. . . ?What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?? ? Matthew 14:31

  ?I?m happy,? Vi simply stated, when I asked her how she was after being married for 2 months. My friend Vi was a prayerful woman, someone who discerned before making any decision, and someone whose faith never wavered in spite of all her trials.
      Vi?s love story was a testament of her prayer life: she used to pray for a simple relationship with a good man who would be her first and last boyfriend. Her prayer was answered. She used to pray for a perfect, romantic wedding. She got that too. Vi?s future was definitely looking up. It was no surprise she was happy.
      After her honeymoon our conversation turned to the possibility of Vi being pregnant. She told me she was concerned because she had a few glasses of wine over the holidays, which might affect her baby. ?I?m just worried,? shared Vi.
      I thought about it and asked, ?Considering all you?ve been through, do you think this is the time to doubt God?s power??
      We both laughed at the thought of worrying about her future family. What with the kind of God we have, worrying is truly one ridiculous sport. Anna dG

REFLECTION:
How many times do you worry in a day? How do you think it makes God feel?

Banish worrying from my life, Lord.

Jeremiah 28:1-17

There is always the ever-present danger of false prophets. They may come  in both religious and secular disguise. This can make it all the more difficult to recognize them as we have to be alert on many fronts at the same time. We all should take responsibility to be on the lookout for false prophets or simply those who lead the faithful astray through incorrect doctrine or teaching.

1 That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah, son of Azzur, from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ?I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will restore to this place all the vessels of the temple of the LORD which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon. 4 And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,? says the LORD, ?for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.? 5 The prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people assembled in the house of the LORD, 6 and said, Amen! Thus may the LORD do! May he fulfill the things you have prophesied by bringing the vessels of the house of the LORD and all the exiles back from Babylon to this place! 7 But now, listen to what I am about to state in your hearing and the hearing of all the people. 8 From  of old, the prophets who were before you and me prophesied war, woe, and pestilence  against many lands and mighty kingdoms. 9 But the prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as truly sent by the LORD only when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled. 10 Thereupon the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, broke it, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, ?Thus says the LORD: ?Even so, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from off the neck of all the nations.?? At that, the prophet Jeremiah went away. 12 Some time after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah 13 Go tell Hananiah this: ?Thus says the LORD: By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! 14 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: A yoke of iron I will place on the necks of all these nations serving Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; even the beasts of the field I give him. 15 To the prophet Hananiah the prophet Jeremiah said: Hear this, Hananiah! The LORD has not sent you, and you have raised false confidence in this people. 16 For this, says the LORD, I will dispatch you from the face of the earth; this very year you shall die, because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.? 17 That same year, in the seventh month, Hananiah the prophet died.
 
P S A L M

Psalm 119:29, 43, 79, 80, 95, 102

R: Lord, teach me your statutes.

29 Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law. (R) 43 Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for in your ordinances is my hope. (R) 79 Let those turn to me who fear you and acknowledge your decrees. (R) 80 Let my heart be perfect in your statutes, that I be not put to shame. (R) 95 Sinners wait to destroy me, but I pay heed to your decrees. (R) 102 From your ordinances I turn not away, for you have instructed me. (R)

G O S P E L

Matthew 14:13-21

Even Jesus takes time out to reflect upon His life and the various circumstances surrounding His ministry. It is important for us to do the same. If we fail to reflect upon our lives, we may miss something important that God is trying to say to us. Reflection can help us put together the jigsaw pieces of our life to form a coherent picture that will make sense. Without reflection, our lives   will remain a random series of events with little, if any, connection.

13 When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. 14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, ?This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.? 16 [Jesus] said to them, ?There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.? 17 But they said to him, ?Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.? 18 Then he said, ?Bring them here to me,? 19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over ? twelve wicker baskets full. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
  
my reflections
think: Even Jesus takes time out to reflect upon His life and the various circumstances surrounding His ministry. It is important for us to do the same.

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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 Jeremiah 7-9

I smile whenever I read the Gospel for today. The disciples recognized a problem: there were so many people and the food was in shortage. Notice: not that there was no food but that the food was not enough for all. It even seemed like the disciples tried to hide from Jesus the fact that they had food with them. Thus, their advice to Jesus was to dismiss the crowd. When shortage is real, the temptation to horde is even more real.
      But Jesus, from whom we cannot hide anything, addressed the problem by making the disciples address the problem themselves. ?There is no need to send them away. Give them something to eat yourselves,? said Jesus (perhaps, He, too, was smiling deep inside when He said this). When the problem is so real, the easy option of escaping from it becomes so real, too.
      Shame must have covered the hearts of the disciples as Jesus taught them that the answer to shortage is generosity and that problems are better confronted with childlike trust in Divine providence rather than brushed aside with the force of human inadequacies. We are no better than the disciples, are we?
      Jesus looks straight into our eyes today as we reflect on His Living Word. His gaze is steady and His voice plain, ?Is it true that there is not enough to share or it is more accurate that there is little generosity show?? Are you really aiming to solve the problem with the My help or are you trying to escape from your fears??
      We cannot hide anything from the Lord. Let us be honest with our answers.
      Smile, He is opening our hearts for another miracle!
      You are that miracle. Smile. Fr. Bobby T.

REFLECTION QUESTION:
How do I allow my problems to handle me or do I handle them with the Lord?

?Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve You as I should, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and ask not for reward, save that of knowing that I do Your most holy will. Amen.? (Prayer for Generosity attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola).

St. Sixtus II and Companions, pope and martyrs, pray for us.