"When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food."
- St. Francis de Sales
"When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food."
- St. Francis de Sales
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 394
Reading I
MI 2:1-5
Woe to those who plan iniquity,
and work out evil on their couches;
In the morning light they accomplish it
when it lies within their power.
They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and they take them;
They cheat an owner of his house,
a man of his inheritance.
Therefore thus says the LORD:
Behold, I am planning against this race an evil
from which you shall not withdraw your necks;
Nor shall you walk with head high,
for it will be a time of evil.
On that day a satire shall be sung over you,
and there shall be a plaintive chant:
“Our ruin is complete,
our fields are portioned out among our captors,
The fields of my people are measured out,
and no one can get them back!”
Thus you shall have no one
to mark out boundaries by lot
in the assembly of the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm PS 10:1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14
R. (12b) Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof?
Why hide in times of distress?
Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted,
who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
For the wicked man glories in his greed,
and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought.
The wicked man boasts, “He will not avenge it”;
“There is no God,” sums up his thoughts.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
He lurks in ambush near the villages;
in hiding he murders the innocent;
his eyes spy upon the unfortunate.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,
taking them in your hands.
On you the unfortunate man depends;
of the fatherless you are the helper.
R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!
Alleluia PHIL 2:82 COR 5:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia
Gospel MT 12:14-21
The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus
to put him to death.
When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.
Many people followed him, and he cured them all,
but he warned them not to make him known.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.
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Where is God When Disaster Hits?
When a disaster hits us, or when we witness destruction hitting the lives of other people, it’s normal to wonder: “Where is God? Why didn’t he prevent this?”
Faith is tested in crises. When we trust God despite all the evidence that says we should not, we receive new personal strength. Spiritual growth doesn’t normally occur in easy, comfortable times. It comes most powerfully when we have to force ourselves to choose to trust God.
Despair and hopelessness are based on a lack of trust in God. Doubts about God are based on what we see with our eyes — as if we can trust our eyes to see the whole picture. Faith tells us that there is a much bigger picture than what we could know or understand. Faith tells us that God has been working a plan — his own strategies — to turn sufferings and disasters into a greater good.
To restore hope, to renew our understanding of God’s protective love, to overcome depression and despair and discouragement, we have to journey through a 5-stage grieving process. If we get stuck in any of the first four stages, we need to ask God to help us figure out why we are stuck and to move us closer to the final stage. (For more on this, see this week’s recommended WordBytes article below.)
Jesus ministers to us in two ways: through others and while we’re alone with him in our prayer time. The Father gave him angels who ministered to him when he took up his Cross. The Father has given us angels, too, and his Son, as well. And faith-filled counselors and friends.
“I tell you, arise!” Jesus says to us after we’ve experienced destruction (see Luke 7:11-17). To “arise” might mean getting back to normal routines. It sometimes means making a change that says “no more.” It can mean walking away from those who bring us down and seeking others who will help with the recovery process. In a resurrection, there is always something new to gain — a new way of dealing with problems, a new place to live or work, a new parish to join, or a new courage to live a changed life.
It includes a new understanding of the Father’s protective love, a comforting compassion that doesn’t stop all evil but instead leads us from tragedies into triumphs, from suffering into recovery. Jesus says, “Rise up! A new day is dawning!” as the Father gives us a new blessing.
God is, because of his infinite goodness, a redeemer who overcomes what is evil by making good come from it despite all obstacles. Hope is not wishful thinking, it’s the awareness of God’s goodness. As you grow stronger in hope, evangelize this hope to those around you who need to hear Jesus say, “Arise!”
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God Bless You.....
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