READINGS for 2008-07-29
Memorial of St. Martha, disciple of the lord ALL THINGS!
“Is it not you alone, O Lord, our God, to whom we look? You alone have done all these things.” – Jeremiah 14:22
Our journey of infertility has been going on over for seven years. If I were to enumerate the procedures, pains, tries and trials, one Didache volume wouldn’t be sufficient. But the good news is, as I write this, I am ten weeks pregnant. Praise the Lord! Recently, we saw our baby kicking and swimming inside my womb through the wonder of a 4D ultrasound.
One of my realizations in this chapter of my life is how the Lord has been so faithful, even if I was not. Many times, I unwisely depended on our doctors, the thermometer, injections, lab results and oral medications. I lost heart when things didn’t go as planned. I lost sight of what God can do and focused more on what we could control.
I realize that when I look elsewhere, I will be frustrated. I’m beginning to understand that when I put more trust on things or people, they can always let me down.
I know that when I look to the Lord, however perilous or uncertain the path, the endings are always happy.
Yes, always. He alone makes impossible things possible. Lallaine Gogna
REFLECTION:
Is there any aspect in your life now that you haven’t given fully to the Lord?
Teach me to look to You alone, Lord. You alone can do all things.
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1st READING
Love is the underlying and overlying principle of all action in the Christian life. If love is not present in an act, it cannot be Christian as our God is a God of love. Martha’s life is a life of service. Sometimes, service can be used to hide from the deeper issues we need to address in our lives. If we make love and not service the focus, we will discover that we will become confident enough to address the issues we need to face and we will be better people for this.
John 4:7- 16 (or Jeremiah 14: 17-22 )
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 8 Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. 14 Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. 15 Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. 16 We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
P S A L M
Psalm 4: - , 4- , 6-7, 8-9, 0- (or Psalm 79:8, 9, and )
R: I will bless the Lord at all times.
1 [2] I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. 2 [3] Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad. (R) 3 [4] Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name. 4 [5] I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. (R) 5 [6] Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. 6 [7] When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. (R) 7 [8] The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 [9] Taste and see how good the LORD is; happy the man who takes refuge in him. (R) 9 [10] Fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for nought is lacking to those who fear him. 10 [11] The great grow poor and hungry; but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing. (R)
G O S P E L
Martha’s faith is full of insight as she seems to be one of the few who have grasped what Jesus has been talking about on the promise of the resurrection. It is not necessarily the wise and learned who are the first to grasp the insights of faith – it is often the simple and pure of heart. Another example of this is Bernadette Soubirous’ comprehension of the Immaculate Conception.
John : 9- 7 (or Luke 0: 8-4 or Matthew : 6-4 )
19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
my reflections
think:It is not necessarily the wise and learned who are the first to grasp the insights of faith – it is often the simple and pure of heart.
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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________
T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 1 Maccabees 13-14 |
i bEliEvE in JEsUs
Many people invited Jesus into their homes as He walked the roads of Palestine. Many offered Him and His disciples’ friendship and hospitality. Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in Bethany, a small village two miles from Jerusalem. They often invited Jesus over to dine with them, and He and His disciples enjoyed their friendship and company.
On one occasion, Jesus heard of the death of Lazarus. He went to Bethany, despite opposition from some of the disciples, and sought to comfort the sisters and wake Lazarus from his “sleep.” In this scene, we are touched by the encounter between Jesus and Martha.
Martha was the one who greeted Jesus. Many have already come to mourn with, and comfort the family. Martha, as a faithful Jew, believed in the resurrection of the dead. When Jesus told her that her brother will rise again – she believed. She knew that he will rise again on the last day. She placed her hope in God and in Jesus. Jesus proclaimed to Martha that He is the resurrection and the life. In an act of faith, Martha believed and put her faith in the Lord.
Jesus’ profound statement provoked a response in Martha. Jesus asked Martha if she believed that He is who He says He is. He told to Martha that whoever believes in Him will live forever. Martha believed in Jesus. She acclaimed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world.
Jesus calls out to us. He asks us the same question. “Do you believe in me?” Jesus says that He is the way the truth and the life. He gives us eternal life. The evangelist understands that believing is receiving. If we believe, we receive the graces and blessings that Jesus offers – eternal life. For John the evangelist, seeing is believing. We rejoice in life. Death has no power over us for the Lord of Life has conquered death on the Cross. Jesus, who died has rose again and is seated at the right hand of the Father, now intercedes for us.Fr. Brian Steele
Reflection Question:
Do I believe in Jesus? Do I believe that He is the Resurrection and the Life?
Lord, I believe in You. I believe that You are the Holy One, the Son of the living God. Give me life that I may call upon Your name. I will bless
You at all times. Amen.
St. Martha, virgin, pray for us.
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