If we wish to keep peace with our neighbor,
we should never remind anyone
of his natural defect.
-- St Philip Neri
If we wish to keep peace with our neighbor,
we should never remind anyone
of his natural defect.
-- St Philip Neri
August 5, 2022
FRIDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 411
Reading I
See, upon the mountains there advances
the bearer of good news,
announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,
fulfill your vows!
For nevermore shall you be invaded
by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
the pride of Israel,
Though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined the tendrils.
Woe to the bloody city, all lies,
full of plunder, whose looting never stops!
The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels;
horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,
Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
the many slain, the heaping corpses,
the endless bodies to stumble upon!
I will cast filth upon you,
disgrace you and put you to shame;
Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
“Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
Where can one find any to console her?”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (39c) It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“Learn then that I, I alone, am God,
and there is no god besides me.
It is I who bring both death and life,
I who inflict wounds and heal them.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
“With vengeance I will repay my foes
and requite those who hate me.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
******************************
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
"It is I who deal death and give life," says the Lord in today's responsorial psalm. In today's first reading we read, "See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace!" There is no greater peace than to let God be totally in charge of our every decision, our understanding and our lack of understanding, our discovery of truth, and our life.
Jesus, who is that bearer of good news, explains it in today's Gospel reading: If we want to have peace and a good life, we have to give up trying to save ourselves and let God do it for us.
We are way too inadequate to ensure our own happiness here on earth, let alone eternally in heaven! We don't understand what's going on, although we try to, and in our attempts to feel sure about our view of life, we believe in our own, limited perceptions -- to our detriment.
If we could be transported in prayer, for even a moment, into eternity and see everything from heaven's perspective, we'd slap our forwards and say, "Duh! How come I didn't realize that before?"
Only God sees the full picture, the true road to happiness and peace, and he never communicates it to us alone. We're not smart enough to hear him correctly all by ourselves. We need the help of community: a spiritual director, Christian friends, a Confessor, etc. And then we need to trust the Holy Spirit to speak first to us in our hearts and then confirm it through others.
Trusting the Lord means accepting that we are moronically stupid compared to his wisdom and knowledge. We dare not trust our own ability to make right decisions without his guidance, nor can we trust our ability to correctly discern that guidance. In the humility of that awareness, we open our lives to divine direction and intervention.
A favorite prayer of mine is: "Lord, grab onto my ankles today, and do not let me wander off the path where You want me to be." I cannot trust myself to know where the Lord is leading me, but I can trust that the Lord is stronger and bigger than me. All he needs from me is my desire to be led by him. In his hands, I am safe. He corrects me when I'm wrong, redirects me to the right conclusions, and even stops me in my tracks when my moronic brain stubbornly refuses to pay heed.
This is giving up our lives for the sake of finding life. Is it scary? Indeed! Denying ourselves (putting aside our ways, our desires, our ideas of how to find happiness) to trust God is truly a loss. But it's a matter of life and death.
Today's Prayer
I praise and thank You, Lord, because You gave Your own life to save me. Help me to imitate You, giving up myself and letting You guide my life. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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