The mystery of God in us

Welcome to my blog. Peace be with you!

You will find here, daily readings from the Scriptures with a prayerful reflexion. Reading slowly and prayerfully the Word of God is the way to get into contact with Him. The reflection may help you turn to God, who has revealed himself in his Son, Jesus, himself God.

I follow the sequential readings given us by the Catholic Church for each day.

The Word of God is like the rain. As the rain bring fruitfulness to the earth, may his Word bear abundant fruit in your life.

I will be happy to receive your comments and also any question you may have about the Scriptures or the Catholic Faith.

Monday 27 July 2020

The mystery of God in us 

Cf. Ps 67: 6-7, 36

God is in his holy place,

God who unites those who dwell in his house;

he himself gives might and strength to his people.

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Prayer

Father in heaven, you protect all those who put their hope in you.

Without you we are nothing. Pour down your mercy upon us,

so that we may use the good things of this world

in accordance with your will,

while keeping our minds on the eternal treasures

that await us.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.

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First reading

Jeremiah 13:1-11

Let this evil people become good for nothing

The Lord said this to me, ‘Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it round your waist. But do not dip it in water.’ And so, as the Lord had ordered, I bought a loincloth and put it round my waist. A second time the word of the Lord was spoken to me, ‘Take the loincloth that you have bought and are wearing round your waist; up! Go to the Euphrates and hide it in a hole in the rock.’ So I went and hid it near the Euphrates as the Lord had ordered me. Many days afterwards the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to the Euphrates and fetch the loincloth I ordered you to hide there.’ So I went to the Euphrates, and I searched, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. The loincloth was spoilt, good for nothing. Then the word of the Lord was addressed to me, Thus says the Lord: In the same way I will spoil the arrogance of Judah and Jerusalem. This evil people who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the dictates of their own hard hearts, who have followed alien gods, and served them and worshipped them, let them become like this loincloth, good for nothing. For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I had intended the whole House of Judah to cling to me – it is the Lord who speaks – to be my people, my glory, my honour and my boast. But they have not listened.’

Prayerful reflection

Jeremiah gives the people of Jerusalem this parable. However, it is not a parable in words but in actions. The parable reveals the sorrow of God over his chosen people. They are to be to him, like a loin cloth – the inner clothing which covers the most private parts of an individual. Outer clothing, we may share with others, but this we do not. It is special and intimate to us. Likewise, the Israelite people for God. They are his close and intimate possession. But they have failed him and abandoned him and been ruined in the process.

Likewise, today, God in Christ Jesus wants to have a unique and intimate relationship with each of his chosen ones. He loves each of us in a unique and intimate way. He longs for our response. His relationship with you is for you alone. Each has his/her own experience of his love.

Can you say with the psalmist, ‘On my bed I remember you, on you I muse through the night. My soul clings to you and your right hand holds me fast’? (Ps. 63)

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Psalm

Deuteronomy 32:18-21

You forget the God who fathered you.

You forget the Rock who begot you,

unmindful now of the God who fathered you.

The Lord has seen this, and in his anger

cast off his sons and his daughters.

You forget the God who fathered you.

‘I shall hide my face from them,’ he says

‘and see what becomes of them.

For they are a deceitful brood,

children with no loyalty in them.

You forget the God who fathered you.

‘They have roused me to jealousy with what is no god,

they have angered me with their beings of nothing;

I, then, will rouse them to jealousy with what is no people,

I will anger them with an empty-headed nation.’

You forget the God who fathered you.

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2Th2:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Through the Good News God called us

to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Matthew 13:31-35

The smallest of all seeds grows into the biggest shrub of all

Jesus put a parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’

He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’

In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy:

I will speak to you in parables

and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.

Prayerful reflection

Jesus himself is the exemplar of the mustard seed. He begins his mission to renew the whole of creation as a newborn in a stable in Bethlehem. Then he lives until he is thirty as a daily labourer in a remote village. For two to three years he wanders as a preacher without power, political influence and money and finally is killed as a criminal on a cross outside Jerusalem. To bring about the new creation, could there be anything more unlikely? But, as in the mustard seed there is a secret inner force, so in Jesus there is the hidden power of God.

It is the same with all who are in Christ Jesus. Fidelity and oneness with him are required. Then the power of God in him will do its work in us.

Let us not be afraid to work for him in an insignificant way. If we are in him, then he will be in us and we can expect great fruit. (John 15).

Ps 102: 2

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and never forget all his benefits.

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Prayer

Father in heaven,

through your Word

you give us instruction and food for our life.  

grant that we may not harden our hearts,

but listen to you daily. May your Word

bear fruit in our life.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus our Lord.