Thursday - June 15, 2017
Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.
-- Saint Teresa of Avila
-- Saint Teresa of Avila
TODAY'S READINGS
June 15, 2017
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 362
Reading 12 COR 3:15—4:1, 3-6
Brothers and sisters:To this day, whenever Moses is read,
a veil lies over the hearts of the children of Israel,
but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom.
All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
as from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown us,
we are not discouraged.
And even though our Gospel is veiled,
it is veiled for those who are perishing,
in whose case the god of this age
has blinded the minds of the unbelievers,
so that they may not see the light of the Gospel
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,
and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus.
For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness,
has shone in our hearts to bring to light
the knowledge of the glory of God
on the face of Jesus Christ.
Responsorial PsalmPS 85:9AB AND 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (see 10b) The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
AlleluiaJN 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 5:20-26
Jesus said to his disciples:"I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother,
Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."
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Lifting the Veils that Blind Us
If we identify the veils or blinders that we wear, we can become free of them, because the Holy Spirit teaches us what we need to know. Some veils take a while to peel off -- it's a process that might require inner healing, counseling, talking it over with a spiritual director, or waiting for time to reveal further details. But some veils are removed as soon as we choose to stop limiting ourselves to our own understanding and start relying on the Holy Spirit.
When I was young, I spent seven years believing the lies of the occult. I'd been seeking the supernatural reality of God, and I thought I had found it in psychic phenomena, but this led me further and further away from God until I completely lost interest in being a Christian. After Jesus lifted my veils, the Holy Spirit taught me truths I had previously been unwilling to believe.
Another veil is fear. FEAR is "False Evidence Appearing Real". Ask yourself: "What message is fear telling me?" Then ask: "And what is the truth that the Holy Spirit is telling me?" This usually lifts the veil immediately.
Anger is another veil. It usually starts with a wound that someone has inflicted upon us; it's lifted when we choose to forgive, whether the person who sinned against us shows remorse or not. While we're angry, we lose sight of the goodness -- the Jesus -- that dwells within that person. Jesus describes the eternal consequences of this in today's Gospel passage. If we die with any unreconciled relationships, we'll have to be purged of our unforgiveness before we can experience the fullness of God's love in heaven, i.e., we'll go through purgatory until we've "paid the last penny".
Rebelliousness and insisting on doing things my way are veils that interfere with "being transformed from glory to glory into the image of Christ." Picking which Church teachings to live by and which to reject is such a veil.
Another veil is selfishness, which holds us back from experiencing the awesome glory of being Christ's hands and feet in this world by loving and serving others. And addictions veil us from the reasons we need to be healed. Co-dependencies veil us from an unimaginably wonderful and intimate dependence upon Jesus. Materialism veils us from the peace of simple living. Anxiety and worry veil us from the discovery of how much really God cares.
And so on. What veils are you wearing today?
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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