My heart danced with joy when my first boyfriend, constant prayer partner, and one of the kindest men I know popped this question. Without any hesitation, I said yes.

We set the date and poured our hearts into the preparations. But months into the planning, inevitable family matters happened. We were torn whether to push through or give way. After a tearful period of discernment, we postponed the wedding. It took a lot of courage, faith, and love to surrender our plans to God—and a double amount of courage, faith, and love to talk to everyone involved.

We thought we surrendered to give, but God showed us that we surrendered to receive. As I write this reflection, we are three months away from our wedding day. Our Master Planner made sure that no pain, no sacrifice, no act of surrender is ever put to waste. He provided for our needs and more. Even before we say “I do” to each other, God reminded us that it’s always best to say yes to Him first because He stays beyond forever. God is the best lifetime Companion we can ever have. With Him, no man is ever alone. Maymay Salvosa (c.salvosa@shepherdsvoice.com.ph)

Reflect: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1, NIV)

Dearest God, we surrender to Your ways today and remember that Your love never fails. Amen.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, bishops, pray for us.

The Scriptures teach us that man and woman are meant to become one in marriage. A family is then born through this unity. The man and woman leave their immediate families in order to build their own. God created the woman to be a suitable partner in life for man.

Genesis 2:18-25

18 The Lord God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man. 21 So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, 23 the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

P S A L M 

Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R: Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

1 Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways! 2 For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. (R) 3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; Your children like olive plants around your table. (R) 4 Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. 5 The Lord bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. (R)

GOSPEL

Today is the feast of brother saints Cyril and Methodius. They invented the Cyrillic alphabet to translate the Scriptures into the native language of the Slavic peoples with whom they shared the Gospel. These saints have gone further than the extra mile in evangelizing the Slavs. Will you?

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.

Mark 7:24-30

24 Jesus went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

think: How will you share Jesus to those who speak a different language?

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Read the Bible in one year 2 Corinthians 5-8 

 

 

FAITH BRINGS ABOUT MIRACLES 

The miracle story in today’s Gospel speaks about the faith of a Canaanite woman who is not a member of the Jewish family. She begs the Lord to cure her daughter who is terribly troubled—possessed by a demon. At first, her cry for mercy was snubbed by Jesus. Then the annoyed disciples tried to get rid of her. Finally, Jesus addressed her contemptuously as a “dog.”

Still, she persists, saying, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” At last, the Lord acknowledges her indomitable spirit, saying, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” In other words, her great faith—powerfully manifested in her persistence, humility, and wit—wins the day. She gets what she needs from Jesus.

Looking beyond the miracle story, we find that not only her daughter is healed but her family is included in the family of God. The point of the story is that God’s love includes all that He has created. Salvation is not limited by racial colors or ethnic groups. God’s love is not reserved only for the well-born or the best educated or the most pious. God’s love is not restricted by human failures or weaknesses or even sins. God’s loving mercy and healing compassion extends to all—rich or poor, young or old, saint or sinner. All of us are His beloved sons and daughters.

That is why we are called to be signs of God’s love, not only to those who are good to us, or those who belong to our church, or those who are part of our little circle of friends. We are to break down all barriers and walls that separate us. We are to remove all obstacles that keep us apart from one another. We are to take away the bad attitudes that isolate us from another. We are to make time to listen to our hearts. Fr. Nelson Orqueta

------- REFLECTION QUESTION --------

How do you treat those who are different from you or who do not belong to your inner circle?

Open my heart, Lord, that I may see You in every person I encounter. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________