Do not be afraid

Welcome to my blog.

For our daily spiritual nourishment, the Catholic Church, under the Spirit’s inspiration, gives us readings from the Scriptures. You will find them here along with a prayerful reflection upon them.

The Spirit who inspired the author, will also inspire us if we read his Word with an open and humble heart.

May God bless you as your read.

Saturday 11 July 2020

Do not e afraid

Ps 47: 10-11

We have received your merciful love, O God,

 in the midst of your temple.

Your praise, O God, like your name,

reaches the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with saving justice.

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Prayer

Father in heaven, who through the abject humiliation

of your Son on the Cross,

have saved a world bent on self-destruction,

fill with holy joy all those

you have liberated from the yoke of sin

and grant them everlasting happiness

in your Kingdom.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.

First reading

Isaiah 6:1-8 ·

I am a man of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft.

They cried one to the other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it and said, “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” THE WORD OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

This is the call of Isaiah the prophet to speak on behalf of God to the people of his day. He most probably describes here his spiritual experience of the awesomeness and utterly otherness and transcendence of God which he received in prayer. God is the Holy One. He rises so much above us so that kings and rulers are as nothing before him. The whole universe before God, Isaiah will proclaim, is no more than a speck of dust on the scales. We need to pray for this overwhelming experience of the majesty of God, so that we too are filled with awe and holy fear. We are nothing before him.

In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, as we enter into the very presence of God during the Eucharistic Prayer and the Consecration, we too cry out with Isaiah, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth filled with your glory. Hosanna in the highest.” Let us proclaim this with the same awe that Isaiah felt. It is the same reality. It only looks different.

In the presence of the Transcendent God, every creature realises their sinfulness and imperfection. That is why those who are a close to God, feel compelled to confess their sin and failings. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the preparation for our entering into God’s presence. Only God can make us worthy to come close to him.

Yet God, whom no human can see and live, and who is totally other and distant from us, has in his love emptied himself of his fearful glory and become a simple human being. He is Jesus, a man like us in every way. He sits with us. He talks to us. He invites to come to him – come to me all you who labour and are over-burdened and I will give you rest.

God is not someone to be argued about. In Jesus we meet him as the Mighty God, who loves and cares and who is Mercy itself – the One who loves and forgives those who in no way deserve to be loved or forgiven. He pours out his mercy on us every time we come to him. Have you approached him today? Having met him, do you reveal to others God’s face of mercy?

Psalm

Psalm 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

The Lord is king, in splendour robed;

robed is the Lord and girt about with strength.

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty

And he has made the world firm,

not to be moved.

Your throne stands firm from of old;

from everlasting you are, O Lord.

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty

Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:

holiness befits your house,

O Lord, for length of days.

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty

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1 Peter 4:14

Alleluia, alleluia.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,

for the Spirit of God rests upon you.

Alleluia, alleluia.

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Gospel

Matthew 10:24-33

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! “Therefore, do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

This is the final part of Jesus’ instructions to us before we set out on our mission. He has already told us that we are entering into battle – I am sending you like sheep among wolves. Things will be difficult. We are his disciples and so we look to our Master. He has gone before us. He was ridiculed, called a blasphemer, betrayed by a friend, unjustly accused and even more unjustly condemned to a cruel and barbarous death on a cross. He says to us, if they have treated the Master like that, how will they, then, treat his disciples? Open persecution, hidden hatred and discrimination, ridicule or complete indifference?

But Jesus says three times in this passage, “Do not be afraid. Go ahead. What you hear in secret proclaim from the housetops. Don’t be afraid of human beings. They can only kill your body, but you rise triumphant. They cannot kill you. “I love you, O LORD, my strength.  The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18).

Let us note that the command of God most given in the Bible is “Do not be afraid”. We are not to be afraid because is our shield and our salvation. He gives eternal life to all who are faithful to him and shares his Resurrection with them.

Does the presence of Christ Jesus give you courage under all circumstances?

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Mt 11: 28

Come to me, all who labour and are burdened,

and I will refresh you, says the Lord.

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Prayer

Grant, we pray, O Lord,

that, having been nourished by your Word,

we may gain the prize of salvation

and never cease to praise you.

Through Christ our Lord.