Wednesday - August 08, 2018
"The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist."
--Pope St. Gregory the Great
August 8, 2018
Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest
Lectionary: 409
Reading 1JER 31:1-7
At that time, says the LORD,
I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel,
and they shall be my people.
Thus says the LORD:
The people that escaped the sword
have found favor in the desert.
As Israel comes forward to be given his rest,
the LORD appears to him from afar:
With age-old love I have loved you;
so I have kept my mercy toward you.
Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines,
you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.
Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.
Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
will call out on Mount Ephraim:
"Rise up, let us go to Zion,
to the LORD, our God."
For thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel,
and they shall be my people.
Thus says the LORD:
The people that escaped the sword
have found favor in the desert.
As Israel comes forward to be given his rest,
the LORD appears to him from afar:
With age-old love I have loved you;
so I have kept my mercy toward you.
Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines,
you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.
Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.
Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
will call out on Mount Ephraim:
"Rise up, let us go to Zion,
to the LORD, our God."
For thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
Responsorial PsalmJEREMIAH 31:10, 11-12AB, 13
R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock
AlleluiaLK 7:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour.
******************************
Finding God in the Desert
Have you ever escaped from or resolved a conflict, only to find yourself feeling alone and weary, like you're trudging through a wide desert? The Lord seems far off. He helped you get through the trial, but now where is he? This is how the Israelites felt in today's first reading. After being enslaved and oppressed and conquered in war, they felt defeated by God rather than loved; they needed his reassurance.
A great wonder of God's kingdom is that the more abandoned we feel, the more he is actually trying to help us. When we're tired from our troubles, God has the restoration we seek. However, since he seems so far away, we take matters into our own hands. In this scripture, we read that we're going "to be given rest." To receive it, we must simply stop. Stop whatever you're doing. Stop running after what you think you need. Stop complaining. Stop reacting to your feelings as if they accurately portray the truth.
It was in the desert that the Israelites were strengthened and prepared for the Promised Land; they had to stop running toward their destination and wander slowly around the desert, stopping for long periods. It was in the desert that Jesus was strengthened and prepared for his battle against Satan; he had to take a forty-day sabbatical to get ready for his public ministry.
"I will restore you, rebuild you," God says to us in this reading. The desert time is a period of resting before the rebuilding. If we believed God's Word, we would be celebrating with festive tambourines (or guitars or pianos or mp3 players or whatever we've got), shouting for joy, proclaiming God's goodness.
In today's responsorial psalm, God recommends dancing and merriment. Why? Because he is guarding us like a shepherd. In the Holy Land, shepherds still guide their flocks across the desert. There are long walks between patches of nourishment, so they take it slowly. There's no rush. Hurrying would increase their thirst and wear them out under the burning sun. The sheep don't scramble madly in search of getting their needs met, like we do. They simply trust their shepherd.
God is a great Shepherd. He cares more about us than human shepherds care about their sheep. He is with us every step of the way. If we panic and run, he doesn't run with us, because he's not panicking, and this is why to us it feels like he's far off. But as soon as we stop -- as soon as we dare to trust our Shepherd and let ourselves rest, accepting the desert conditions instead of darting this way and that way in search of a different landscape -- we can notice his peaceful nearness.
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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