab, “Go on, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth
the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you, because Naboth is not alive, but
dead.” On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the
vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. THE WORD OF THE
LORD
Prayerful reflection
The world
we live is an evil place. The powerful oppress the weak as in today’s reading. If
the weak try to resist, they are dealt with as was Naboth.
The problems
we face are not sent by God. They are the result of evil people. This is how
sin is the cause of all the sufferings, we endure.
God is
the judge of all people. God’s people must stand up and defend those who are
unjustly oppressed by the rich and powerful.
Elijah
will hear of this crime and he will not remain silent. Nor should we. Elijah
will not be afraid to condemn the king to his face for the evil he has done.
Do you
take the part, as far as you can, of the weak and oppressed, the orphan, the
widow and refugee, anyone who is suffering at the hands of others?
Psalm (A prayer of one suffering injustice at the hands of others)
Psalm 5:2-3ab, 4b-6a, 6b-7
Lord, listen to my
groaning.
Hearken to my words, O Lord,
attend to my sighing.
Heed my call for help,
my king and my God!
Lord, listen to my
groaning.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
Lord, listen to my
groaning.
You hate all evildoers.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the Lord
abhors.
Lord, listen to my
groaning.
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A lamp to my
feet is your word,
a light to my
path.
Alleluia,
alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 5:38-42
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
Jesus said to
his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is
evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him
as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your
cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him
for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on
one who wants to borrow.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD.
Prayerful reflection
The law of
Moses allowed retaliation, but only to the extent of the original injury. One tooth
for another, one eye for another but no more. As Mahatma Gandhi comments, the
result of this law is that in the end, everyone will be blind and toothless. Jesus
opens up a new vista in human relationships. It is a magnanimous attitude in
imitation of the attitude of God revealed in Jesus. It is not that we become a ‘door
mat’ for everyone to treat us as they like. When Jesus himself was struck on the
face by a mere soldier, he did not let it pass without condemning the action. But
he refused to repay in the same coin. His was the way of non-violence. We are
to love our enemies. We will not approve of their sin, but we will love them. Love
for them involves doing good to them, e.g. walking another mile. Non-violence,
means we will not resist, and so offer the other cheek. Jesus did exactly this
in the Passion.
What must we
do, in order to be like Jesus who did not slavishly undergo his Passion, but freely
underwent it for our sake?
Do you see
religion as embracing God’s attitude towards human beings, as revealed in Jesus?
Ps 26: 4
There is one
thing I ask of the Lord, only this do I seek:
to live in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Prayer
Father, from the beginning you entrusted
your Word to your Church. Grant that we may
always listen to your Church and so be one
in our understanding of the Scriptures.
We make our prayer through your Son,
Christ Jesus our Lord.
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