Thursday - June 27, 2019
The face is the mirror of the mind,
and eyes without speaking confess
the secrets of the heart.
~~St. Jerome
The face is the mirror of the mind,
and eyes without speaking confess
the secrets of the heart.
~~St. Jerome
June 27 2019
Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 374
Reading 1 GN 16:1-12, 15-16
Abram's wife Sarai had borne him no children.
She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
Sarai said to Abram:
"The LORD has kept me from bearing children.
Have intercourse, then, with my maid;
perhaps I shall have sons through her."
Abram heeded Sarai's request.
Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,
his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian,
and gave her to her husband Abram to be his concubine.
He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.
When she became aware of her pregnancy,
she looked on her mistress with disdain.
So Sarai said to Abram:
"You are responsible for this outrage against me.
I myself gave my maid to your embrace;
but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy,
she has been looking on me with disdain.
May the LORD decide between you and me!"
Abram told Sarai: "Your maid is in your power.
Do to her whatever you please."
Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.
The LORD's messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,
the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked,
"Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from
and where are you going?"
She answered, "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai."
But the LORD's messenger told her:
"Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.
I will make your descendants so numerous," added the LORD's messenger,
"that they will be too many to count.
Besides," the LORD's messenger said to her:
"You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;
you shall name him Ishmael,
For the LORD has heard you,
God has answered you.
This one shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him;
In opposition to all his kin
shall he encamp."
Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Do to her whatever you please."
Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.
The LORD's messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,
the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked,
"Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from
and where are you going?"
She answered, "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai."
But the LORD's messenger told her:
"Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.
I will make your descendants so numerous," added the LORD's messenger,
"that they will be too many to count.
Besides," the LORD's messenger said to her:
"You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;
you shall name him Ishmael,
For the LORD has heard you,
God has answered you.
This one shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him;
In opposition to all his kin
shall he encamp."
Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
Sarai said to Abram:
"The LORD has kept me from bearing children.
Have intercourse, then, with my maid;
perhaps I shall have sons through her."
Abram heeded Sarai's request.
Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,
his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian,
and gave her to her husband Abram to be his concubine.
He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.
When she became aware of her pregnancy,
she looked on her mistress with disdain.
So Sarai said to Abram:
"You are responsible for this outrage against me.
I myself gave my maid to your embrace;
but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy,
she has been looking on me with disdain.
May the LORD decide between you and me!"
Abram told Sarai: "Your maid is in your power.
Do to her whatever you please."
Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.
The LORD's messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,
the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked,
"Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from
and where are you going?"
She answered, "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai."
But the LORD's messenger told her:
"Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.
I will make your descendants so numerous," added the LORD's messenger,
"that they will be too many to count.
Besides," the LORD's messenger said to her:
"You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;
you shall name him Ishmael,
For the LORD has heard you,
God has answered you.
This one shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him;
In opposition to all his kin
shall he encamp."
Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Or GN 16:6B-12, 15-16
Abram told Sarai: "Your maid is in your power.Do to her whatever you please."
Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.
The LORD's messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,
the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked,
"Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from
and where are you going?"
She answered, "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai."
But the LORD's messenger told her:
"Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.
I will make your descendants so numerous," added the LORD's messenger,
"that they will be too many to count.
Besides," the LORD's messenger said to her:
"You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;
you shall name him Ishmael,
For the LORD has heard you,
God has answered you.
This one shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him;
In opposition to all his kin
shall he encamp."
Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Responsorial PsalmPS 106:1B-2, 3-4A, 4B-5
R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Who can tell the mighty deeds of the LORD,
or proclaim all his praises?
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Visit me with your saving help,
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your inheritance.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Who can tell the mighty deeds of the LORD,
or proclaim all his praises?
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Visit me with your saving help,
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your inheritance.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 14:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 7:21-29
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'
"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."
When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority,
and not as their scribes.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'
"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."
When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority,
and not as their scribes.
Standing on Solid Rock
What storm is going on right now in your life? Are you standing firm? Or are you teetering on the verge of collapsing because your energy is drained, your faith is wavering, and fear is warning you of potential disaster?
Jesus says in today's Gospel reading that if we hear his words -- his truths, his commands, his way of doing things -- but fail to put them into practice, the storms of life will knock us over. He never said that he would calm all of our storms. Suffering is part of the Christian life as we follow Jesus to and through the cross (after which always comes resurrection and ascension into greater glories).
In order to experience faith, peace, hope, joy and safety during the storms, we have to choose to stand on the solid rock of uncompromised truth instead of the shifting sands of moral relativism. We won't find safety if we pull away from God by handling life our way. Whenever we fail to put into practice what Jesus taught, we put ourselves (and others) in danger.
We might think we've got a good reason to disregard a Church teaching, or we might rationalize that a sin is not a sin, but regardless of how stable the ground beneath us feels, we're choosing to rely on sand that gets leeched away by storms. No rationalization, no logic, no denial system can turn a beach into a boulder.
When a friend asks how you're doing, have you used the old cliché: "I'm hanging in there!" You probably say it with a scowl on your face. Well, what are you hanging onto? Why do you even need to hang onto anything? The reason why we feel insecure and afraid in the midst of trials is because "hanging in there" means that our feet are dangling in mid-air. Jesus told us to stand firmly on the solid rock of truth.
Christians who build their faith on sand are those who claim that since God always loves us and forgives us when we sin, they can safely do whatever feels right. But sand-dwellers lose touch with his love rather quickly when times get tough. "Where is he now?" they wonder as they sink into the quicksand of despair and loneliness.
We learn to trust God's love in the storm only after we've first learned to trust him in the how-to-be-holy commandments of everyday life. When you notice that your feet are sinking, or when you're falling into a pit that an earthquake has opened, or if you're losing your grip on the rainbow from which you've been hanging, identify which teachings of Christ you've been ignoring and then run to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Yes God loves us even while we're still sinning, but our humble repentance and God's gift of grace, which Jesus gives to us through the priest in the confessional, plant our feet firmly back on the solid rock of truth.
Today's Prayer:
Lord, may my acts be an overflow from a heart full of Your love, and may my words be the fruit of what You planted deeply in me. 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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