August 1, 2006

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, bishop and doctor of Church

Jer 14:17-22 Let my eyes stream with tears day and night, without rest, Over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people,over her incurable wound. If I walk out into the field, look! those slain by the sword; If I enter the city, look! those consumed by hunger. Even the prophet and the priest forage in a land they know not. Have you cast Judah off completely? Is Zion loathsome to you? Why have you struck us a blow that cannot be healed? We wait for peace, to no avail; for a time of healing, but terror comes instead. We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,the guilt of our fathers;that we have sinned against you.For your name’s sake spurn us not,disgrace not the throne of your glory;remember your covenant with us, and break it not.Among the nations’ idols is there any that gives rain?Or can the mere heavens send showers?Is it not you alone, O LORD,our God, to whom we look?You alone have done all these things.Responsorial PsalmPs 79:8, 9, 11 and 13R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;may your compassion quickly come to us,for we are brought very low.R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.Help us, O God our savior,because of the glory of your name;Deliver us and pardon our sinsfor your name’s sake.R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you;with your great power free those doomed to death.Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,will give thanks to you forever;through all generations we will declare your praise.R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us. Reading II
Eph 4:1-6
Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
-->GospelMt 13:36-43Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.His disciples approached him and said,“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.The weeds are the children of the Evil One,and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,so will it be at the end of the age.The Son of Man will send his angels,and they will collect out of his Kingdomall 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.Then the righteous will shine like the sunin the Kingdom of their Father.Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

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July 31 2006

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, priest
Jer 13:1-11 The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth; wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water. I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on. A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus: Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Parath;there hide it in a cleft of the rock. Obedient to the LORD’s command, I went to the Parathand buried the loincloth. After a long interval, the LORD said to me: Go now to the Parath and fetch the loincloth which I told you to hide there. Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth from the place where I had hid it. But it was rotted, good for nothing! Then the message came to me from the LORD: Thus says the LORD: So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot,the great pride of Jerusalem. This wicked people who refuse to obey my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, and follow strange gods to serve and adore them, shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing. For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty. But they did not listen.

Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21
R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you,You forgot the God who gave you birth.When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“I will hide my face from them,” he said,“and see what will then become of them.What a fickle race they are,sons with no loyalty in them!”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’and angered me with their vain idols,I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’;with a foolish nation I will anger them.”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Eph 4:1-6
Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

Mt 13:31-35 Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush,and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

The mustard seed is so tiny to make one of the largest plants. It is a wonder to see the tiny seed of faith grow and with God's grace do the mightiest of acts. The parable of the yeast is interesting because in some Scripture yeast is a thing that is spoiled and yet can be used to make something new and good. The people of Israel have gone astray and been spoiled and yet good can still come from them with faith and grace and the will of God.

I pray this morning for a listening heart ready to make new the spoiled things of this world with faith in the ways of the Lord in all things. I pray especially for those who are in need this morning that they turn to the Lord.

I will be traveling tommorow and will not be sure if I will be able to log daily entries but will attempt to do as many as possible when access to computers is available which will most likely not be all the time. My thoughts and prayers this morning are especially with my friend Barb who is very ill that she will have the comfort of the Lord with her today.

July 31 2006

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, priest
Jer 13:1-11 The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth; wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water. I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on. A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus: Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Parath;there hide it in a cleft of the rock. Obedient to the LORD’s command, I went to the Parathand buried the loincloth. After a long interval, the LORD said to me: Go now to the Parath and fetch the loincloth which I told you to hide there. Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth from the place where I had hid it. But it was rotted, good for nothing! Then the message came to me from the LORD: Thus says the LORD: So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot,the great pride of Jerusalem. This wicked people who refuse to obey my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, and follow strange gods to serve and adore them, shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing. For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty. But they did not listen.

Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21
R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you,You forgot the God who gave you birth.When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“I will hide my face from them,” he said,“and see what will then become of them.What a fickle race they are,sons with no loyalty in them!”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’and angered me with their vain idols,I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’;with a foolish nation I will anger them.”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Eph 4:1-6
Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

Mt 13:31-35 Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush,and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

The mustard seed is so tiny to make one of the largest plants. It is a wonder to see the tiny seed of faith grow and with God's grace do the mightiest of acts. The parable of the yeast is interesting because in some Scripture yeast is a thing that is spoiled and yet can be used to make something new and good. The people of Israel have gone astray and been spoiled and yet good can still come from them with faith and grace and the will of God.

I pray this morning for a listening heart ready to make new the spoiled things of this world with faith in the ways of the Lord in all things. I pray especially for those who are in need this morning that they turn to the Lord.

I will be traveling tommorow and will not be sure if I will be able to log daily entries but will attempt to do as many as possible when access to computers is available which will most likely not be all the time. My thoughts and prayers this morning are especially with my friend Barb who is very ill that she will have the comfort of the Lord with her today.