GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Sunday - August 14, 2022

Sunday - August 14, 2022

You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.

-- Saint Therese of Lisieux

August 14, 2022

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Lectionary: 120

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Jer 38:4-6, 8-10

 

In those days, the princes said to the king:

"Jeremiah ought to be put to death;

he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,

and all the people, by speaking such things to them;

he is not interested in the welfare of our people,

but in their ruin."

King Zedekiah answered: "He is in your power";

for the king could do nothing with them.

And so they took Jeremiah

and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,

which was in the quarters of the guard,

letting him down with ropes.

There was no water in the cistern, only mud,

and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

 

Ebed-melech, a court official,

went there from the palace and said to him:

"My lord king,

these men have been at fault

in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,

casting him into the cistern.

He will die of famine on the spot,

for there is no more food in the city."

Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite

to take three men along with him,

and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before

he should die.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18

 

R. (14b)  Lord, come to my aid!

 

I have waited, waited for the LORD,

and he stooped toward me.

R. Lord, come to my aid!

The LORD heard my cry.

He drew me out of the pit of destruction,

 out of the mud of the swamp;

he set my feet upon a crag;

 he made firm my steps.

R. Lord, come to my aid!

And he put a new song into my mouth,

 a hymn to our God.

Many shall look on in awe

 and trust in the LORD.

R. Lord, come to my aid!

Though I am afflicted and poor,

 yet the LORD thinks of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

 O my God, hold not back!

R. Lord, come to my aid!

 

Reading II                                                     Heb 12:1-4

 

Brothers and sisters:

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us

and persevere in running the race that lies before us

while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,

the leader and perfecter of faith.

For the sake of the joy that lay before him

he endured the cross, despising its shame,

and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.

Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,

in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin

you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2 Jn 10:27        

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;

I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           Lk 12:49-53

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I have come to set the earth on fire,

and how I wish it were already blazing!

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,

and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division.

From now on a household of five will be divided,

three against two and two against three;

a father will be divided against his son

and a son against his father,

a mother against her daughter

and a daughter against her mother,

a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

 

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The Fire that Changes the World

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus says that he did not come to bring peace to earth. He came to light a fire. The fire that he longed for with great anguish was the presence of the Holy Spirit alive and active within each of his followers. This is what changes the world. This is what brings lasting peace, first within us and then flowing out from us.

 

The Holy Spirit is a fire that purifies us from impurities — the unloving behaviors and attitudes — that cause disharmony, disunity, conflicts and war. This purification makes us capable of feeling peaceful even in the midst of trials and attacks from others. This is what makes us channels of God’s peace in a world that desperately needs it. If you do not yet feel the fire of the Holy Spirit impassioning you to spread the peace of Christ, Jesus is in anguish over you.

 

Think of the evil around you that you’ve been wishing would stop. What does Jesus want you to do about it? What impurities in your own spirit needs to be burn off by the fire of the Holy Spirit so you can overshadow the evil with divine goodness? Look at what Jesus had to do. What baptism was he talking about? Not the water baptism he’d already received. It was the baptism of painful self-sacrifice, which he willingly accepted in order to rescue us from evil.

 

To stop evil, we have to become like Jesus. Our willingness to make sacrifices for others is a sign of Christian maturity. We should be burning with so much love that we are not happy unless we’re pouring our hearts and souls into works and prayers that to make a difference in someone else’s ability to receive eternal peace.

 

Jesus noted that this fire divides households. It divides us from anyone who remains self-centered and unwilling to make sacrifices that will lead to peace. Nevertheless, we must continue to give them love. This heats up the fire within us, which purifies us further. And gradually, the world changes.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Lord Jesus, Let nothing extinguish in me the burning desire to proclaim Your word and to bear witness to Your living presence among us! 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!”