READINGS for 2009-09-02
SloW mE DoWN
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. – Luke 4:42
I’d like to share with you one of my favorite poems I memorized back in high school.
Slow me down, Lord.
Ease the pounding of my heart with the quieting of my mind;
Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time;
Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills;
Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.
Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations — of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.
In this noisy world we live in, we need to carve out time for prayer, for aloneness, for quiet and peace. In that silence, we will find ourselves and we will find the Lord. After all, if Jesus took time for silence, shouldn’t we do the same? Joy Sosoban
REFLECTION:
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:11)
Grant me the courage to be still, O Lord, and make You truly God of my life.
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1st READING
Paul had many assistants in the work of proclaiming the Gospel and establishing Christian communities among those who gave their lives to Christ. Today we hear of Epaphras who worked in Colossae. Very little is known about him yet he was instrumental in establishing the community in Colossae. This is the same with much of the work for the Kingdom of God — it goes unnoticed by the world. However, we can be sure that nothing goes unnoticed in God’s eyes.
Colossians 1:1-8
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the holy ones and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. Of this you have already heard through the word of truth, the gospel, 6 that has come to you. Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth, 7 as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
P S A L M
Psalm 52:10. 11
R: I trust in the mercy of God for ever.
8 [10] I, like a green olive tree in the house of God, trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. (R) 9 [11] I will thank you always for what you have done, and proclaim the goodness of your name before your faithful ones. (R)
G O S P E L
Jesus knows the imperative attached to evangelization. It is not an option for Him — He MUST do it! The same ought to be true for us according to God’s call for us. Let us pray that we realize that we too are expected to preach the Good News both in season and out of season. This means being prepared to share the Gospel with others at a moment’s notice. I remember visiting a community once and I think every person I met managed to share with me something of the power of God at work in their lives. Only on reflection did I realize how edifying this was for my own faith!
Luke 4:38-44
38 After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. 39 He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them. 40 At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. 41 And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah. 42 At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. 43 But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
my reflections
think: Much of the work for the Kingdom of God goes unnoticed by the world. But we can be sure nothing goes unnoticed in God’s eyes.
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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 Job 10-13
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bringing the sick to Jesus
Sometimes when I reflect on passages such as today’s Gospel, I think that ‘bringing the sick people to Jesus’ is symbolic of recognizing that we all must come to Jesus in order to be healed of our various sicknesses and maladies. All of us fall sick at one time or another. All of us need to come to Jesus in order to be saved from our sins. The act of bringing the physically sick to Jesus is a symbol of how we all must come to Jesus in faith to receive the gift of salvation.
I am the sort of person who hates admitting that I get sick — in fact, I will generally refuse to submit to sickness and keep going about my normal daily routine, and I usually refuse to take medicine if I can avoid it. This may be the result of my own drivenness, bordering on being a workaholic. What is critical for me is that I do not bring the same attitude into my faith. We all struggle with admitting that we are sinners who need help to overcome temptation and sin. It is crucial that we be able to admit that we are sick with sin and seek the remedy of Christ’s forgiveness through humility and faith. Until we are able to do this, we will remain captive to sin and a slave to our worldly desires.
It is only Jesus who can help us overcome our sinfulness, as it is He that has put sin to death through His obedience to the will of His Father. We need to learn that obedience to God’s will is the surest protection against sin and temptation. If we can learn the path of obedience, we will certainly give sin a lot less opportunity to mess up our lives. Jesus heals the sick and drives out demons during His ministry. He can and will do the same today through the ministry of the Church if we are willing to allow Him to convert us and use us to convert others. The Gospels clearly demonstrate the power of Jesus at work
in peoples’ lives. These people can be us if we are willing to place our faith and trust in Him. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
Reflection Question:
Where am I going in life? Am I following the will of God or am I doing what I want to do? The two may or may not be mutually exclusive.
Holy Spirit, help me to be convinced that the only way to experience the true freedom and fullness of life as a son or daughter of God is through surrendering my life to Jesus and following His will for my life.
St. Castor, Bishop, pray for us.
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