Monday, July 30, 2012 (Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
God told me, "God replied to me," they assert--- and yet most of the time they are talking to themselves.
-- St. John of the Cross

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Jeremiah 13:1-11
The Linen Shorts 13
1 The Lord told me to go and buy myself some linen shorts and to put them on; but he told me not to put them in water.
2 So I bought them and put them on. 3 Then the Lord spoke to me again and said,
4 “Go to the Euphrates River and hide the shorts in a hole in the rocks.”

Monday, July 09, 2012 (Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
If we say less than we should, it is easy to add. But having said too much, it is hard to take it away.
-- St. Francis de Sales

READINGS FOR TODAY
Monday, July 09, 2012 (Weekday)First Reading: Hosea 2:16-18, 21-22
16 Then once again she will call me her husband—she will no longer call me her Baal.
17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again.
18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety.
21-22 At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel.
I will make rain fall on the earth, and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives.

Psalm: Psalm 145:2-9
2 Every day I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; his greatness is beyond understanding.
4 What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next; they will proclaim your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of your glory and majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.
6 People will speak of your mighty deeds, and I will proclaim your greatness.
7 They will tell about all your goodness and sing about your kindness.
8 The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9 He is good to everyone and has compassion on all he made.

Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26
(The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak)
18 While Jesus was saying this, a Jewish official came to him, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and place your hands on her, and she will live.”
19 So Jesus got up and followed him, and his disciples went along with him.
20 A woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will get well.”
22 Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, my daughter! Your faith has made you well.” At that very moment the woman became well.
23 Then Jesus went into the official's house. When he saw the musicians for the funeral and the people all stirred up,
24 he said, “Get out, everybody! The little girl is not dead—she is only sleeping!” Then they all started making fun of him.
25 But as soon as the people had been put out, Jesus went into the girl's room and took hold of her hand, and she got up. 26 The news about this spread all over that part of the country.

Thursday, June 07, 2012 (Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
The pure soul is a beautiful rose, and the Three Divine Persons descend from Heaven to inhale its fragrance.
-- St. John Vianney
READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-158 Remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from death, who was a descendant of David, as is taught in the Good News I preach.
9 Because I preach the Good News, I suffer and I am even chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not in chains,
10 and so I endure everything for the sake of God's chosen people, in order that they too may obtain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory.
11 This is a true saying:
 “If we have died with him,
 we shall also live with him.
  If we continue to endure,
 we shall also rule with him.
 If we deny him,
 he also will deny us.
13 If we are not faithful,
 he remains faithful,
 because he cannot be false to himself.”
 An Approved Worker
14 Remind your people of this, and give them a solemn warning in God's presence not to fight over words. It does no good, but only ruins the people who listen. 15 Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth.

Psalm: Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14
4 Teach me your ways, O Lord;  make them known to me.
5 Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me.
 I always trust in you.
8 Because the Lord is righteous and good, he teaches sinners the path they should follow.
9 He leads the humble in the right way and teaches them his will.
10 With faithfulness and love he leads all who keep his covenant and obey his commands.
14 The Lord is the friend of those who obey him and he affirms his covenant with them.

Gospel:   Mark 12:28-34
(Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)
28 A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
29  Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. 
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 
31 The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more
important than these two.”
32  The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. 
33 And you must love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength; and you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is more important to obey these two commandments than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God.”
 34 Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Monday, June 04, 2012 (Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Those who trust in themselves are worse than the devil!!
-- St. John of the Cross

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: 2 Peter 1:2-72 May grace and peace be yours in full measure through your knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
 God's Call and Choice
3 God's divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own  glory and goodness.
4 In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature.
5 For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge;
6 to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness;
7 to your godliness add Christian affection; and to your Christian affection add love.

Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16
(God Our Protector)1 Whoever goes to the Lord for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,
2 can say to him, “You are my defender and protector. You are my God; in you I trust.”
14 God says, “I will save those who love me and will protect those who acknowledge me as Lord.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them; when they are in trouble, I will be with them. I will rescue them and honor them.
16 I will reward them with long life; I will save them.”

Gospel: Mark 12:1-12
(The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard)
(Matthew 21.33-46; Luke 20.9-19) 1 Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip.
2 When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest.
3 The tenants grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing.
4 Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully.
5 The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others.
6 The only one left to send was the man's own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said.
7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’
8 So they grabbed the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others. 
10 Surely you have read this scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.
11 This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is!’”
12 The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.