Wednesday - July 19, 2017
Oh how precious time is! Blessed are those who know how to make good use of it. Who can assure us that we will be alive tomorrow? Let us listen to the voice of our conscience, to the voice of the royal prophet: "Today if you hear God's voice, harden not your heart." Let us not put off for one moment to another what we "should" do, because the next moment is not yet ours!
-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
TODAY'S READINGS
July 19, 2017
Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 391
Reading 1EX 3:1-6, 9-12
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.
There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire
flaming out of a bush.
As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush,
though on fire, was not consumed.
So Moses decided,
"I must go over to look at this remarkable sight,
and see why the bush is not burned."
When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely,
God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
He answered, "Here I am."
God said, "Come no nearer!
Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place where you stand is holy ground.
I am the God of your father," he continued,
"the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
The cry of the children of Israel has reached me,
and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people,
the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God,
"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh
and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
He answered, "I will be with you;
and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you:
when you bring my people out of Egypt,
you will worship God on this very mountain."
Responsorial PsalmPS 103:1B-2, 3-4, 6-7
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD secures justice
and the rights of all the oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
AlleluiaSEE MT 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 11:25-27
At that time Jesus exclaimed:"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."
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Healing our Image of God's Fatherhood!
It is through Jesus that we discover what God the Father is really like. Otherwise, our heavenly daddy is obscured by the images of human fathers and other parental figures that we've known. Their flaws and failures, limitations and sins get unconsciously projected onto God as we try to perceive and understand our Creator.
Regardless of how wonderful they were, these people have been imperfect role models of what the Perfect Father is like. We see God the Father as the disciplinarian of the Holy Trinity, and because we assume that he's like the human fathers who pushed for better grades on our report cards, we think that God condemns us for our imperfections -- even the smallest ones, even the mistakes that are not sinful.
Our human fathers loved us insufficiently, no matter how great they were as dads. And so we need to differentiate between human authority figures and the True Father. Only Jesus can show us what the True Father is really like, for as he says in today's Gospel reading, "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son reveals him." We should project Jesus -- and no one else -- onto the Father to perceive and better understand our Creator.
If we're doing our best to live a holy life, making sure we keep our eyes on Jesus, the Father becomes so real, so close to us that we melt into his loving embrace. Trusting him becomes natural. All our fears, worries, anger, and the hurts of life dissolve in his arms.
Jesus has given you to the Father. And he gives the Father to you. You are no longer your father's child; you are your Father's child. The most loving, the most caring, the most powerful Daddy in the universe has adopted you as his very own.
Just as it was for Jesus the Son, you are a son or daughter who is meant to have a wonderful Father-Child relationship, unblemished by the imperfections and sins of human relationships. This Father is your Dear Papa, the only Fully Loving Parent (which includes all the nurturing traits of motherhood), and he believes in you. He not only loves you, he likes you. He appreciates you. The Father cries when you're hurting and comforts you in his big, secure lap. He knows how hard you've been working to improve yourself. He understands your shortcomings and has unending patience for you. He admires you for your efforts, even the failed ones.
Can you sense the compassionate closeness of this invisible Father? Can you feel his non-physical yet protective embrace? Can you hear him quietly reassure you that he knows how good you truly are? You know you need this. To experience it, prayerfully contemplate the differences between God and the imperfect humans you've known. Increase your prayer time to become aware that you're sitting in Daddy-God's love.
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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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