GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Thursday - July 06, 2023

 

Thursday - July 06, 2023

Silence is the beginning of 

purifying the soul.

~~St. Basil the Great

July 6, 2023

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 380

 

Reading I     

                                                                                                Gn 22:1b-19

 

God put Abraham to the test.

He called to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,

and go to the land of Moriah.

There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering

on a height that I will point out to you."

Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey,

took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well,

and with the wood that he had cut for the burnt offering,

set out for the place of which God had told him.

 

On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.

Then he said to his servants: "Both of you stay here with the donkey,

while the boy and I go on over yonder.

We will worship and then come back to you."

Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering

and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders,

while he himself carried the fire and the knife.

As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham:

"Father!" he said.

"Yes, son," he replied.

Isaac continued, "Here are the fire and the wood,

but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?"

"Son," Abraham answered,

"God himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering."

Then the two continued going forward.

 

When they came to the place of which God had told him,

Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.

Next he tied up his son Isaac,

and put him on top of the wood on the altar.

Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven,

"Abraham, Abraham!"

"Here I am," he answered.

"Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger.

"Do not do the least thing to him.

I know now how devoted you are to God,

since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son."

As Abraham looked about,

he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.

So he went and took the ram

and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.

Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh;

hence people now say, "On the mountain the LORD will see."

Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:

"I swear by myself, declares the LORD,

that because you acted as you did

in not withholding from me your beloved son,

I will bless you abundantly

and make your descendants as countless

as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;

your descendants shall take possession

of the gates of their enemies,

and in your descendants all the nations of the earth

shall find blessing--all this because you obeyed my command."

 

Abraham then returned to his servants,

and they set out together for Beer-sheba,

where Abraham made his home.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                                          Ps 115:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

 

R. (9) I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.

 

Not to us, O LORD, not to us

but to your name give glory

because of your kindness, because of your truth.

Why should the pagans say,

"Where is their God?"

R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.

 

Our God is in heaven;

whatever he wills, he does.

Their idols are silver and gold,

the handiwork of men.

R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.

 

They have mouths but speak not;

they have eyes but see not;

They have ears but hear not;

they have noses but smell not.

R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.

 

Their makers shall be like them,

everyone who trusts in them.

The house of Israel trusts in the LORD;

he is their help and their shield.

R. I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ

and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 9:1-8

 

After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.

And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."

At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,

"This man is blaspheming."

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,

"Why do you harbor evil thoughts?

Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'

or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

But that you may know that the Son of Man

has authority on earth to forgive sins"–

he then said to the paralytic,

"Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."

He rose and went home.

When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe

and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

 

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Participating in the holy priesthood of sacrifice

The story in today’s Gospel references the Christian priesthood that Jesus was initiating. As our High Priest, he revealed the priesthood’s authority to heal (the Anointing of the Sick) and to forgive sins (Confession). Our Catholic priests come from an uninterrupted line of ordination that goes back to the Apostles to whom Jesus gave, in person, this authority. This is what gives priests of the original Church (Catholicism) the ability to make the Sacraments effective and real and miraculous, regardless of whether they are holy men or sinful.

 

In the first reading, Abraham foreshadowed this priesthood. He offered a sacrifice as a gift to God in obedience to the calling he had been given by God. Although he didn’t kill his son, the knife raised above his son showed a willingness to give up everything for the Lord, and this was the true sacrifice. When the priest at Mass raises the bread and wine (before it becomes Christ’s body and blood) above the altar, he represents all of us who are willing to give up everything for God. This is why the bread and wine are brought to the altar by members of the congregation instead of from the back closet or sacristy.

 

What are you willing to give up, and what are you clinging to that should be sacrificed for the sake of doing the work of God? Very often, God is only looking for our surrender, our willingness. He doesn’t always take what we offer, as we see when he stopped Abraham from killing Isaac. God provides the substitute sacrifice to help us let go without losing.

 

When we do experience losses, if they are offered to God, they become a time of rising up and walking forward, a time of healing with great gain. We gain a greater intimacy with God. The ram that God provides to us is found in the thicket of our thorny pain. We discover that the true sacrifice was not what we had to give up. The true sacrifice is the attitude of letting go. We gain much from this, because trying to hold on to anything that is not God himself holds us back from receiving everything that God wants to give to us.

 

Whenever the gifts of the altar are presented during Mass, we can mentally place our losses into the bread basket and the wine carafe. We can also put into it whatever we’re afraid of losing, the material possessions that we hold tightly and the bad attitudes that we don’t want to change. The priest will offer these to God, upon the altar, by saying a prayer of sacrifice on our behalf.

 

Prior to coming to Mass, we should always do an examination of conscience to identify our recent venial (minor) sins. (Stubborn or grave, mortal sins, which have been killing our relationship with God, need the healing graces that are provided in the Sacrament of Confession.) During the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass, we should offer our sins to God and mentally place them on the altar.

 

God blesses such sacrifices. He is very pleased with our willingness to let go.

 

Prayer

 

Forgive me O Lord, for judging my neighbors’ deeds so easily. May the same love which moved you to heal the paralytics, move me to love others, from understanding and mercy. 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!”