Experience the love of the Lord

 

Welcome to my blog. Peace be with you.

God like a loving parent needs to correct us so often. His corrections are painful at the time, but if we welcome them in the spirit that he gives them, then we will grow. Our lives will flourish like the cedars of Lebanon.

5 December 2020

Experience the love of the Lord

 

First reading

Isaiah 30:19-21,23-26 ·

The Lord God will be gracious to you and hear your cry

Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

People of Zion, you will live in Jerusalem and weep no more. He will be gracious to you when he hears your cry; when he hears he will answer. When the Lord has given you the bread of suffering and the water of distress, he who is your teacher will hide no longer, and you will see your teacher with your own eyes. Whether you turn to right or left, your ears will hear these words behind you, ‘This is the way, follow it.’ He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork. On every lofty mountain, on every high hill there will be streams and watercourses, on the day of the great slaughter when the strongholds fall. Then moonlight will be bright as sunlight and sunlight itself be seven times brighter – like the light of seven days in one – on the day the Lord dresses the wound of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left.

 

Prayerful reflection

The Jews had a hard and difficult history. Everything destroyed by the Babylonians they were taken into captivity. This the prophets saw as the loving punishment of God. He wanted to open their eyes so that he could eventually send his Son as one of them. They needed to come back to true worship and praise. Once repentant, then God could bless them in every way.

Likewise, for us. If we just do our own thing regardless of the God who loves us to the point of becoming one of us and dying in anguish on a cross, then left to ourselves we will have a similar history to that of the Jews. But if we repent, his overflowing love will embrace us.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Sin is foolishness and self-destruction. Out of love he punishes us but then we have learnt wisdom, he binds up our wounds.

Psalm 146(147):1-6

Happy are all who hope in the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

Praise the Lord for he is good;

sing to our God for he is loving:

to him our praise is due.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem

and brings back Israel’s exiles.

Happy are all who hope in the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

He heals the broken-hearted,

he binds up all their wounds.

He fixes the number of the stars;

he calls each one by its name.

Happy are all who hope in the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

Our Lord is great and almighty;

his wisdom can never be measured.

The Lord raises the lowly;

he humbles the wicked to the dust.

Happy are all who hope in the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

 

Gospel

Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8

The harvest is rich but the labourers are few

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.

And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.’

 

Prayerful reflection

Jesus hasn’t changed. If you sit before him before the Blessed Sacrament or before him in the quiet of your room, he looks on you with love. Wherever you are he looks on you and feels the pain of your suffering. He also knows what is best for you and is able to do it. Open yourself to his love. Let his love do what it sees you really need. The love of Jesus gives meaning to our lives. We are precious to him. He cares deeply about each of us. He gave his life on the Cross and would do it again for you alone, if it were necessary. He is our God. We can relax and rejoice.

We too can be a source of love and healing for others. Our loving words and actions can bring peace and joy to otherwise suffering people. If we have a close relationship with Jesus he will bring great healing to others through us. Not only for our own selves but for the good of others, we should be close to Jesus in love. He is the source of life and we become the channel of life.