THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Tuesday - July 19, 2022

Tuesday - July 19, 2022

If God seems slow in responding, it is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart.

— St. Augustine

July 19, 2022

TUESDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Lectionary: 396

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    MI 7:14-15, 18-20

 

Shepherd your people with your staff,

the flock of your inheritance,

That dwells apart in a woodland,

in the midst of Carmel.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,

as in the days of old;

As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt,

show us wonderful signs.

 

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt

and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;

Who does not persist in anger forever,

but delights rather in clemency,

And will again have compassion on us,

treading underfoot our guilt?

You will cast into the depths of the sea

all our sins;

You will show faithfulness to Jacob,

and grace to Abraham,

As you have sworn to our fathers

from days of old.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  PS 85:2-4, 5-6, 7-8

 

R. (8a) Lord, show us your mercy and love.

 

You have favored, O LORD, your land;

you have brought back the captives of Jacob.

You have forgiven the guilt of your people;

you have covered all their sins.

You have withdrawn all your wrath;

you have revoked your burning anger.

R. Lord, show us your mercy and love.

Restore us, O God our savior,

and abandon your displeasure against us.

Will you be ever angry with us,

prolonging your anger to all generations?

R. Lord, show us your mercy and love.

Will you not instead give us life;

and shall not your people rejoice in you?

Show us, O LORD, your kindness,

and grant us your salvation.

R. Lord, show us your mercy and love.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2:8 JN 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever loves me will keep my word,

and my Father will love him

and we will come to him.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           MT 12:46-50

 

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,

his mother and his brothers appeared outside,

wishing to speak with him.

Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,

asking to speak with you.”

But he said in reply to the one who told him,

“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,

“Here are my mother and my brothers.

For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father

is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

 

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HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOU TO JESUS?

Think about how much Jesus loves you. How important are you to Jesus, really? The correct answer is: As important as his own Mother, Mary the Queen of Heaven, the blessed and "highly favored one"!

 

We know Jesus had favorites: friends that he felt closest to, a mother he cherished, companions he enjoyed being with during the fun times, and a few he wanted near him during the worst of times, but never did he show favoritism. John "the beloved" was an especially close friend. James the apostle was a cherished relative whom he invited into the inner circle of the twelve. But as we see in today's Gospel passage, Jesus did not give anyone, not even his Blessed Mother, preferential treatment.

 

In this scene, Jesus is busy ministering to the crowds who flocked to hear him and to get a healing from him. Mary brings along some relatives who want to speak with him. Without a pause to find out what they want, Jesus uses the opportunity to teach his listeners that they were all equally important. Anyone, he explains, who unites their will to God's will is an important member of his family and is as loved and appreciated and valued as his own dear mother and his personal family.

 

That means you are equally precious to Jesus! You are as important to God as anybody!

 

Can you accept this? Or do you suppose your problems exist because you're not special enough to God?

 

And can you accept that everyone else you know is as important to God as you are? Even the people you don't like?

 

Find the followers of Christ who truly want to do the Father's will and you will find the favorites of Jesus. God loves everyone equally, but the blessed are those who work hard at being holy. If you want to enjoy the blessings that come from being among God's favorites, get more involved with those who love God. Seek out the ones who love God so much that it's obvious that they love others too. You'll usually find them busy serving in parish ministries. Join the same ministries!

 

Enjoying God's favorites, however, does not mean that we can treat them with favoritism. Consider how readily we give special favors to family, to friends who are good to us, to people who worship like us and think like us, or to those we want to impress. Why aren't we just as willing to do favors for anyone else? Another word for "favoritism" is "prejudice."

 

Let's be more like Jesus. Jesus is not prejudiced against you or me or anyone in any way, even when we sin. However, he really enjoys being close to us when we cherish doing the Father's will. And that's when we most enjoy being close to him!

 

Today's Prayer

 

Thank You, my Lord Jesus, because You paid the cost for giving me a wonderful, joyful and eternal family in Your Church. Praised be to You for those who listen to Your Word and put it into practice. Amen.

 

 

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!”