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The one who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.
... William Law (1686-1761) |
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AM 2:6-10, 13-16; PS 50:16BC-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23
MT 8:18-22
When Jesus saw a
crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Another of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me,
and let the dead bury their
dead."
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"Son and father go to the same prostitute." —Amos
2:7
Fathers have been blessed by God to have such a primary influence on forming their children. Fathers are a living representative to their children of the heavenly Father. "For whatever the father does, the son does likewise" applies to both Jesus' relationship to His heavenly Father and earthly fathers' relationship with their sons (Jn 5:19). "For the father loves the son and everything
the father does he shows him" (Jn 5:20).
God has created the father-child relationship in a special way. His plan is to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers (Mal 3:24). In sending St. John the Baptist to earth, God even specifically mentioned that one of the
effects of John's ministry was to turn the hearts of fathers to their children (Lk 1:17).
Prayer: Lord, may every family be a living imitation of the Holy Family.
Promise: "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead." —Mt
8:22
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence - by Jean-Pierre de Caussade Section
V: The Divine Influence Alone Can Sanctify Us
No reading, nor any other exercise can sanctify us except in so far as they are the channels of the divine influence. ___________
The order established
by God and His divine will are the life of the soul no matter in what way they work, or are obeyed. Whatever connexion the divine will has with the mind, it nourishes the soul, and continually enlarges it by giving it what is best for it at every moment. It is neither one thing nor another which produces these happy effects, but what God has willed for each moment. What was best for the moment that has passed is so no longer because it is no longer the will of God which, becoming apparent
through other circumstances, brings to light the duty of the present moment. It is this duty under whatever guise it presents itself which is precisely that which is the most sanctifying for the soul. If, by the divine will, it is a present duty to read, then reading will produce the destined effect in the soul. If it is the divine will that reading be relinquished for contemplation, then this will perform the work of God in the soul and reading would become useless and prejudicial. Should the
divine will withdraw the soul from contemplation for the hearing of confessions, etc., and that even for some considerable time, this duty becomes the means of uniting the soul with Jesus Christ and all the sweetness of contemplation would only serve to destroy this union. Our moments are made fruitful by our fulfillment of the will of God. This is presented to us in countless different ways by the present duty which forms, increases, and consummates in us the new person until we attain the
plenitude destined for us by the divine wisdom. This mysterious attainment of the age of Jesus Christ in our souls is the end ordained by God and the fruit of His grace and of His divine goodness.
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