SAINT QUOTE & READINGS OF THE DAY : Friday - September 24, 2021

Friday - September 24, 2021

A piece of advice I have insisted on repeatedly: "BE CHEERFUL, ALWAYS CHEERFUL. SADNESS IS FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES TO BE CHILDREN OF GOD."

--Saint Josemaria Escriva  

September 24, 2021

Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 453

 

Reading 1                                                     Hg 2:1-9

In the second year of King Darius,

on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,

the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:

Tell this to the governor of Judah,

Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,

and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak,

and to the remnant of the people:

 

Who is left among you

that saw this house in its former glory?

And how do you see it now?

Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes?

But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD,

and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak,

And take courage, all you people of the land,

says the LORD, and work!

For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts.

This is the pact that I made with you

when you came out of Egypt,

And my spirit continues in your midst;

do not fear!

For thus says the LORD of hosts:

One moment yet, a little while,

and I will shake the heavens and the earth,

the sea and the dry land.

I will shake all the nations,

and the treasures of all the nations will come in,

And I will fill this house with glory,

says the LORD of hosts.

Mine is the silver and mine the gold,

says the LORD of hosts.

Greater will be the future glory of this house

than the former, says the LORD of hosts;

And in this place I will give you peace,

says the LORD of hosts!

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              43:1, 2, 3, 4

 

R.    (5) Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

 

Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight

    against a faithless people;

    from the deceitful and impious man rescue me.

R.    Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

For you, O God, are my strength.

    Why do you keep me so far away?

Why must I go about in mourning,

    with the enemy oppressing me?

R.    Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Send forth your light and your fidelity;

    they shall lead me on

And bring me to your holy mountain,

    to your dwellingplace.

R.    Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Then will I go in to the altar of God,

    the God of my gladness and joy;

Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,

    O God, my God!

R.    Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

 

Alleluia                                                                      Mk 10:45

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Son of Man came to serve

and to give his life as a ransom for many.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                       Lk 9:18-22

 

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,

and the disciples were with him,

he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;

still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”

Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”

He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

 

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly

and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

 

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Who do you really say Jesus is?

We evangelize every day. Deliberately or not, consciously or not, we are evangelizers. The question is what are we evangelizing about? What kind of Jesus are we teaching to others?

 

One of the most frequent ways that we evangelize about the truth is by genuinely living true faith -- especially during hardships. We are being observed by people who are inexperienced at relying upon God. If we deal with problems without imitating Jesus in our attitudes and decisions, our behavior teaches others that God is not reliable, his teachings don't matter, and he doesn't actually care.

 

It's not our words alone that evangelize; it's what our lives say. It's the message implied in our responses to everything that happens to us during the day. In the Gospel reading today, Jesus asks: "Who do YOU say that I am?" Did he mean, "Who do you SAY that I am?" as if he were more concerned about what comes out of our lips than out of our lives?

 

All too often, our words say one thing and our behavior another. People don't believe our words if our lives don't prove their validity. They can sense when our faith is not authentic. Young people are especially good at this. While we have them in Mass and while we have them in youth programs, the parents, priests, liturgists, ushers and greeters, youth ministers and catechists, etc., had better be authentic in their faith and in their love. Plastic smiles that hide something un-Christ-like are easily noticed by their uncanny observational skills.

 

The unworded interrogation is: "Who do you say Jesus is? Who is he for you? How real is he for you? Is he everything that you tell me he is? Why should I obey the teachings of the Church when you haven't bothered to see if you can get an annulment after your divorce? Why should I trust God if you tell me you pray and yet you worry so much? Why should I remain chaste with my dates after I've seen you enjoy movies and TV shows that glorify unmarried sex?"

 

Young people are looking for authentic examples of God. Teenagers and young adults are in transition, moving from childhood's unquestioning acceptance of their parents' faith into an adult ownership of their own faith. They are "chadults" -- no longer children, but not yet true adults until they own the responsibilities of adulthood. This stage might last many years. It's hampered by every inauthentic Christian they meet.

 

The same is true for older people as well. Good people who don't go to church are not looking for ways to reject true faith. What they're seeking is proof that the faith we preach is truly beneficial to embrace. Every person they encounter in the Church who fails to be Christ-like sends them off seeking God in other directions, if they seek him at all.

 

The good news is: Our repentance from sin is a powerful way to show them authentic faith and the truth of God's mercy and a faith worth believing.

 

Today's Prayer 

Lord, I want You to reign in my life, and to follow Your steps courageously. Help me to die to my own ambitions and make me shine with what is good and true. 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!”