SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Thursday - August 05, 2021

Thursday - August 05, 2021

If we wish to keep peace with our neighbor,

we should never remind anyone 

of his natural defect.

 

-- St Philip Neri

August 5, 2021

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 410

 

Reading 1                                                     Nm 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35

The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,]

“Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan,

which I am giving the children of Israel.

You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe,

all of them princes.”

 

After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned,

met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel

in the desert of Paran at Kadesh,

made a report to them all,

and showed the fruit of the country

to the whole congregation.

They told Moses:  “We went into the land to which you sent us.

It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.

However, the people who are living in the land are fierce,

and the towns are fortified and very strong.

Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.

Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;

Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands,

and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan.”

 

Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,

“We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so.”

But the men who had gone up with him said,

“We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.”

So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel

about the land they had scouted, saying,

“The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.

And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants

(the Anakim were a race of giants);

we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”

 

At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,

and even in the night the people wailed.

 

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

“How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me?

I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me.

Tell them: By my life, says the LORD,

I will do to you just what I have heard you say.

Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall.

Forty days you spent in scouting the land;

forty years shall you suffer for your crimes:

one year for each day.

Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.

I, the LORD, have sworn to do this

to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me:

here in the desert they shall die to the last man.”

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23

 

R.    (4a)  Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

 

We have sinned, we and our fathers;

    we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.

Our fathers in Egypt

    considered not your wonders.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

But soon they forgot his works;

    they waited not for his counsel.

They gave way to craving in the desert

    and tempted God in the wilderness.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

They forgot the God who had saved them,

    who had done great deeds in Egypt,

Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,

    terrible things at the Red Sea.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Then he spoke of exterminating them,

    but Moses, his chosen one,

Withstood him in the breach

    to turn back his destructive wrath.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

 

Alleluia                                                                      Lk 7:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

A great prophet has arisen in our midst

and God has visited his people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 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.

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Who is Jesus to You?

"Who do you say that I am?" This question in today's Gospel reading is what Jesus asks each of us. We especially need to answer this whenever our relationship with him needs to improve. Oh -- isn't that every day?

 

This reflection contains a spiritual exercise. It invites you to find healing and renewal in your friendship with Christ by meditating on the different names for Jesus or attributes of his nature. Meditate on a different one each day, and dig deep examining your life to find out whether or not you really believe it's true. By becoming aware of what you really believe and what you doubt, you will begin to believe more fully. You'll have many "Aha!" moments that change your life.

 

For example, if you choose to meditate on the word "savior", you could begin by asking yourself: How do I need saving today? For the word "Lord", try: What have I been keeping in my own control that I should turn over to Jesus? For the word "healer", you could go far with: Why do I doubt him when my prayers to overcome sickness are not answered according to my wishes?

 

Below is a list of names for Jesus. Spend time reflecting on what that name for Jesus means to you. Be honest with yourself, for this will provide healing; it gives Jesus the opportunity to introduce himself to you more fully.

 

"Who do you say that I am?" 

 

The Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1)

The All and in All (Col. 3:11)

The Almighty (Rev. 1:8)

The Author of Our Faith (Heb. 12:2)

Our Brother (Matthew 12:50)

The Chief Capstone (Eph. 2:20)

My Defense (Ps. 94:22)

My Deliverer (Ps. 40:17)

Faithful (1 Thes. 5:24)

Guest (Luke 19:7)

Harmless (Heb. 7:26)

The Head of All Principality and Power (Col. 2:10)

My Helper (Heb. 13:6)

My Hiding Place (Ps. 32:7)

Our Hope (1 Tim. 1:1)

The Kindness and Love of God (Titus 3:4)

Lord of Peace (2 Thes. 3:16)

Lowly in Heart (Matthew 11:29)

A Merciful and Faithful High Priest (Heb. 2:17)

Our Peace (Eph. 2:14)

The Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24)

A Quickening Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45)

The Riches of His Glory (Rom. 9:23)

The Same Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Heb. 13:8)

Our Shield (Ps. 84:9)

My Joy (Ps. 43)

My Strength (Is. 12:2)

Teacher (Matthew 10:25)

The Victory (1 Cor. 15:54)

Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:25)

 

Today's Prayer

 

Dear Lord, I want to die to everything that prevents Your plans of love from being fulfilled in me. Strengthen my soul for this battle. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”