July 10 2020
Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 HOS 14:2-10
Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.”
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
“I am like a verdant cypress tree”—
because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.
Responsorial Psalm 51:3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14, 17
R. (17b) My mouth will declare your praise.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Behold, you are pleased with sincerity of heart,
and in my inmost being you teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Alleluia JN 16:13, 14:26
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you to all truth
and remind you of all I told you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church
38 This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also “about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error”.
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
FRIDAY, JULY 107H Mt. 10: 16-23 “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.”
- Jesus tells His Apostles, and us, that we will be persecuted and suffer at the hands of others on account of our faith in Jesus Christ! We are being sent like sheep, even as Christ was the paschal lamb.
- “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Is 53:7).
- We adore you, O Christ, and we praise You. Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Stations of the Cross)
Suffering as Adoration! Reflection by Caryll Houselander
To suffer gladly when we must for the love of others is indeed not only the closest imitation of Christ, it is the essence of our own Christhood; but when Christ is formed in us (as He certainly is when we have learnt that much about suffering) we shall have a desire to adore God.
This is bound to be so, because our minds will be like Christ’s mind. We shall desire to be grateful, to respond for every good thing, every flower or star, every moment spent happily, we shall want to thank someone, we shall want to be conscious of the presence of One whom we can love without measure, in whom we can delight without fear of loss, in whom ultimately our griefs will be lost as a flame is lost in the light of the sun – in a word, we shall want to adore.
This is certain, for Christ’s intellect was concentrated wholly on adoration of His Father. Therefore, He did not only pray, He made Himself a sacrifice, the most complete adoration; the sacrifice of the cross.
This we also can do through our suffering. Adoration – were it widespread on earth – would not only use, as it were, this great burden of grief that is everywhere, it would lift it and put it on the plane of joy, for it would gradually draw every heart to the light of God, making us conscious of Him in everything, and in Him there is our only lasting joy.
Here, then, are reasons to learn to suffer well, natural and supernatural…
We increase human happiness by allowing suffering to enrich our natures;
We grow in understanding, pity and natural love;
We pay our share for the debt of sin;
We grow in Christhood and have the power of Christ to move God;
We keep Christ’s Passion ever before God’s eyes;
And finally, with the very heart and mind of Christ, we adore God!
End of Reflection by Caryll Houselander (+1954) Catholic writer and poet
“I want to adore God this way… with the total oblation of my being. That is the only way to satisfy my need to love as I am loved!” (Anon.)
- Jesus sends His Apostles out to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom. Indeed they will be persecuted and eventually merit the grace of martyrdom, with the exception of John.
- Jesus wants to send each one of us out – to be His apostle, His victim, His saint! If we persevere we can expect to suffer the white martyrdom of persecution for living the Faith, and perhaps even the red martyrdom of dying for the Faith – the greatest act of adoration!
Let us end by meditating on this short excerpt from Everyman’s Way of the Cross by Clarence Enzler… The fourteen steps of the Way of the Cross represent our lives lived in Christ!
Christ:
These fourteen steps
that you are now about to walk
you do not take alone.
I walk with you.
Though you are you,
and I am I,
yet we are truly one –
one Christ.
And therefore,
My way of the cros
two thousand years ago,
and your “way” now
are also one.
But note this difference.
My life was incomplete until I crowned it
by My death.
Your fourteen steps
will only be complete
when you have crowned them
by your life.
Accept each moment as it comes to you,
with faith and trust
that all that happens has My mark on it.
A simple fiat, that is all it takes;
A breathing in your heart,
“I will it, Lord.”
So seek Me not in far-off places.
I am close at hand.
Your workbench, office, kitchen,
these are altars
where you offer love,
and I am with you there.
Go now! Take up your cross,
and with your life
complete your way.
My work as man is done.
My work within and through My Church
must now commence.
I look to you, My other self.
Day in, day out, from this time forth,
be My apostle – Victim – Saint.
Our Response:
My Jesus, Lord, You know my spirit is as willing
as my flesh is weak.
The teaching You could not impart,
the sufferings You could not bear,
the works of love You could not do
in Your short life on earth,
let me impart,
and bear,
and do
through You
But I am nothing, Lord.
Help me!
