Friday - August 11, 2017
My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be
faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings. -- St. Isaac Jogues
TODAY'S READINGS
August 11, 2017
Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin
Lectionary: 411
Reading 1DT 4:32-40
Moses said to the people:"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire,
and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."
Responsorial PsalmPS 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 AND 21
R. (12a) I remember the deeds of the Lord.I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
among the peoples you have made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
AlleluiaMT 5:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."
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TAKING RISKS FOR GOD'S KINGDOM
What are you willing to risk for the sake of the Kingdom of God? In our Gospel reading today, Jesus says: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself." Sometimes this means denying our sinful desires, but sometimes it means rejecting good, healthy desires in order to pursue a higher goal.
For example, if you witness an injustice at work or in the parish and speaking up about it might cost you your good reputation and maybe even your job -- it's right and perfectly acceptable to protect what God has given you. However, the moment this self-protection interferes with God's plan for a greater good, we've become too narrowly focused on ourselves.
I'm the type of person who'd rather avoid conflict than cause it. In the name of God, people who are like me stay silent when there's a need to cause a stir. We call it "loving our enemies" and "being patient" and "being peacemakers." But to make peace, there has to first be a battle. Moses stirred up a lot of trouble when he told the pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage; the Egyptians were not at war with the Jewish nation until Moses stood up for his people.
To translate this into Christian terms, the Israelites had to pick up their crosses and become willing to lose their lives in order to gain their freedom. And as Moses reminded his followers in today's first reading, God delivered them to safety. As I gain ground in trusting God, I'm becoming feistier in standing up to injustices and immorality when the Holy Spirit says I can make a difference.
What pharaoh is in your life? What bondage are you witnessing that you feel disturbed about? Use that disturbance as the gift from God that it truly is! The desire in you to do something about an injustice has been placed there by God himself. It connects you to the Passion of Jesus, which hurts, of course, and is your cross to bear for a while. But saying no to it is saying no to your solidarity with those who are already suffering and for whom you are called to be Christ's presence on earth. And it says no to your solidarity with Christ, who is your source of eternal justice.
Our efforts to guard ourselves from hardships for the sake of an easy life will never work anyway. We cannot entirely avoid suffering here on earth, so why not use it for the Kingdom of God? Our Father always protected Jesus, even on the Cross: He protected his Son from eternal death. He will protect us, too, in a way and time of his own choosing. Do we want to give that up in order to avoid trouble?
Sometimes we must suffer a battle in order to win a victory. If we're doing what God wants us to do, he is at our side, suffering more than we do, kissing our wounds, strengthening us, and leading us to the glorious life of the Kingdom. In this unity of passion, he is our safety -- he is always safe.
Today's Prayer:
My Lord Jesus: I ask You to heal me and free me from those attachments and disordered relationships that affect my freedom and my ability to open myself to Your love. Amen.
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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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