GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Friday - September 30, 2022

 

Friday - September 30, 2022

"Virtues are formed by prayer.

Prayer preserves temperance.

Prayer suppresses anger.

Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy.

Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven."

-- St Ephraem

September 30, 2022

 

Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 459

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5

 

The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:

 

Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning

and shown the dawn its place

For taking hold of the ends of the earth,

till the wicked are shaken from its surface?

The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,

and dyed as though it were a garment;

But from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm of pride is shattered.

 

Have you entered into the sources of the sea,

or walked about in the depths of the abyss?

Have the gates of death been shown to you,

or have you seen the gates of darkness?

Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?

Tell me, if you know all:

Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,

and where is the abode of darkness,

That you may take them to their boundaries

and set them on their homeward paths?

You know, because you were born before them,

and the number of your years is great!

 

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

 

Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?

I put my hand over my mouth.

Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again;

though twice, I will do so no more.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14ab

 

R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

 

O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;

you know when I sit and when I stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,

with all my ways you are familiar.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Where can I go from your spirit?

From your presence where can I flee?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

Even there your hand shall guide me,

and your right hand hold me fast.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;

you knit me in my mother's womb.

I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;

wonderful are your works.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2:8          Ps 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If today you hear his voice,

harden not your hearts.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                     LK 10:13-16

 

Jesus said to them,

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst

had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would long ago have repented,

sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon

at the judgment than for you.

And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven?

You will go down to the netherworld.'

Whoever listens to you listens to me.

Whoever rejects you rejects me.

And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

 

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Can you hear God’s voice in the storm?

In today’s first reading, we hear God speaking to Job “out of the storm.” Think of a storm that’s raging in your life right now. Have you been able to hear God’s voice in it? Today’s scriptures are that voice. What is he saying to you?

 

He told Job, “What are you worried about? I AM still in charge of your life.” Job had been thinking that God was letting things get out of control. We often feel that way, too, don’t we? We say by our actions and by our words: “God, You’re late! This problem should be fixed by now. I’d better explain to You what You should do, so that we can get this finished in a more timely manner.”

 

And God replies, “Tell me, if you know all: Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness? Do you really know how to obtain good instead of bad?” And then God gets a little sarcastic: “Oh yeah, of course you do – you were born before I created light and dark, you’re so old!”

 

Job, humbled by the reminder of his inadequacies compared to the greatness of God, speaks for all of us as he says, “All right, I’ll shut up! I’ll even put my hand over my mouth … oops, I spoke again. I won’t do that again. Oops, I just did.”

 

(You didn’t know there was humor in that book of the Bible, did you?!)

 

To hear God speak in the storm, we have to repent of our prideful assumption that we know the right way to end our troubles. We must acknowledge that God truly is in charge, even if it doesn’t seem so, and that his timing is always perfect, even when we think he’s late.

 

Today’s responsorial Psalm reminds us that God can be trusted because of one big reason: He knows us better than we know ourselves. Therefore, his guidance and his timing are much better than our own. We can be certain that he cares about us, because he formed our innermost being (our souls) and our bodies (which he knit in our mother’s wombs). He loved us even before we were born. He made us wonderfully.

 

Did you hear that? He made you to be one of his wonderful works. Do you think he’d ruin one of his masterpieces?

 

The Gospel reading is God’s voice in the storm saying, “Don’t forget how I’ve helped you before! Of course I’ll help you again.” If we look only at our problems and neglect to spend time recollecting what he’s done for us in the past, it’s easy to distrust him. This kind of faith is no faith and it leads to destruction, just like what happened to Capernaum.

 

Capernaum was an important, busy town when Jesus taught the Good News there. Today, the little towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth continue to thrive, but Capernaum has been lost to the “realm of death.”

 

God is taking very good care of you! Listen for his voice.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Forgive me Lord for my hard heart and for trying to find mistakes in those around me. Thank You for Your merciful love that forgives and heals everything. 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!”