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Message of the Day
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Beloved, I say, let your fears go, lest they make you fainthearted. Stop inspiring fear in those around you and now take your stand in faith. God has been good and He will continue to manifest His goodness. Let us approach these days expecting to see the goodness of the Lord manifest. Let us be strong and of good courage, for the Lord will fight for us if we stand in faith.
- Francis
Frangipane What fears do you need to let go of? Pray for the grace to trust in God's goodness.
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Readings of the Day
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1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Psalm 139:1-3, 4-6 Matthew 23:23-26 Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing
camels!
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as
well.’ USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Fresh from the humiliation we had suffered at Philippi — about which you know — we drew courage from our God to preach His good tidings to you in the face of great opposition.” —1 Thessalonians
2:2
When we’ve just been humiliated, we tend to focus on ourselves, be unforgiving and resentful, lick our wounds, and/or have a pity party. However, such a time of humiliation can be just the right time to proclaim the Gospel. The humiliation we suffered may have been a defensive maneuver by the devil to try to stop us from receiving an exceptional outpouring of God’s grace. When humiliated, we shouldn’t draw back but charge forward (see Jas
1:2-3).
For example, when St. Paul was humiliated, beaten, dragged from Lystra, and left for dead, he “got up and went back into the town” (Acts 14:19-20). When Sts. Paul and Silas were arrested, stripped, flogged, and had their feet chained to a stake, they did not shut up or shut down but prayed and sang to the Lord (Acts 16:19-25). Before long an earthquake rocked the prison, and Paul and Silas converted the jailer and his family to the
Lord (Acts 16:33). After Jesus’ ultimate humiliation on Calvary, He had the ultimate victory of Resurrection from the dead (see Mt 28:5-6). Humiliation isn’t always a bad sign. It often precedes the greatest works of God in our lives, if we would only respond to God and not the momentary experience of humiliation. Prayer: Father, by faith may I let You turn my humiliation to the
good (Rm 8:28). Promise: “First cleanse the inside of the cup so that its outside may be clean.” —Mt 23:26 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of Holy Life, by Brother Lawrence (1611 - 1691). Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
https://ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice/practice Twelfth Letter To another correspondent; expresses his own abiding comfort through faith. GOD has many ways of drawing us to Himself. He sometimes hides Himself from us: but faith alone, which will not fail us in time of need, ought to be our support, and the foundation of our confidence, which must be all in GOD. I know not how GOD will dispose of me: I am always happy: all the world suffer; and I, who deserve the severest discipline, feel joys so continual, and so great, that I can scarce contain
them. I would willingly ask of GOD a part of your sufferings, but that I know my weakness, which is so great, that if He left me one moment to myself, I should be the most wretched man alive. And yet I know not how He can leave me alone, because faith gives me as strong a conviction as sense can do, that He never forsakes us, till we have first forsaken Him. Let us fear to leave Him. Let us be always with Him. Let us live and die in His
presence. Do you pray for me, as I for you. |
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