Thursday 16th July – Our lady of Mount Carmel (opt. Mem)

YOU CAN COUNT ON HIS WORD

Psalms 130:5 (Gospel Acclamation)

Christian, why are you worried? Beloved in Christ what is troubling your mind? Are you looking at the lost benefits or wasted opportunities? Perhaps the present looks bleak and the future is not assuring. Trust in the Lord!

There is an open call to all from our blessed saviour in today’s Gospel: “come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The first reading shows us the Lord coming to the rescue of a people that called on Him in their oppressed and distressed state. He was liberating them from slavery to usher them into a prosperous land promised to their forefather Abraham (Genesis 15: 18-20; Joshua 1:4). This affirms the words of the Psalmist today: “He is mindful of his covenant for ever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generation, the covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac” (Psalm 105: 8-9).

Dearest in Christ, you and I have been called to rest in the assurance of God’s promises (Psalm 18:30; Isaiah 55:11). He is not man, that he should lie (Number 23:19) and with him there is no hopeless situation (Jeremiah 32: 27) or impossibility. This is the way of faith. This was the path trod by our patriarchs in faith and they were not disappointed. However, to rest in the promises of God, we must be aware of these promises. Ignorance of the word of God is ignorance of God. Scriptural study and meditation are necessary for the development of our faith and deeper experience of the power of God.
PRAYER: I count on your promises to me dear Lord. Please sustain me by the power of your word and be glorified in my life. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 16 – What is the right way to read the Bible?

The right way to read Sacred Scripture is to read it prayerfully, in other words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, under whose influence it came into being. It is God’s Word and contains God’s essential communication to us.
The Bible is like a long letter written by God to each one of us. For this reason I should accept the Sacred Scriptures with great love and reverence. First of all, it is important really to read God’s letter, in other words, not to pick out details while paying no attention to the whole message. Then I must interpret the whole message with a view to its heart and mystery: Jesus Christ, of whom the whole Bible speaks, even the Old Testament. Therefore I should read the Sacred Scriptures in the faith that gave rise to them, the same living faith of the Church. 

HIDE A TREASURE: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” Proverbs 30: 5 RSV-CE

Today’s Readings: Exodus 3: 13-20; Psalm 105: 1, 5, 8-9, 24-27; Matthew 11: 28-30