Wednesday - September 05, 2018
"Every morning you put on your clothes to cover your nakedness and protect your body from inclement weather. Why don't you also clothe your soul with the garment of faith? Remember each morning the truths of your creed, and look at yourself in the mirror of your faith. Otherwise, your soul will soon be naked with the nakedness of oblivion."
~~St. Augustine
September 5, 2018
Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 433
Reading 11 COR 3:1-9
Brothers and sisters,
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another,
"I belong to Apollos," are you not merely men?
What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God's co-workers;
you are God's field, God's building.
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another,
"I belong to Apollos," are you not merely men?
What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God's co-workers;
you are God's field, God's building.
Responsorial PsalmPS 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
AlleluiaLK 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 4:38-44
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
******************************
ARE YOU ON MILK OR SOLID FOOD?
Hungry for God? Sure you are! If you didn't have a spiritual appetite, you wouldn't be reading these Good News Reflections. But what type of hunger do you have? Some people are satisfied with baby food. They want everything pureed for them, i.e., they want the truth to be plain and simple, clear-cut, black and white with no grey areas, nothing to chew on. This kind of faith is effortless and easy.
However, St. Paul says in today's first reading that this level of faith means we are "still of the flesh". It takes hard work to understand the truth on a deeper level, with all of its nuances, and it takes the same hard work to overcome the sinful desires of our flesh-nature. Jealousy, quarrels, divisions, greed, anger, impatience, swearing, complaining, addictions, selfishness, and all the other vices we succumb to are indications that we haven't put enough effort into deepening our understanding of the truth.
It takes spiritual maturity to appreciate -- and respond to -- the desires of our holy nature, which was given to us by the Holy Spirit during our baptisms. Paul told the "baby" Christians of Corinth that they were God's "field" (to be harvested) and "building" (still under construction). This is our starting point. God has planted us in his field. He has built his foundation in our lives.
But then what? Do we want to stay in this baby stage?
When we accept the hard labor of growing in holiness, we become God's co-workers. As partners in his mission, we are his earthly hands that plant seeds and that build up others on his foundation.
In the more advanced stages of spiritual understanding, we accept suffering and sacrifice as part of the mortar that holds the building together. We see beyond what's obvious and we accept the guidance of God even when it doesn't make sense. We accept Christ's ministry (a glimpse of which we see in today's Gospel reading) as our own, even with all of its hardships.
As we proclaim in today's responsorial Psalm, "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own." However, we cannot enter into this blessing if we act like babies; babies cry out: "give me, feed me, hold me".
Infants are ignorant, but ignorance (contrary to the old cliché) is not bliss. Ignorance leads us into danger, which is why toddlers should not go out into the street alone. Ignorance also hides many exciting challenges, and so we miss wonderful opportunities to make a good difference in the world.
In the more advanced stages of spiritual understanding, we go with Jesus wherever he goes. The work of sharing in Christ's mission is not accomplished in baby cribs. Cribs have bars that hold us back. Ministry -- making a difference in the lives of others -- occurs outside the security of our comfort zones.
Today's Prayer
I thank You, my Lord, because You don't let anything stop You from rescuing me, healing me and delivering me from all my fears. I praise You, because everything is in Your loving hands. Amen.
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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