Message of 7-10-15

Published: Fri, 07/10/15

What are you afraid of? Let God act. Abandon yourself to Him. You will suffer, but you will suffer with love, peace and consolation. You will fight, but you can carry off the victory, and God Himself, after having fought with you, will crown you with His own hand. You will weep, but your tears will be sweet, and God Himself will come with satisfaction to dry them. You will not be free any longer to give yourself up to your tyrannic passions, but you will sacrifice your liberty freely, and you will enter into a new liberty unknown to the world, in which you will do nothing except for love.

- Francois Fenelon

(Let God act . . . )

Readings of the Day

GN 46:1-7, 28-30; PS 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40; MT 10:16-23

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Trust in the LORD and do good,

that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.

Take delight in the LORD,

and he will grant you your heart’s requests.

The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;

their inheritance lasts forever.

They are not put to shame in an evil time;

in days of famine they have plenty.

Turn from evil and do good,

that you may abide forever;

For the LORD loves what is right,

and forsakes not his faithful ones.

The salvation of the just is from the LORD;

he is their refuge in time of distress.

And the LORD helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

USCCB Lectionary

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Gospel Reflection

Jesus never hesitated to tell his disciples what they might expect if they chose to follow him. Here Jesus says to his disciples: This is my task for you at its grimmest and worst - do you accept it? This is not the world's way of recruitment for service and toil with promise of honor and reward. After the British defeat at Dunkirk (June 1940), Churchill offered his country blood, toil, sweat, and tears.

This is not the message we prefer to hear when the Lord Jesus commissions us in his service for the advancement of God's kingdom and the battle against Satan's kingdom of darkness and death. Nonetheless, our privilege is to follow in the footsteps of the Lord and Master who willingly laid down his life for us in order to bring us victory over Satan, sin, and death. Are you willing to accept hardship and suffering in serving the Lord Jesus Christ?

"Lord Jesus, help me to patiently and joyfully accept the hardships, adversities, and persecution which come my way in serving you and your kingdom of love, truth,and goodness. Strengthen my faith and give me courage that I may not shrink back from doing your will."

DailyScripture.net

Spiritual Reading

The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Continues the same subject. This is very suitable for reading after the reception of the Most Holy Sacrament.

If, then, you are really surrendering yourselves to God, as you say, cease to be anxious for yourselves, for He bears your anxiety, and will bear it always. It is as though a servant had gone into service and were anxious to please his master in everything. The master is bound to give him food for so long as he remains in his house, and in his service, unless he is so poor that he has food neither for his servant nor for himself. Here, however, the comparison breaks down, for God is, and will always be, rich and powerful. It would not be right for the servant to go to his master every day and ask him for food when he knew that his master would see that it was given him and so he would be sure to receive it. To do this would be a waste of words. His master would quite properly tell him that he should look after his own business of serving and pleasing him, for, if he worried himself unnecessarily, he would not do his work as well as he should. So, sisters, those who will may worry about asking for earthly bread; let our own task be to beg the Eternal Father that we may merit our heavenly bread, so that, although our bodily eyes cannot feast themselves on the sight of Him since He is thus hidden from us, He may reveal Himself to the eyes of the soul and may make Himself known to us as another kind of food, full of delight and joy, which sustains our life.

- Chapter 34

(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.)

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