Blessed are those who love the Lord

Welcome to my blog.

You will find here the daily readings from the Bible, chosen for us by the Catholic Church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

If we set aside a regular time each day to read, meditate and pray over the readings, we will receive the fruits of peace and joy. The Holy Spirit who inspired the passage in the first place, will inspire you too as you read in faith.

A prayerful reflection is given. I hope you may find it helpful.

Thursday 16 July 2020

Blessed are those who love the Lord

 Ps 16:15

As for me, in justice I shall behold your face;

I shall be filled with the vision of your glory.

____________________

Prayer

O God, who show the light of your truth

to those who go astray,

so that they may return to the right path,

give all who for the faith they profess

are accounted Christians

the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ

and to strive after all that does it honour.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

First reading

Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19 ·

'Awake and exult, all you who lie in the dust'

The path of the upright man is straight,

you smooth the way of the upright.

Following the path of your judgements,

we hoped in you, O Lord,

your name, your memory are all my soul desires.

At night my soul longs for you

and my spirit in me seeks for you;

when your judgements appear on earth

the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.

O Lord, you are giving us peace,

since you treat us

as our deeds deserve.

Distressed, we search for you, O Lord;

the misery of oppression was your punishment for us.

As a woman with child near her time

writhes and cries out in her pangs,

so are we, O Lord, in your presence:

we have conceived, we writhe

as if we were giving birth;

we have not given the spirit of salvation to the earth,

no more inhabitants of the world are born.

Your dead will come to life,

their corpses will rise;

awake, exult,

all you who lie in the dust,

for your dew is a radiant dew

and the land of ghosts will give birth.

TH WORD OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

The person who wrote this prayer was a devout believer in God who longed for God, to do his will and receive his blessings. Living twenty-five centuries later, we too can join him in his prayer. God does care for those who have trust in him. We can be relaxed.

Religion is nothing if it is not a mutual love relationship between God and the individual. Since God cannot be seen in this world, we search for him and long for him. In fact, life is a continual search for God, though we have confidence that he is here with us. He sees us and cares for us.

The author is praying this after the return from exile in Babylon. They are faced with the daunting task of rebuilding the ruined city and Temple. They are poor and have opposition from non-Jews living there. And so he prays, ike a woman in child-birth, we too have suffered great pain, but we have brought forth no child – we the chosen people have not brought salvation to the world nor brought people to you. The chosen people of the Old Testament like the chosen people of the New have a mission to the world.  Jesus is the source of Salvation for the world, but it comes through his body the Church.

We notice and incipient belief in the life with God after death. ‘Your dead’ will come to life. God will never fail those who have trust and listen to his Word. The great example of this is Jesus himself. Like us in all things, as man he lived a life of faith without having any knowledge of the future. However, he loved and lived for God and always did his will even at the cost of the Passion and Death. He didn’t know that he would rise, but he had total trust in his Father that he would not fail him, but would give him back his life in glory as a reward for his life of loving obedience throughout his life. His trust was not belied. God raised him from the grave to his own right hand.

Do you follow in the path of the devout believers of the Old Testament and of Jesus, the leader in our faith (He.12:3) in the New?

 Psalm

Psalm 101(102):13-21

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

You, O Lord, will endure for ever

and your name from age to age.

You will arise and have mercy on Zion:

for this is the time to have mercy,

for your servants love her very stones,

are moved with pity even for her dust.

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

The nations shall fear the name of the Lord

and all the earth’s kings your glory,

when the Lord shall build up Zion again

and appear in all his glory.

Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;

he will not despise their prayers.

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

Let this be written for ages to come

that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;

for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.

He looked down from heaven to the earth

that he might hear the groans of the prisoners

and free those condemned to die.

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

____________________

Ps129:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

Alleluia!

____________________

Gospel

Matthew 11:28-30

My yoke is easy and my burden light

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

These couple of sentences reveal the merciful face of God, made visible in Jesus. He is the visible likeness of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

He invites us to come to him in prayer and most of all in the Holy Eucharist, where we can meet and experience his love for us. We respond by living a life pleasing to him. The aim of our life becomes only to think, speak and act in order to please him. This is the yoke, and love makes it light and enjoyable. Love changes everything in life. Love for Jesus will change our everyday life with others, and give life a joy which cannot be found elsewhere.

Do you dare to search for Jesus who is the human embodiment of love?

Cf. Ps 83: 4-5

The sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for her young:

by your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Blessed are they who dwell in your house,

for ever singing your praise.

Father in heaven, you shower us with gifts

at every moment. Grant that through them

we may grow in love for you.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ our Lord.