GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Wednesday - September 28, 2022

 

Wednesday - September 28, 2022

"Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us.

What we really are consists in what God knows us to be."

~St. John Berchmans

September 28, 2022

 

Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 457

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Jb 9:1-12, 14-16

 

Job answered his friends and said:

 

I know well that it is so;

but how can a man be justified before God?

Should one wish to contend with him,

he could not answer him once in a thousand times.

God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;

who has withstood him and remained unscathed?

 

He removes the mountains before they know it;

he overturns them in his anger.

He shakes the earth out of its place,

and the pillars beneath it tremble.

He commands the sun, and it rises not;

he seals up the stars.

 

He alone stretches out the heavens

and treads upon the crests of the sea.

He made the Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;

He does great things past finding out,

marvelous things beyond reckoning.

 

Should he come near me, I see him not;

should he pass by, I am not aware of him;

Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?

Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"

 

How much less shall I give him any answer,

or choose out arguments against him!

Even though I were right, I could not answer him,

but should rather beg for what was due me.

If I appealed to him and he answered my call,

I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15

 

R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

 

Daily I call upon you, O LORD;

to you I stretch out my hands.

Will you work wonders for the dead?

Will the shades arise to give you thanks?

R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

Do they declare your mercy in the grave,

your faithfulness among those who have perished?

Are your wonders made known in the darkness,

or your justice in the land of oblivion?

R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

But I, O LORD, cry out to you;

with my morning prayer I wait upon you.

Why, O LORD, do you reject me;

why hide from me your face?

R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2:8          Phil 3:8-9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ is risen, who made all things;

he has shown mercy on all people.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                           Jn 6:16-21

 

When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea,

embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum.

It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

When they had rowed about three or four miles,

they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,

and they began to be afraid.

But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

They wanted to take him into the boat,

but the boat immediately arrived at the shore

to which they were heading.

 

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

How much are you willing to lose?

In today’s first reading, because Job had lost nearly everything that was dear to him, he is now in danger of also losing his trust in God. Isn’t that how we feel when bad things happen to us? We wonder why God has let us down. We think he’s being unfair and cruel. It feels like his love has abandoned us, and we choose to trust in our feelings instead of what we cannot see, hear or feel from the Lord.

 

God never abandons us. The fact is we need to abandon everything that is not Godly.

 

This does not mean that all of us are called to give everything away and embrace poverty in order to be holy, like some of the Saints have done. There are other ways to abandon everything to God, namely, by considering everything as less important than Jesus. Everything is less important than our obedient dependence upon God.

 

Even those activities that God has called us to do, and even the possessions he has provided for us through our jobs, and even the people he has given to us in relationships: All must be abandoned into an awareness that God is more important.

 

God and me alone – that’s the foundation of true holiness. From this intimate friendship everything else is built up: our families, our friends, our ministries, our jobs, our homes, our possessions, etc. Whatever is good and right for us, whatever will enhance our friendship with God, whatever is a gift of his love for us, these come from the solitude and solidarity we experience with God.

 

Job protected himself from a loss of faith by recalling God’s awesomeness. He realized that nothing truly matters except God, for he is far greater than all else. He recognized this awesomeness in the vast difference between God and himself: “If I appealed to him and he answered me, how amazing that he would hear my words!” Humility put his terrible situation into the right perspective.

 

Nothing really matters but God. We can lose everything, and as long as we still have God, we are doing exceedingly well. It might not feel that way, but it’s the reality.

 

Today’s Gospel passage reminds us that we have to lose (abandon, sublimate, reduce in priority) everything earthly to follow Jesus. He set the example: He gave up his home, his career in carpentry, and his earthly life for our sake. If we look back and miss what we’ve given up, wishing to once again make them a higher priority than our union with Christ, we break our unity with him. Who, then, are we following? Where will it lead us?

 

We must keep our eyes on Jesus. By abandoning everything into his hands, he gives back to us whatever truly is right and good.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Beloved Jesus: Today I let go everything that stops me from following You unconditionally. Today I accept being filled with Your Holy Spirit for the great mission of spreading Your word. 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!”