THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Thursday - August 11, 2022

 

Friday - August 11, 2023

Not the goods of the world, but God. 

Not riches, but God. 
Not honors, but God. 
Not distinction, but God. 
Not dignities, but God. 
Not advancement, but God. 
God always and in everything.

-- Saint Vincent Pallotti

August 11, 2023

Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

Lectionary: 384

 

Reading I     

                                                                                                Dt 4:32-40

 

Moses said to the people:

"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,

ever since God created man upon the earth;

ask from one end of the sky to the other:

Did anything so great ever happen before?

Was it ever heard of?

Did a people ever hear the voice of God

speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?

Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself

from the midst of another nation,

by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,

with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,

all of which the LORD, your God,

did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

All this you were allowed to see

that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.

Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;

on earth he let you see his great fire,

and you heard him speaking out of the fire.

For love of your fathers he chose their descendants

and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,

driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,

so as to bring you in

and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.

This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,

that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,

and that there is no other.

You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,

that you and your children after you may prosper,

and that you may have long life on the land

which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."

 

Responsorial Psalm                                                          Ps 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

 

R. (12a) I remember the deeds of the Lord.

 

I remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I remember your wonders of old.

And I meditate on your works;

your exploits I ponder.

R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.

 

O God, your way is holy;

what great god is there like our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

among the peoples you have made known your power.

R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.

 

With your strong arm you redeemed your people,

the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

You led your people like a flock

under the care of Moses and Aaron.

R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 16:24-28

 

Jesus said to his disciples,

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,

take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world

and forfeit his life?

Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,

and then he will repay each according to his conduct.

Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here

who will not taste death

until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."

 

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Distributors of God’s abundance

Our first reading today emphasizes how important, how holy, how essential it is to be generous. So then, why do we have such difficulty with taking risks in generosity? It’s because we think, consciously or unconsciously: “God cannot or will not multiply his favors for me, he is not able to make every grace abundant for me. Maybe for someone else, but not me.”

 

Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading that to produce much fruit, we have to be like a grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies. To be generous, what has to fall into the soil and die is our fear that we’ll be too generous, i.e., that God will not be equally generous with us when it’s our own time of need.

 

Let’s turn our perspective around. We assume that these verses from 2nd Corinthians mean: “I’m supposed to be generous; therefore, if I am generous, God won’t let me end up homeless and starving.” But that’s scary, and it’s not what these verses are saying. It’s the reverse: “I’m supposed to be generous; therefore God will give me an abundance of whatever he wants me to give away.”

 

Ahhh, that gets us off the hook, right? If we don’t have an abundance, we can keep what we do have for ourselves. Oops! The world has conditioned us to feel dissatisfied with however much we have. In reality, we have much more than we think we do.

 

Look at what he’s given you. There are others who don’t have as much.

 

If you’re able to pay all the bills that are necessary for the basic needs of life, and if you have anything left over, God has chosen you to be his partner in distributing his wealth. If you’re growing vegetables in your garden, enjoy giving it out to your neighbors as a distributor of God’s harvest. If you’ve got time for daytime television shows, you are the answer to prayer for those who are short on time.

 

What else has he given to you abundantly? Love, insights, wisdom, valuable learning experiences, whatever you’re talented in, the training you’ve had, perhaps even a swimming pool and a barbecue grill for parties, or a house with unused bedrooms.

 

When someone asks God for help and no help comes, it’s not because God has failed. It’s because we who have been given what they need are failing to do our job as distributors of his abundance.

 

Jesus, who multiplied bread and fish, multiplies our gifts so that we have enough to share. Jesus meets our needs and makes plenty of leftovers for others.

 

Prayer

 

Beloved Lord Jesus: You know that many times my agenda and my passions take control of my life. I surrender to You my mind and my senses so that, placed in You and free from my limitations, they may follow our Father’s perfect paths. 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!”