Saturday - November 16, 2019
"The happy person in this life needs friends.”
― St. Thomas Aquinas
TODAY'S READINGS
November 16 2019
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 496
Reading 1WIS 18:14-16; 19:6-9
When peaceful stillness compassed everything
and the night in its swift course was half spent,
Your all-powerful word, from heaven's royal throne
bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land,
bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree.
And as he alighted, he filled every place with death;
he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.
For all creation, in its several kinds, was being made over anew,
serving its natural laws,
that your children might be preserved unharmed.
The cloud overshadowed their camp;
and out of what had before been water, dry land was seen emerging:
Out of the Red Sea an unimpeded road,
and a grassy plain out of the mighty flood.
Over this crossed the whole nation sheltered by your hand,
after they beheld stupendous wonders.
For they ranged about like horses,
and bounded about like lambs,
praising you, O Lord! their deliverer.
and the night in its swift course was half spent,
Your all-powerful word, from heaven's royal throne
bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land,
bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree.
And as he alighted, he filled every place with death;
he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.
For all creation, in its several kinds, was being made over anew,
serving its natural laws,
that your children might be preserved unharmed.
The cloud overshadowed their camp;
and out of what had before been water, dry land was seen emerging:
Out of the Red Sea an unimpeded road,
and a grassy plain out of the mighty flood.
Over this crossed the whole nation sheltered by your hand,
after they beheld stupendous wonders.
For they ranged about like horses,
and bounded about like lambs,
praising you, O Lord! their deliverer.
Responsorial PsalmPS 105:2-3, 36-37, 42-43
R.(5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then he struck every first born throughout their land,
the first fruits of all their manhood.
And he led them forth laden with silver and gold,
with not a weakling among their tribes.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
For he remembered his holy word
to his servant Abraham.
And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then he struck every first born throughout their land,
the first fruits of all their manhood.
And he led them forth laden with silver and gold,
with not a weakling among their tribes.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
For he remembered his holy word
to his servant Abraham.
And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaSEE 2 THES 2:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel,
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel,
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, "There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.'
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'"
The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, "There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.'
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'"
The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
******************************
The Hidden Value of Persistent Prayer
I'd like to share with you the hidden value of persistent prayer. Jesus tells us, in this Saturday's Gospel reading, about the value of praying always without growing weary. And in Luke chapter 13, he shares this with us--it's a parable that reveals the hidden value of persistent prayer:
There once was a person who had a fig tree. He planted it in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit but found nothing on it, he said to the gardener, "For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree and have found nothing. Cut it down so that it will not exhaust the soil."
But the gardener said to him in reply, "Sir, leave it for another year. I will cultivate it and fertilize it. It may yet bear fruit in the future. If not then you can cut it down."
What yearning do you have that you've been covering in prayer for a very long time? What is your fig tree that you've planted in the orchard of God's mercy? Should you quit praying it? Jesus says, "No! Keep praying, be persistent, don't grow weary." Why? Because you're cultivating the soil. What's the soil? The soil is the life that produces good fruit through the Holy Spirit.
Long-term prayers are a good reminder that we cannot accomplish what we want without God's help. They illustrate our dependence on God. The devil tries to make us conclude that God doesn't care and that's why our prayers aren't being answered. But the truth is God cares so much, he's cultivating your soil throughout the entire duration of you waiting to see the fruits of your prayers.
But not only that! He cares so much about the people that are involved in your prayer request that he's is also cultivating their soil. And sometimes their soil takes more time to cultivate because he's got to get through rocks or other handicaps, other resistances to his help that they're putting up. But he's working on it. He is cultivating their soil.
And because you care about these people, you too want to wait for that cultivation to work, to make a difference, right? And then you will see the good fruits come from your prayers and from what the Holy Spirit is doing through you and through other people and through the circumstances that come along during the duration of these prayers.
To fertilize your soil, keep working at it. Keep digging. Dig for what the Holy Spirit wants to teach you while you're waiting for your prayers to be answered. But in addition to that, pay attention to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pay attention to be ready for when the Holy Spirit tells you what to say and how to say it. Or what to do and how to do it, to get that fig tree to finally start blossoming and eventually produce good fruits.
So get closer to the Holy Spirit. Grow in your ability to hear the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit every day to overcome you with his presence and his life in you.
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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
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