THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Wednesday - August 16, 2023

 

Wednesday - August 16, 2023

He who fights even the smallest distractions faithfully when he says even the very smallest prayer, will also be faithful in great things. 

-- St. Louis de Montfort

August 16, 2023

Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 415

 

Reading I     

                                                                                                Dt 34:1-12

 

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,

the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho,

and the LORD showed him all the land—

Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali,

the land of Ephraim and Manasseh,

all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,

the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan

with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms,

and as far as Zoar.

The LORD then said to him,

"This is the land

which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

that I would give to their descendants.

I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over."

So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD,

died as the LORD had said; and he was buried in the ravine

opposite Beth-peor in the land of Moab,

but to this day no one knows the place of his burial.

Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died,

yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.

For thirty days the children of Israel wept for Moses

in the plains of Moab, till they had completed

the period of grief and mourning for Moses.

 

Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom,

since Moses had laid his hands upon him;

and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience,

thus carrying out the LORD's command to Moses.

 

Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses,

whom the LORD knew face to face.

He had no equal in all the signs and wonders

the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt

against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land,

and for the might and the terrifying power

that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                                          Ps 66:1-3a, 5 and 8, 16-17

 

R. (see 20a and 10b) Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

 

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

sing praise to the glory of his name;

proclaim his glorious praise.

Say to God: "How tremendous are your deeds!"

R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Come and see the works of God,

his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.

Bless our God, you peoples;

loudly sound his praise.

R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare

what he has done for me.

When I appealed to him in words,

praise was on the tip of my tongue.

R. Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

 

Alleluia         

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

And entreating to us the message of reconciliation.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 18:15-20

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"If your brother sins against you,

go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.

If he does not listen,

take one or two others along with you,

so that every fact may be established

on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.

If he refuses to listen even to the Church,

then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

Amen, I say to you,

whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth

about anything for which they are to pray,

it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them."

 

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The justice side of love

Sometimes we try so hard to be good Christians that we focus on the mercy side of love and neglect the other side of love: justice. As followers of Christ, we must love our enemies, but we must also let them reap what they sow, for this too is God’s way of helping people discover his love.

 

We must continually forgive those who sin against us repeatedly, but we must also speak up and ask them to go and sin no more.

 

God sets up boundaries in love for everyone who’s involved in any difficulty. Justice is the consequence of violating a boundary. In today’s first reading we see this in action. Earlier, Moses had crossed the line when he failed to be a good example to the people who observed and learned from him. Now, God would not let him lead the people all the way into the Promised Land.

 

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus describes how to protect boundaries:

 

1. The word no: When someone sins against you, tell him gently but firmly that it isn’t right. In mercy, we forgive and we give people another chance. But if that doesn’t stop the sin, we must speak a louder “no!” by bringing in support from those who can verify that the sinner is behaving harmfully and must stop. Again, we mercifully let go of the past and hope for the best. And if that too fails, we must back up our “no!” with the help of the larger Church community.

 

Then, if the abuse continues, we must protect the victims by treating the sinner like “a Gentile or a tax collector”, i.e., a non-member of the Church, which means it’s time to bring in the civil authorities (if the sin is an illegal activity) and to end the sinner’s access to us. We never end the love, but we must treat that person as an outsider. It’s the boundary of: “No, you must face the consequences of being separated from me until you’ve sincerely repented.”

 

2. Binding and loosing: Tie up whatever needs to be tied up, and let go of whatever needs to go. In other words, the “Serenity Prayer”: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (i.e., let loose the grip that the sin has had on you by letting go of your desire to change the sinner), the courage to change the things I can (i.e., bind the situation to God’s power and to your own willingness to work hard to help), and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

Did you know that this is only the first half of the Serenity Prayer? The often forgotten second part is beautiful and important:

 

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His will.

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

Amen.

 

3. Support: Don’t endure it alone. In wanting to avoid the sin of gossip, we tend to share too little with others. Jesus, however, tells us that we experience his nearness and the Father’s power when we’re in the prayer support of friends. We’re to find two or three Christian companions who understand the issues and who will love the sinner while praying for him or her to repent. Their help affirms that we’re doing what’s right and necessary; without them we become vulnerable and succumb to doubt about ourselves and our mission to help the sinner reach conversion.

 

God has already set up protective boundaries against evil through his commandments. You and I are called to stand with him on the holy side of the line and make it plainly visible to those who don’t see it or don’t want to see it. This is very vital to bringing God’s love more fully into the world.

 

Prayer

 

Forgive me, Lord, for the times I refused my brothers’ and sisters’ corrections. Forgive me for not correcting the others with mercy and humbleness. Thank You for reminding me that we are all necessary to build Your Church. 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!”