In order to acquire tranquility in action it is necessary to carefully consider what we are capable of accomplishing and never to undertake more than that. It is self-love, ever more anxious to do much rather than to do well and this self-love that wishes to undertake everything and accomplishes nothing!
~~St. Francis DeSales
In order to acquire tranquility in action it is necessary to carefully consider what we are capable of accomplishing and never to undertake more than that. It is self-love, ever more anxious to do much rather than to do well and this self-love that wishes to undertake everything and accomplishes nothing!
~~St. Francis DeSales
November 20 2020
Friday of the
Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 501
I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
“Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, “Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is
your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Alleluia JN 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my
voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and
they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 19:45-48
Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out
those who were selling things, saying to them,
“It is written,
My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
And every day he was teaching in the temple area.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,
were seeking to put him to death,
but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose
because all the people were hanging on his words.
**************************************************What Is Sacred to Me?!
Opening Prayer: Lord, help me to value not only the sacredness of my own person, but also the sacred space of the parish where I worship you in the Eucharist. Grant me a deeper consciousness of your continual presence.
Encountering Christ:
1. A House of Prayer: Over and over again in the Gospel accounts we see Jesus going off to pray in silence, preach in the synagogue, and go to the temple for worship. His attitude was obvious: he honored his Father and had a deep awareness of the sacred space of his own person and in places of worship reserved for the Father’s honor and glory. Jesus was so very conscious of his Father’s continual presence that he could enter the chamber of his heart alone and be with his Father for long periods of time. How can we imitate Jesus in his constant communion with the Father? How can we protect the sacredness of our prayer time and our reverence for the church in which we worship?
2. A Den of Thieves: By virtue of original sin we are wounded and tend toward concupiscence. Our souls, and even our church, can sometimes seem like a den of thieves with attitudes, vices, and spirits that undermine our sacredness, our intimacy with God, and our reverence for the house of God. Jesus asks us to look intently at him and allow him to expose those interior spaces which require renovation. He will do the heavy lifting if we allow him to show us where we need to do the spiritual work.
3. Resistance or Openness?: The chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people didn’t accept the message and actions of Jesus and immediately dismissed him as a radical and fanatic, without just reason. His listeners, however, were amazed by Jesus and hung on his every word. Jesus fed their souls, their hopes, and their lives. Every day Jesus is teaching in the temples of our lives. He is accessible at daily Mass, in adoration chapels, and through the charity of others we meet. We are called to be good “students” of the Master: to be attentive to the message he wants us to learn each day, each moment. God plans to give us all the grace we need to join him one day in heaven. All we need do is pay attention.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to grow in the awe of the dignity and sacredness of my person and allow that to translate into how I worship and honor you in the life of the church. Help me to say no to all sin and vice—those thieves seeking to steal my heart from you!
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray in a place (whether at home or at church) where I put all distractions aside so as to be fully present to you.
Today's Prayer
Take my life Lord and cleanse me of everything that obscures the
greatness of You in me. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
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