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.
Saturday 13
June 2020
Who is
willing to follow the Truth?
Ps 36: 30-31
The mouth of
the just man utters wisdom,
and his
tongue tells forth what is just;
the law of
his God is in his heart.
____________________
Father
in heaven, you are the source of everything good in our life,
grant
that we who call out to you in our needs,
may
open ourselves to your inspirations and see what is good
and
then by the strength you give us do what is good.
We
make our prayer through your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.
First reading
1 Kings 19:19-21 ·
Then Elisha left and followed Elijah.
Elijah set
out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was ploughing with twelve yoke
of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his
cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please, let
me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and I will follow you.” Elijah answered, “Go
back! Have I done anything to you?” Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of
oxen, slaughtered them; he used the ploughing equipment for fuel to boil their
flesh, and gave it to his people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah as
his attendant. THE WORD OF THE LORD
Prayerful
reflection
At
Sinai, God had told Elijah that he had chosen Elisha to be the prophet to succeed
him. He was God’s choice, but the call came through Elijah. God does many
things, but through his willing servants. Elisha too was a servant of the Lord and
immediately recognizing the call, follows Elijah. His first impulse is to tell
his parents he is leaving to follow his divine vocation. Elijah leaves him
free. He has obeyed the Word of God and called him. The response is left to Elisha.
His response is wholehearted. He sacrifices his oxen and uses the plough as the
wood for the sacrifice. There is no turning back. His response to the call of
God is complete. He follows Elijah, the man of God and becomes his disciple.
Elisha
could immediately follow Elijah because he was one of those who had not bent
his knee to the god Baal, but had been true to Yahweh (1 Kings 19:18).
Is the
crisis in the Church due to the fact that many Catholics also bow their knees
to the false god of the present age – desire for wealth, pleasure and comfort,
power and prestige. These are centred on self. If we give our life to
these, how can we follow the Prophet, in a life of sacrifice for others
and how can we give our life like him on the cross of unselfish and spiritual
service?
Who is
willing to give up everything for the sake of Jesus? _______________
Psalm
Psalm 16:1b-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10
You are my inheritance,
O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the Lord,
“My Lord are you.”
O Lord, my
allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
You are my inheritance,
O Lord.
I bless the Lord
who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the Lord
ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
You are my inheritance,
O Lord.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo
corruption.
You are my inheritance,
O Lord.
Psalm 119:36a, 29b
Alleluia,
alleluia.
Incline my heart,
O God, to your decrees;
and favour me
with your law.
Alleluia,
alleluia.
____________________
Gospel
Matthew 5:33-37
I say to you, do not swear at all.
Jesus said to
his disciples: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not
take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to
you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the
earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the
great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white
or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is
from the Evil One.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD
Prayerful
reflection
Jesus proclaimed
himself as THE TRUTH. “I am the way, the truth and the life”. We cannot know
fully the truth unless we know Jesus, because he is the Truth. Truth is to know
reality and to proclaim it. In Jesus we proclaim what is. This is to speak the
truth. We live in the ephemeral world and we live among others who do not know Jesus. Often they do not proclaim what is, for reasons that suit them. They proclaim as reality what is not reality. So often, we cannot tell whether
through their sinfulness what they say is the reality or not. If they have
faith in God and his judgement, then we ask them to confirm what they say by
calling God to verify their word. According to the faith they have, we can accept
what they say. Because we live in a
human world affected by sin, which comes from Satan the father of lies, then we
have to have people invoke God, the Father of all truth. But oath taking is due
to the fact that we are imperfect followers of Jesus at best. If I am perfectly
the follower of Jesus, then my ‘yes’ will truly be ‘yes’ and my ‘no’ truly be ‘no’.
About me, there will be no smell of Satan, the father of deceit.
Do you pray
for the Holy Spirit so as to become the true image of him who is the Truth and
the Life?
Ps 1: 2-3
He who
ponders the law of the Lord day and night
will yield
his fruit in due season.
Prayer
Father in heaven, heal us in body and soul,
that through your mercy, freed
from doing evil, we may become salt to the earth
and light in the darkness.
We make our prayer through your Son,
Christ Jesus our Lord.
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