Let us ask our Lord to work in us and through us, and let us do our utmost to draw Him down into our hearts, for He Himself has said:
“Without Me you can do nothing.
June 14, 2018
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 362
Reading 11 KGS 18:41-46
Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink,
for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab went up to eat and drink,
while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel,
crouched down to the earth,
and put his head between his knees.
"Climb up and look out to sea," he directed his servant,
who went up and looked, but reported, "There is nothing."
Seven times he said, "Go, look again!"
And the seventh time the youth reported,
"There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea."
Elijah said, "Go and say to Ahab,
'Harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.'"
In a trice the sky grew dark with clouds and wind,
and a heavy rain fell.
Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel.
But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah,
who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab
as far as the approaches to Jezreel.
for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab went up to eat and drink,
while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel,
crouched down to the earth,
and put his head between his knees.
"Climb up and look out to sea," he directed his servant,
who went up and looked, but reported, "There is nothing."
Seven times he said, "Go, look again!"
And the seventh time the youth reported,
"There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea."
Elijah said, "Go and say to Ahab,
'Harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.'"
In a trice the sky grew dark with clouds and wind,
and a heavy rain fell.
Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel.
But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah,
who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab
as far as the approaches to Jezreel.
Responsorial PsalmPS 65:10, 11, 12-13
R. (2a) It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God's watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.
R. It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
Thus have you prepared the land:
drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods,
Softening it with showers,
blessing its yield.
R. It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
You have crowned the year with your bounty,
and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
The untilled meadows overflow with it,
and rejoicing clothes the hills.
R. It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God's watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.
R. It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
Thus have you prepared the land:
drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods,
Softening it with showers,
blessing its yield.
R. It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
You have crowned the year with your bounty,
and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
The untilled meadows overflow with it,
and rejoicing clothes the hills.
R. It is right to praise you in Zion, O God.
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."
"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."
******************************
OVERCOMING THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF ANGER
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus explains the increasing dangers of anger by referring to increasingly disastrous results in an angry person's soul. At the lowest level anger in the heart results in "judgment," which is represented by the Jewish local court, where the least of the three punishments are meted out.
Then, he names one of the initial ways that anger in the heart becomes anger that kills: Using abusive language toward others ("raqa" means nitwit or imbecile) destroys their self-esteem by belittling their true worth. The abuser must now face a trial before the Sanhredin, the highest judicial body.
Finally, Jesus warns us that holding others in contempt ("you fool") is even worse. No longer an "imbecile", the person under attack is being called "worthless" (the direct meaning of the Greek word). To get so angry at people that we totally disregard their value is to condemn ourselves to "Gehenna". (Gehenna was a local valley used by a pagan cult to burn children to death as a sacrifice for their demonic gods, and the Jews thought it a fitting representation of what we today call "hell.")
The idea that this kind of anger is equal to murder is easier to understand if we read 1 John 4:7-21, which says that God is love, and when we have anger, we have no love; therefore we don't have God, and without God we do not have eternal life.
Name-calling is not the only way we belittle others and kill their self-esteem. Any such damage affects how they live and think and react to situations and handle other people, often for many years. Pieces of their hearts or behaviors or personalities have died. Our repentance, plus psychological counseling and inner healing, with Jesus' help, can restore these dead areas to new life.
We have all been damaged. I hope you're taking full advantage of God's healing for the wounds you still carry. It makes it easier to stop inflicting the same harm on the people around you. It is a choice. Holiness means owning up to our choices and working hard to establish new and better ways of treating others.
Jesus explained the remedy for the anger we feel: "Go and do whatever is necessary to be reconciled with the one who's made you angry." This, he points out, is even more important than worshiping God. How genuine is your worship if anger has replaced love in your heart, since God is love?
When someone treats us unfairly, anger is a natural reaction. As a feeling, there is nothing sinful about it, but what we do with it indicates how close we are to Christ. To stay close, we respond with an act of love; we "go and do," disregarding our angry impulses for the sake of holding others in high regard.
Forgive me, Jesus, for the times I insulted others! I wasn't aware that when I insult them I also insult You. Fill me with Your merciful love and heal me from the anger inside me. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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