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.
Monday 22 June 2020
Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect
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 17:5-8,
13-15a, 18 ·
In his great anger against Israel, the
Lord put them away out of his sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left.
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land and attacked
Samaria, which he besieged for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, king
of Israel the king of Assyria took Samaria, and deported the children of Israel
to Assyria, setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan, and the
cities of the Medes.
This came about
because the children of Israel sinned against the Lord, their God, who had brought them up from the land of
Egypt, from under the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and because they
venerated other gods. They followed the rites of the nations whom the Lord had cleared out of the way of the
children of Israel and the kings of Israel whom they set up.
And though the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every
prophet and seer, “Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and
statutes, in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers
and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,” they did not listen, but
were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who had not believed in the Lord, their God. They rejected his
statutes, the covenant which he had made with their fathers, and the warnings
which he had given them, till, in his great anger against Israel, the Lord put them away out of his sight.
Only the tribe of Judah was left. THE WORD OF THE LORD
Prayerful reflection
At the time of Rehoboam, son of
Solomon, the one kingdom of Israel under David and then Solomon was divided
into two kingdoms. Ten tribes of the north revolted and established their own
kingdom with its capital in Samaria. Judah was in the south. Its capital was
Jerusalem. We are here learning the fate of the northern kingdom of Israel. In
721 BC it was captured by the Assyrians and all leading people were taken into
exile. Other people from other countries conquered by the Assyrians were
settled in Samaria. Thus, with pagans living among them, their faith is further
adulterated.
The reason for the fall of the northern
kingdom given by the author is that the people have fallen away from the true
worship of Yahweh and embraced pagan gods. It is not just a matter of
worshipping some idol, but embracing the pagan practices regarding sex, lust
for wealth, and violation.
In the modern age we may not worship
man-made wooden idols, but many have other idols. They are the idols of this
secular and faithless age. So many ‘worship’ the pagan sexual practices of the
modern age, the lust for wealth and luxury, the hedonism of our times. The
teaching of the prophets was that to follow these is the way to destruction.
Only faithful worship of God, in Christ, will keep us free and give us ultimate
victory. This must be the clear message
of the Church. As in the time of the prophets, people did not listen, so people
may not listen today.
Do you listen to God speaking to us
today through his Church? Do you keep yourself free from the corrupting
idolatry of our age?
Psalm
Psalm 60:3, 4-5,
12-13
Help us with your right hand, O Lord, and answer us.
O God, you have rejected us and broken our defenses;
you have been angry; rally us!
Help us with your right
hand, O Lord, and answer us.
You have rocked the country and split it open;
repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
You have made your people feel hardships;
you have given us stupefying wine.
Help us with your right
hand, O Lord, and answer us.
Have not you, O God, rejected us,
so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?
Give us aid against the foe,
for worthless is the help of men.
Help us with your right
hand, O Lord, and answer us.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Hebrews 4:12
Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
Alleluia, alleluia.
____________________
Gospel
Matthew 7:1-5
Remove the wooden beam from your eye
first.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be
judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you
measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your
brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you
say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the
wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye
first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s
eye.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD
Prayerful reflection
“no one can tame the tongue— a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. With it we bless the LORD and Father, and with it we curse those who
are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing”.
(James 3:8-10). “Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to
keep the whole body in check with a bridle” (3:2).
We hardly know what is in our own heart. How, then, can we know
what is the heart of another? We cannot, therefore, judge the intentions or
disposition of the inner spirit of another person. We cannot say whether they
are a saint or a sinner. How many times, others have misjudged our intentions!
By their fruits only you will know them – over a long period of time, we may
come to know the inner intentions of another by seeing their works and hearing
their words. Can we never judge another? I cannot judge your heart, unless you
reveal it to me. However, I can see what you do and I can hear what you say. I
judge what I see and hear and declare whether they are in accordance with the
teaching of Jesus or not. If they are not, I should say so. Even then I should
say it with gentleness and love, for I do not know the intentions of your heart
from which your actions or words flow. Furthermore, love demands that I build
you up and not cast you down into despair.
Again, if we are honest, we will know that we too have made many
mistakes. We may have made the same mistakes, at some time, as the brother or
sister we are judging now. Let us not judge the actions and words of others, as
if we were totally innocent. We then become guilty of hypocrisy – the one sin
that is condemned by Jesus. Let us also not judge the actions of others
harshly, because tomorrow we may do the same sinful action. We are all weak and
liable to fall.
Do you speak about others, not to help them grow, but to indulge
yourself? Remember as you pass sentence on others, so sentence will be passed
on you. Do you remember that one day every idle word you have spoken, even,
will be judged? Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (Matt
5:7)
Jn 10: 11, 15
I am the Good Shepherd,
and I lay down my life for my sheep, says the Lord.
____________________
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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