THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Saturday - July 15, 2023

 

Saturday - July 15, 2023

When anyone reposes all his confidence in God, God continually exercises a special protection over him, and in this state of things he can be assured that no evil will happen to him. 

-- St. Vincent de Paul

July 15, 2023

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 388

 

Reading I     

                                                                                                Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a

 

Jacob gave his sons this charge:

"Since I am about to be taken to my people,

bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies

in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

the cave in the field of Machpelah,

facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan,

the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite

for a burial ground.

There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried,

and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah,

and there, too, I buried Leah–

the field and the cave in it

that had been purchased from the Hittites."

 

Now that their father was dead,

Joseph's brothers became fearful and thought,

"Suppose Joseph has been nursing a grudge against us

and now plans to pay us back in full for all the wrong we did him!"

So they approached Joseph and said:

"Before your father died, he gave us these instructions:

'You shall say to Joseph, Jacob begs you

to forgive the criminal wrongdoing of your brothers,

who treated you so cruelly.'

Please, therefore, forgive the crime that we,

the servants of your father's God, committed."

When they spoke these words to him, Joseph broke into tears.

Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him

and said, "Let us be your slaves!"

But Joseph replied to them:

"Have no fear. Can I take the place of God?

Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good,

to achieve his present end, the survival of many people.

Therefore have no fear.

I will provide for you and for your children."

By thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them.

 

Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father's family.

He lived a hundred and ten years.

He saw Ephraim's children to the third generation,

and the children of Manasseh's son Machir

were also born on Joseph's knees.

 

Joseph said to his brothers: "I am about to die.

God will surely take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land

that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Then, putting the sons of Israel under oath, he continued,

"When God thus takes care of you,

you must bring my bones up with you from this place."

Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                                          Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7

 

R. (see Psalm 69:33) Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

 

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;

make known among the nations his deeds.

Sing to him, sing his praise,

proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

R. Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

 

Glory in his holy name;

rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!

Look to the LORD in his strength;

seek to serve him constantly.

R. Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

 

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,

sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

He, the LORD, is our God;

throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

R. Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,

for the Spirit of God rests upon you.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                                               Mt 10:24-33

 

Jesus said to his Apostles:

"No disciple is above his teacher,

no slave above his master.

It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,

for the slave that he become like his master.

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,

how much more those of his household!

"Therefore do not be afraid of them.

Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,

nor secret that will not be known.

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;

what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;

rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy

both soul and body in Gehenna.

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?

Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge.

Even all the hairs of your head are counted.

So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Everyone who acknowledges me before others

I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.

But whoever denies me before others,

I will deny before my heavenly Father."

 

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Don’t underestimate your value

Too often, instead of listening to our Divine Daddy tell us who we are, we believe what our parents, our teachers, and other significant people have said about us. A parent who says, “You’ll never amount to anything!” may have meant this as a challenge to encourage us to strive for our full potential, but the child in us absorbed it literally. The words destroyed our self-image, our personal value. Intellectually, we may have disagreed with the assessments of others, but deep inside, where the child blindly trusts those in authority, the child’s interpretation of the words has taken root.

 

We have many false notions about who we are and how important we are to the Father. Joy comes from being set free from lies and embracing the truth. The lies need to be erased by the power of God and replaced with his words. How much time have you spent examining what is good in you — and believing it? Let your Divine Daddy teach you about how much he values you!

 

God knows us exactly and intimately. We don’t. Rather than assume we are so bad, so ugly, or so unlikely to be extraordinary servants of God, we need to take time to listen to him describe who we really are. We need to ask him to remove the blinders of low self-esteem.

 

Low self-esteem says that we are far from being who we’re supposed to be. It also says that we will never get there. Abba, though, esteems us highly: “God demonstrates his love for us this way: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (See Romans 5:8.)

 

Yes, we have sinned. Yes, we are far from perfect. But the moment that we chose to believe in the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus, the Father esteemed us so highly that he called us saints!

 

Do you think of yourself as a saint? Saint Paul said that all who are loved by God are saints (Romans 1:7). Both the Old and New Testaments refer to the people of God as saints. Accept the fact that this is how God sees you. Begin to see yourself that way! You’re a saint who’s still being perfected by the pilgrimage to Heaven.

 

To continue to live with low self-esteem is like telling God, “You’re wrong about me.” How dare we contradict God! He says, “As for the saints on Earth, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.” (See Psalm 16:3.)

 

Prayer

 

Thank You Lord, for Your Holy Spirit who is always working in my life. Grant me the grace of persevering in the trials and difficult moments I have to live. With my eyes on You, may I always walk giving thanks to You and praising Your Name. 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!”