THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Thursday - August 11, 2022

Thursday - August 11, 2022

Not the goods of the world, but God. 

Not riches, but God. 
Not honors, but God. 
Not distinction, but God. 
Not dignities, but God. 
Not advancement, but God. 
God always and in everything.

-- Saint Vincent Pallotti

August 11, 2022

MEMORIAL OF SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN

Lectionary: 413

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    EZ 12:1-12

 

The word of the LORD came to me:

Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house;

they have eyes to see but do not see,

and ears to hear but do not hear,

for they are a rebellious house.

Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on,

prepare your baggage as though for exile,

and again while they are looking on,

migrate from where you live to another place;

perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.

You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime

while they are looking on;

in the evening, again while they are looking on,

you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;

while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;

while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness;

cover your face that you may not see the land,

for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.

 

I did as I was told.

During the day I brought out my baggage

as though it were that of an exile,

and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand

and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness,

shouldering my burden.

 

Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:

Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house,

ask you what you were doing?

Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD:

This oracle concerns Jerusalem

and the whole house of Israel within it.

I am a sign for you:

as I have done, so shall it be done to them;

as captives they shall go into exile.

The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden

and set out in darkness,

going through a hole he has dug out in the wall,

and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  PS 78:56-57, 58-59, 61-62

 

R. (see 7b)  Do not forget the works of the Lord!

 

They tempted and rebelled against God the Most High,

and kept not his decrees.

They turned back and were faithless like their fathers;

they recoiled like a treacherous bow.

R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!

They angered him with their high places

and with their idols roused his jealousy.

God heard and was enraged

and utterly rejected Israel.

R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!

And he surrendered his strength into captivity,

his glory in the hands of the foe.

He abandoned his people to the sword

and was enraged against his inheritance.

R. Do not forget the works of the Lord!

 

Alleluia                                                               PS 119:135    

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Let your countenance shine upon your servant

and teach me your statutes.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           MT 18:21–19:1

 

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

“Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive him?

As many as seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king

who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting,

a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

Since he had no way of paying it back,

his master ordered him to be sold,

along with his wife, his children, and all his property,

in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,

‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’

Moved with compassion the master of that servant

let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,

‘Pay back what you owe.’

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,

‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

But he refused.

Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison

until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,

they were deeply disturbed,

and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?’

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

 

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee

and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

 

**********************************

HOW MANY TIMES IS SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN?

Peter speaks for each one of us in today's Gospel passage when he says, "How many times am I supposed to forgive the jerk who keeps sinning? After seven times, if he's still a jerk, what's the point in forgiving him again?"

 

"No, not seven times," Jesus says, "seventy times that much, which, according to the calculator on my Father's desk in heaven, is infinite."

 

We'd rather only forgive people if they "go and sin no more." But waiting for their repentance is harmful to us. When we choose to pray "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing," we break the chains of anger that bind us to what they did. We're no longer a victim of the incident that hurt us. The wounds of our heart and spirit are healed, because we receive directly from Jesus the love that was supposed to come from those who sinned against us.

 

Forgiveness, like love, is a decision, not a feeling. It begins with an honest prayer: "Father, I don't want to forgive them, but I choose to forgive them. I ask You to forgive them, too. And please forgive me for holding onto my resentment, anger or bitterness." You've already been praying this whenever you recite the "Our Father." Jesus taught us to pray, "Father, forgive us as we forgive others." He did not add, "Unless, of course, they don't want to stop sinning."

 

Who is the person in your life who is hardest to forgive? Most likely, the answer is you. If you cannot forgive yourself, you won't feel safe forgiving others. How readily do you forgive yourself? As readily as God does? Take this quiz to find out:

 

Do I ever get angry at myself and take more than a day to feel good about myself again?

Do I try to cover up my blunders with lies or by redirecting the focus off of myself?

Do I get defensive when someone indicates that I'm not a perfectly good person?

Do I blame others even when I am responsible?

Do I believe that if people get to know me well enough, they won't like me anymore?

Do I examine my conscience only rarely?

When I realize I have sinned, do I doubt that God forgives me?

Is this quiz making me feel uncomfortable?

 

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you do not forgive yourself as readily as God forgives you. If you answered yes to most or all of them, you have a major problem with self-esteem and need spiritual and/or psychological counseling. You are a great candidate for God's healing love!

 

Today's Prayer

 

Today, in the name of Jesus, I set free, with the grace of forgiveness, all those who hurt me. Today I decide that, from now on, I'll try to be as merciful as You, Father, have been merciful with me. 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!”