Daily
Thoughts:
Today’s reading from the Book of Jeremiah I think was written for us today. It
is so easy to really like this prophet; his writing so often reveals his heart.
Jeremiah is said to be a type and model of Jesus Christ. The reading guide
section of the Catholic Study Bible points out the many ways his life runs
parallel to the life of Jesus.
While it
appears Jeremiah is lamenting to the Lord for relief from a long draught, he
also mentions their pitiful conditions from war. Jeremiah speaks of “her
incurable wound” (Jer. 14:17) and
later he writes, “We wait for peace, to no avail; for a time of healing, but
terror comes instead. (Jer. 14:19)
Our incurable wound is our human condition. We all move to levels of autonomy
and independence from our God; eventually to find ourselves lost, running back
in need of a Savior. The stories throughout the history of humankind depict
this forward and backward movement towards and away from God. Where are we at
today? Our world isn’t any different today. We suffer from the long lasting
effects of natural disasters; many people suffering because of droughts, fires,
floods as well as the man-made disasters of war, terrorism and mass shootings.
O Lord, we are suffering. So, Jeremiah, our prophet is interceding for us
today.
We often
listen to false prophets and think we won’t suffer from following false gods.
We keep discovering that we need God as much today, as the people did 600 years
before the birth of Christ. Today, Jeremiah is doing the work of trying to
bring us back to the Lord. He like Pope Francis, calls us to feed the hungry,
care for the sick, hold up the downtrodden…we have many opportunities to reach
out to people today.
In the
Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus uses the planting story to tell the crowd
that the Son of Man plants good seeds. His field is the world, the good seed
represents the children of the Kingdom and the weeds are the children of the
Evil One, which are sown by our enemy the devil. Some people don’t want to
believe that the fires of hell exist, but Jesus says “the Son of Man will send
his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to
sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there
will be wailing and grinding of teeth…Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Matthew 13: 41-43)
Let us
always remember the seed is the Word of God and Jesus is the sower; all who
come to him will live forever! Have a great Tuesday everyone.
Daily
Prayer:
Give us, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag
downwards; give us an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out;
give us an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow
upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you,
wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! (Prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas)
A
Runner’s Thoughts: “It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how
far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in
the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop
trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as
where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you
need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor
what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done.” (John Bingham)
Daily
Blessing:
Tuesday greetings and blessing to everyone and Happy Feast of St. Ann and St.
Joachim! It is a busy day here at St. Ann’s. Thinks started at 4:00 am here
with confessions followed by the first mass of the day at 4:30 am and the
masses and services are many throughout the day with the closing mass at 7:30
pm.
I have the 8:00 am televised mass and then I will be busy throughout the
day hearing confessions and help with communion and blessings. I will once
again bring all the prayers, petitions and intercessions that you have sent me
throughout my days here to my prayers of the feast day and I will keep all of
you in my prayers as we each live this day trying to celebrate and live what
this day offers each us. May God’s blessing be upon all on this Tuesday
especially on the gift of family as we celebrate this Feast of St. Ann and St.
Joachim.
A special
blessing upon all grandparents and parents today as St. Ann and St. Joachim
were the grandparents of Jesus and the parents of Mary! Have a great day and
may God bless your journey throughout this day and always! Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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