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Message of the Day
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If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot.
- John Bunyan
(How peaceful is your mind these days? Take extra time today for silence,
solitude and prayer if it is unpleasantly noisy.)
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Readings of the Day
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1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Ps
144:1b, 2, 9-10 Mk 3:1-6 Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus
closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
"Come up here before us."
Then he said to the Pharisees,
"Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?"
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to
death. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, Who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.” —Psalm 144:1
God is working to train our withered hands for battle (against evil forces at work in our world), our shriveled fingers for war (Ps 144:1). Many faithful hands and fingers will ply the Rosary beads today, wielding the weapons of prayer and fasting which will bring down Goliath. With David, say to Goliath: “You come against me with massive funding, governmental authorization, the support of the media, and legal backing. But I come
against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies that you have insulted” (see 1 Sm 17:45). Stretch out your withered hands to Jesus; He will strengthen them for this war (Ps 144:1). Prayer: “Arise, O Lord, that Your enemies may be scattered, and those who hate You may flee before You” (Nm 10:35). Promise: “The battle is the Lord’s, and He shall deliver you into our hands.” —1 Sm 17:47 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Three, Gift of the Spirit Chapter 1: Overview - Selected quotes As breath is to the human body, regulating its operations and rhythms, so is the Holy Spirit to Christ’s Mystical Body. The Spirit “breathes” the divine life into us and “engineers” a transformative process that changes us from cancer cells in the cosmos to living cells in the Body of
Christ. This process—the spiritual journey—is nothing we could accomplish using our own will, intelligence and behavior; it is pure gift, and it is given to all people who belong to Christ either through implicit or explicit faith. All that the Spirit needs from us in order to accomplish this work is our ongoing cooperation in living a life of love and a commitment to spiritual discipline, especially prayer. The rest is a work of grace.
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