GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY - Monday - October 03, 2022

 

Monday - October 03, 2022

 “Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood.”

-St. Louis Marie de Montfort

October 3, 2022 

MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Lectionary: 461

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    GAL 1:6-12

 

Brothers and sisters:

I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking

the one who called you by the grace of Christ

for a different gospel (not that there is another).

But there are some who are disturbing you

and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven

should preach to you a gospel

other than the one that we preached to you,

let that one be accursed!

As we have said before, and now I say again,

if anyone preaches to you a gospel

other than the one that you received,

let that one be accursed!

 

Am I now currying favor with human beings or God?

Or am I seeking to please people?

If I were still trying to please people,

I would not be a slave of Christ.

 

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,

but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  PS 111:1B-2, 7-8, 9 AND 10C

 

R. (5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

 

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart

in the company and assembly of the just.

Great are the works of the LORD,

exquisite in all their delights.

R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;

sure are all his precepts,

Reliable forever and ever,

wrought in truth and equity.

R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

He has sent deliverance to his people;

he has ratified his covenant forever;

holy and awesome is his name.

His praise endures forever.

R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2:8          JN 13:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I give you a new commandment:

love one another as I have loved you.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                     LK 10:25-37

 

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,

“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?

How do you read it?”

He said in reply,

“You shall love the Lord, your God,

with all your heart,

with all your being,

with all your strength,

and with all your mind,

and your neighbor as yourself.”

He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;

do this and you will live.”

 

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,

“And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied,

“A man fell victim to robbers

as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road,

but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

Likewise a Levite came to the place,

and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him

was moved with compassion at the sight.

He approached the victim,

poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.

Then he lifted him up on his own animal,

took him to an inn, and cared for him.

The next day he took out two silver coins

and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,

‘Take care of him.

If you spend more than what I have given you,

I shall repay you on my way back.’

Which of these three, in your opinion,

was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”

He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

 

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

 

Love and Apathy

It’s interesting that in the parable of the Good Samaritan (today’s Gospel reading), Jesus does not tell us the identity or nationality or social status of the man who needs help. We don’t know if the traveler from Samaria helped the enemy or a fellow Samaritan.

 

It doesn’t matter. The sin of the priest and the Levite is that they didn’t care enough to even find out if this man was alive or dead, or what kind of help he needed. Trapped in their self-centered world, they choose to completely ignore him.

 

The opposite of love is not hate. It’s apathy: ignoring a need, not caring, doing nothing when there is something we can do to relieve suffering.

 

Apathy is not natural. We were born to love. Apathy begins when there are voids in our lives that cause a feeling of continual dissatisfaction: the empty, aching, lonely, scary voids that indicate something is missing.

 

What’s missing is love. The people who should care about us sometimes fail to give us all the love that we need. Even those who love us most cannot give us all that we need. And there are those who totally reject their calling to care about us; they treat us with apathy.

 

No one can love us completely the way we need their love. So, we either numb ourselves and become apathetic toward others, or we decide to rely more fully on God, who is love and who is never apathetic toward us.

 

The achy voids we feel are clues that we haven’t yet given God our full attention.

 

When God’s love isn’t filling us, we automatically try to fill the voids with anger, cynicism, busyness, co-dependent relationships, over-eating, over-shopping, anesthetizing drinks or drugs, or self-esteem boosting accolades.

 

Aha, there really is no such thing as a void, is there! A vacuum sucks in whatever is near the hole. We fill our empty areas with things and people and activities that are not God. This causes apathy, because it prevents the outward flow of love, and at the same time it makes us miserable, because it never sufficiently brings us love.

 

Jesus says that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and that every person we encounter is a neighbor. Why? Because caring for others moves us from self-centeredness to “God-filledness.” By giving love away, God rushes in and fills up the emptied places with his own presence.

 

We were not designed to be selfish. Made in the image of God, we feel happiest when we unite ourselves to his love. Joy and satisfaction come from actively loving everyone: God, others, and ourselves.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Beloved Lord, forgive me for looking for my “neighbor” as someone far from me. Grant me the grace of doing good to those people who are near me in my everyday circumstances. 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!”

Good News of the Day : Sunday - October 02, 2022

 

Sunday - October 02, 2022

“We never give more honor to Jesus 

than when we honor his Mother, 

and we honor her simply and solely to honor him 

all the more perfectly. 

We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek – Jesus, her Son.”

– Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

October 2, 2022

 

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Lectionary: 141

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4

 

How long, O LORD?  I cry for help

 but you do not listen!

 I cry out to you, "Violence!"

 but you do not intervene.

 Why do you let me see ruin;

 why must I look at misery?

 Destruction and violence are before me;

 there is strife, and clamorous discord.

 Then the LORD answered me and said:

 Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,

 so that one can read it readily.

 For the vision still has its time,

 presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;

 if it delays, wait for it,

 it will surely come, it will not be late.

 The rash one has no integrity;

 but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

 

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

 

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;

 let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

 let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;

 let us kneel before the LORD who made us.

For he is our God,

 and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:

 "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

 as in the day of Massah in the desert,

Where your fathers tempted me;

 they tested me though they had seen my works."

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

 

Reading II                                                               2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14

 

Beloved:

I remind you, to stir into flame

the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice

but rather of power and love and self-control.

So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,

nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;

but bear your share of hardship for the gospel

with the strength that comes from God.

 

Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me,

in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit

that dwells within us.

 

 

Alleluia                                                                    1 Pt 1:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of the Lord remains forever.

This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                     Lk 17:5-10

 

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

The Lord replied,

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,

you would say to this mulberry tree,

'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

 

"Who among you would say to your servant

who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,

'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?

Would he not rather say to him,

'Prepare something for me to eat.

Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.

You may eat and drink when I am finished'?

Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?

So should it be with you.

When you have done all you have been commanded,

say, 'We are unprofitable servants;

we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

 

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

Seeking Praise

This is a hard command to live.  Most often when we have done something well, and fulfilled our duty, we seek recognition and praise.  We want to be noticed.  And while this may be a “normal” reaction, it’s not the most humble reaction.  Humility comes in many degrees, and the deepest degree of humility allows a person to repeat this passage above and mean it.

 

First, we must realize that the will of God is good for us.  It imposes an obligation of love on us.  When we fulfill God’s will, we should take delight in that fact alone because it is good.  That way, the fulfillment of God’s will becomes the source of our joy, not the recognition of others.

 

On the other hand, it is good when we see goodness in others and acknowledge it.  We should do this not to build up their ego but to give praise to God for the good thing done.  And when others see and acknowledge God’s will accomplished in our lives, we must accept their praise not as a source of our pride but as an honest acknowledgment that God is good and His will is being fulfilled.  We must be grateful that we could do “what we were obliged to do.”

 

Embracing the will of God as a holy “obligation” also enables us to fulfill it more fully.  When doing the will of God is seen as something extraordinary, we may not build a proper habit of fulfilling it.  But when it’s seen as our duty of love and as the normal act we should fulfill, it’s easier to embrace His will more completely.

 

Reflect, today, on this humble phrase. “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”  Try to say it, mean it and let it become the foundation of your daily service of God’s will.  Doing so will set you on the “fast track” toward holiness.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Lord, I am an unprofitable servant. When I fulfill Your holy will, I acknowledge that this is a holy obligation of love and my most fundamental duty.  Help me to see Your will as the most normal part of my daily life.  Help me to embrace it with wholehearted faith and obedience.  Jesus, I trust in You.

 

 

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!”