"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly."
~~St. Francis de Sales
"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly."
~~St. Francis de Sales
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Lectionary: 170
Reading I
Dt 7:6-11
Moses said to the people:
"You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God;
he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth
to be a people peculiarly his own.
It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you
and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers,
that he brought you out with his strong hand
from the place of slavery,
and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed,
the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant
down to the thousandth generation
toward those who love him and keep his commandments,
but who repays with destruction a person who hates him;
he does not dally with such a one,
but makes them personally pay for it.
You shall therefore carefully observe the commandments,
the statutes and the decrees that I enjoin on you today."
Responsorial Psalm Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10
R. (cf. 17) The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Reading Il 1 Jn 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord;
and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.
R. Alleluia
Gospel Mt 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
**********************************
Experience the healing love of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Thus says the Lord:
When (your name) was a child I loved her/him,
out of occult involvement I called my daughter/son.
It was I who taught (your name) to walk,
who took her/him in My arms;
I drew her/him with human cords,
with bands of love;
I fostered her/him like one
who raises an infant to his cheeks;
Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,
she/he did not know that I was her healer.
Then read the Isaiah passage with the same personal angle, but now let it be the adult you of whom the verses speak:
God indeed is my savior, rescuing me from my troubled past.
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage come from the Lord,
and he is my savior.
With joy I will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
etc.
For the reading from Ephesians, let the author, Paul, speak directly to you:
For this reason I kneel before the Father,
asking him to bless you according to the riches of his glory
so that you are strengthened with the power of the Holy Spirit,
so that Christ dwells in your heart through faith,
so that you will be rooted and grounded in love,
so that you may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth
of the love that Christ has for you, which surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
As you read the scriptures this way, do you feel any healing taking place?
Are you more aware of God’s tremendous love for you?
This is what it means to experience the Sacred Heart of Jesus — the heart that in the Gospel reading was pierced for your sake.
A SACRED HEART PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE
Loving Jesus, Your Sacred Heart is open to all mankind and full of love for each one of us.
We who love You have experienced Your love in our lives, but we have family and friends who have never fully come to love You, or turned away from Your love.
In Your mercy, Jesus, let them feel the touch of Your gentle love and gather them back to You.
Lord, Your Sacred Heart is filled with love for all who have not heard of You; help us to teach them of You and bring them to love You.
The compassion of Your Sacred Heart does not judge anyone, but calls us to witness Your loving truth to those who scorn or fear You.
Through Your precious Sacred Heart, bring all people to come to love You and live in peace and true freedom to give You all praise, honor and glory. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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