CHRIST LIKE

 ?My strength and my courage is the Lord and He has been my Saviour.? ? Isaiah 12:2

William Green, in the July 4, 2005 issue of TIME Magazine, talks about his favorite investment. He invested in a private company that operates a call center in Manila. What he said touched me. ?... this is the only investment I?ve ever owned that has actually made me happy, regardless of whether it pays off financially.?
      Why? Because he discovered that his call center is a lifeline to the poor. A godsend to his employees. A hope for the future. Rosanna M

REFLECTION:
In Japan, they build small and simple houses but big factories. In the Phils, they build big & grand houses but small and few factories.

Lord, give me an entrepreneur?s heart that I may invest part of my earnings in a small business so others may be employed.  Amen.

1st READING

Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9

Hosea is a wonderful prophet to read if we want to try and grow in our understanding of God?s love for us. He belongs to a new movement within the prophetic tradition of the Jews that focuses more upon the unconditional love of God for His people rather than seeing God as judge. Yes, God is a judge and we will all be judged on the Last Day. However, the greater truth is that He is a God of Love who seeks to demonstrate this love to us first and foremost of all that He does.

1 When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. 3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; 4 I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer. 8 How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver you up, O Israel? How could I treat you as Admah, or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. 9 I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you.

P S A L M

Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6

R: You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

2 God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior. 3 With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation. (R) 4 Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name. (R) 5 Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth. 6 Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel! (R)

2nd READING

Ephesians 3:8-12,14-19

Each of us has a reserve of hidden strength that we are not necessarily cognizant of all the time. The Sacrament of Baptism imparts to us the grace of the Holy Spirit, but too many of us do not make the fullest use possible of this fantastic gift. The early Fathers of the Church are unanimous in their understanding that being empowered by the Holy Spirit is synonymous to being baptized. Let us pray that we will activate the gift of the Holy Spirit more fully in our own lives.

8 To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light [for all] what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness of speech and confidence of access through faith  in him. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family  in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

G O S P E L

John 19:31-37

It was important for the Early Church that her faith be founded upon the Scriptures. This is why we often see the Old Testament quoted in the New Testament as proof texts regarding certain events in Jesus? life. Continuity is important as it gives the Church a reference point upon which to build. God?s work with His People did not begin with Jesus, but it began ?from the beginning? and God was never absent from their lives!

31 Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,  the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, 34 but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 35 An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may [come to] believe. 36 For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: ?Not a bone of it will be broken.? 37 And again another passage says: ?They will look upon him whom they have pierced.?

my reflections
think: Yes, God is a judge and we will all be judged on the Last Day. However, the greater truth is that He is a God of Love who seeks to demonstrate this love to us first and foremost of all that He does.

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God?s special verse/thought for me today________________

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T O D A Y ? S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Songs 1-4

Every month of May, our family celebrates the wedding anniversary of my parents. I preside over the prayers. We always celebrate the votive Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart, because the day when my parents got married the icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was also officially enthroned in our home. This devotion was considered indispensable in every Catholic home because, among the ?Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,? was one which states: ?I will establish peace in their homes.?
      Our Gospel proclaims to us how Jesus establishes peace...    

• BEARING BROKENNESS. St John narrates that Jesus died during the Jewish Preparation Day when the Israelites would be slaughtering the Lamb for their Passover. John indicated that Jesus is the ?Lamb of God? (cf. John 1:29). Like the Passover Lamb, He is then a peace offering for our salvation.
• OPENNESS OF THE HEART. The piercing of Jesus is said to have been done on the side where the heart is. Here then is a gesture of God opening His heart once again to sinful humanity. Besides, in the same way that the old Adam brought life to woman through a rib taken from his side, Jesus, the New Adam, gives life to the Church, his spouse, also through his open side.
• NOT COUNTING THE COST. Not only blood, but water flowed from the open heart of Jesus on the Cross. Every drop of blood has been shed...so now, there was only water. In an age when people look for painless and costless shortcuts to joy and peace, the Sacred Heart of Jesus then shows us that true peace and joy can only be ours at the price of our selfless giving and sacrifice. Fr. Domie G

REFLECTION QUESTION:
Do I seek painless shortcuts to joy and peace?

Adapted from the Litany in honor of the Sacred Heart ? ?Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, our piece and reconciliation, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, victim of sin, have mercy on us. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Yours. Amen.?

St. Joseph Cafasso, confessor, pray for us.