GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Saturday - June 10, 2023

 

Saturday - June 10, 2023

"Perfect love of God means the complete union 

of our will with God's."

 --St. Albert the Great

June 10, 2023

Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 358

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Tb 12:1, 5-15, 20

 

Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him,

"Son, see to it that you give what is due to the man

who made the journey with you; give him a bonus too."

So he called Raphael and said,

"Take as your wages half of all that you have brought back,

and go in peace."

 

Raphael called the two men aside privately and said to them:

"Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory.

Before all the living,

acknowledge the many good things he has done for you,

by blessing and extolling his name in song.

Honor and proclaim God's deeds,

and do not be slack in praising him.

A king's secret it is prudent to keep,

but the works of God are to be declared and made known.

Praise them with due honor.

Do good, and evil will not find its way to you.

Prayer and fasting are good,

but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness.

A little with righteousness is better than abundance with wickedness.

It is better to give alms than to store up gold;

for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin.

Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life;

but those habitually guilty of sin are their own worst enemies.

 

"I will now tell you the whole truth;

I will conceal nothing at all from you.

I have already said to you,

'A king's secret it is prudent to keep,

but the works of God are to be made known with due honor.'

I can now tell you that when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed,

it was I who presented and read the record of your prayer

before the Glory of the Lord;

and I did the same thing when you used to bury the dead.

When you did not hesitate to get up

and leave your dinner in order to go and bury the dead,

I was sent to put you to the test.

At the same time, however,

God commissioned me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah.

I am Raphael, one of the seven angels

who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord."

 

"So now get up from the ground and praise God.

Behold, I am about to ascend to him who sent me;

write down all these things that have happened to you."

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Tobit 13:2, 6efgh, 7, 8

 

R. (1b) Blessed be God, who lives for ever.

 

He scourges and then has mercy;

he casts down to the depths of the nether world,

and he brings up from the great abyss.

No one can escape his hand.

R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.

So now consider what he has done for you,

and praise him with full voice.

Bless the Lord of righteousness,

and exalt the King of ages.

R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.

In the land of my exile I praise him

and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.

R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.

Bless the Lord, all you his chosen ones,

and may all of you praise his majesty.

Celebrate days of gladness, and give him praise.

R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are the poor in spirit;

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                       Mk 12:38-44

 

In the course of his teaching Jesus said,

"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes

and accept greetings in the marketplaces,

seats of honor in synagogues,

and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,

recite lengthy prayers.

They will receive a very severe condemnation."

 

He sat down opposite the treasury

and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.

Many rich people put in large sums.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,

"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more

than all the other contributors to the treasury.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,

her whole livelihood."

 

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

The Freedom to Give All

Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Mark 12:41–42

 

As soon as Jesus saw this widow contribute her “few cents” worth of coins, Jesus was moved with love. He immediately used this as an opportunity to teach a lesson to His disciples. He called them over and explained that this poor widow had contributed more than anyone because “she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

 

Our Lord judges generosity far differently than the world. What does it mean to be generous? Generosity certainly applies to how you use your money. But it also applies to your time, energy, commitment, and every other aspect of your life. To be generous, according to Jesus, is to give all you have, your “whole livelihood.”

 

You accomplish this goal when you make God and His holy will the central and most important part of your life. You can hold nothing back from Him! Does this mean that if you want to strive for perfection, then you must give away all you own? Perhaps the best answer is both “Yes” and “No.” The answer is “Yes” in the sense that we must become completely detached, on an interior and spiritual level, from everything that is not part of God’s perfect will. The answer is “No” in the sense that, for most people, it is part of His holy will that you own a house, a car, other possessions, and do enjoy other material comforts with your family and friends. The key is the interior detachment and the central focus upon the glory of God and the total service of His holy will. Love of God and neighbor, and freedom from selfishness, will be the guiding factors in these decisions.

 

With that said, there are certainly some who live in excess and indulgence in our world and, as a result, are deeply attached to their extravagant lifestyle. And there are some who are physically poorer who are just as attached, interiorly, to that which they do not have. For example, what if this poor widow, instead of giving her last few cents, sat in the Temple area watching as the wealthy put in large sums of money and allowed herself to grow in jealousy and greed. This interior attitude would have been in stark contradiction to the generous and trusting spirit she acquired through her total generosity. True generosity is a fundamental disposition of our lives. It means that we have chosen to imitate our Lord through a total self-giving of ourselves to His holy will. And that does include seeing all that we possess as belonging to Christ for the service of His holy will.

 

Reflect, today, upon whether material possessions and wealth possess you more than you possess them. Are you controlled by desires for more and struggle with disordered attachments to the things you do have? Are you able to make love of God and love of neighbor the central focus of your life and use all that you have, in accord with God’s will, for those purposes? Reflect upon the generosity in the heart of this humble and poor widow and allow our Lord to teach you how to be generous through her holy witness.

 

Today's Prayer

 

My generous Lord, You bestow upon us all good things. You enrich our lives with Your love and mercy which are the true treasures we must seek. Fill my heart with the same generosity exemplified by this poor widow so that I, too, will imitate the total self-giving that she lived in imitation of You. Jesus, I trust in You. 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!”