July 23 2020
Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 JER 2:1-3, 7-8,12-13
This word of the LORD came to me:
Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!
I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.
Sacred to the LORD was Israel,
the first fruits of his harvest;
Should any presume to partake of them,
evil would befall them, says the LORD.
When I brought you into the garden land
to eat its goodly fruits,
You entered and defiled my land,
you made my heritage loathsome.
The priests asked not,
“Where is the LORD?”
Those who dealt with the law knew me not:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.
Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD.
Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.
Responsorial Psalm 36:6-7,8-9,10-11
R. (10a) With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
O LORD, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your faithfulness, to the clouds.
Your justice is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house;
from your delightful stream you give them to drink.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
Alleluia SEE MT 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 13:10-17
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Article 1
THE REVELATION OF GOD
I.God Reveals His “Plan of Loving Goodness”
51 “It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature.”
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
THURSDAY, JULY 23RD Mt. 13:10-17 “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”
- Who are the blessed ones who have eyes that see and ears that hear? The ones who have repentance for their sins and seek forgiveness, conversion, and holiness of life have eyes to see and ears to hear. Whereas those who don’t want to give up their sins and their sinful lifestyle, who don’t want to be converted, do not see and do not hear! That is the dynamic!
- God gives us sufficient grace to turn from the sins that cause death to our soul and to embrace the virtues that gives us life, and life more abundantly! We choose whether to receive His graces or reject them. St. Augustine in his autobiography Confessions admits that his prayer for many years was, “Lord, make me chaste—but not yet.”
- Those whose hearts are open to receive His grace, even beg for it, increase in virtue and holiness. Whereas those whose hearts are closed to His grace only increase in pride, selfishness, and attachment to sin until they lose His grace in their soul.
- Today Jesus quotes Isaiah: “You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them.”
- Today let us resolve to see with our eyes and hear with our ears and understand with our hearts and be converted so that Jesus may heal us. To this purpose, let us stand humbly before the Lord.
Standing Humbly Before the Lord… by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
When in the light of Truth men know themselves and so think less of themselves it will certainly follow that what they loved before will now become bitter to them. They are brought face to face with themselves and blush at what they see.
Their present state is no pleasure to them. They aspire to something better and at the same time realize how little they can rely on themselves to achieve it! It hurts them and they find some relief in judging themselves severely. Love of truth makes them hunger and thirst after justice and conceive a deep contempt for themselves.
They are anxious to exact from themselves full satisfaction and real amendment. They admit that to make satisfaction is beyond their own powers – when they have done all that is commanded them they acknowledge that they are still unprofitable servants.
They fly from justice to mercy, by the road Truth shows them: Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. They look beyond their own needs to the needs of their neighbors and from the things they themselves have suffered they learn compassion.
End of Reflection by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (+1153)
If we are to fly then from God’s justice and seek His mercy by being merciful, we can do no better than turn to Saint Faustina who shows us clearly, without any ambiguity, how we are to be merciful!
Diary #163 Prayer to be Merciful by St. Faustina Kowalska
O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.
I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.
Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.
Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.
Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.
You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy – if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer – if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even where I cannot reach out physically.
O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things.
End of Prayer to be Merciful by St. Faustina Kowalska (+1938)
Make no mistake, herein lies our salvation!!!
