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The Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 30 September 2012 (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48)
Jesus makes clear in this week’s Gospel that He intends to reward even the seemingly most insignificant work of mercy. Even giving someone a glass of tap water that costs us nothing will not be overlooked on the Last Day. He tells us in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7). In another place He tells us, “For the measure you measure with will be measured back to you” (Lk 7:38b). In other words, we need to be generous in our deeds of mercy toward others if we want God to be generous in His mercy toward us. He told St. Faustina:
“Write this for the many souls who are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul. If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgement” (Diary 1317).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, help me to fulfill your command to show mercy in word, deed and prayer. I trust in You. Amen.
The Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 23 September 2012 (Mark 9:30-37)
This Sunday’s gospel contrasts Jesus’ humility with his disciples’ pride. While Jesus is sharing with them about His coming Passion, they are worrying about which of them is the greatest. Jesus has a message for us about the nature of greatness: that it lies in humbly serving others, and in taking on the form of a slave as He Himself did, even to the point of accepting death on a cross. The Blessed Virgin Mary instructed St. Faustina in these words:
“The soul’s true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well-pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud” (Diary 669).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, Who gave us the perfect example of humility, laying down Your very life as a slave, have mercy on me in my proud-heartedness! Help me to love You with all my soul and to forget myself completely. May I focus all my efforts on serving my neighbour in genuine humility and love. Teach me to lay down my life in humble service. Amen.
The Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 16 September 2012 (Mark 8:27-35)
In today’s gospel Jesus reminds us that discipleship entails self-denial and the cross. The paradox of our faith is that we must lose our life to save it. Jesus rebuked Peter for discouraging Him from suffering. As Christians, we must learn to think as God does. We must die to our selfish ways of thinking and embrace the wisdom of the Cross. One day St. Faustina recorded the following incident in her Diary:
“This morning, when someone hurt my feelings, I tried, in that suffering, to unite my will to the will of God, and I praised God by my silence. In the afternoon, I went for a five-minute adoration, when suddenly I saw the crucifix I have on my breast come alive. Jesus said to me, ‘My daughter, suffering will be a sign to you that I am with you’ ” (Diary 669).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, You Who first walked down that painful road of suffering, which led to a shameful death on Calvary, help me to follow Your example, embracing my cross and courageously living out Your holy will, that I may one day share in Your Resurrection. Amen.
The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 9 September 2012 (Mark 7:31-37)
Today’s gospel of Jesus healing the deaf-mute with the words “Be opened,” gives us an occasion to reflect on our own openness to hearing what others have to say, or even more important, what God wants to say to us. Often we are guilty of being too caught up in our own opinions to pay genuine attention to what the other person is trying to say. And in our relationship with God, we are often too comfortable where we’re at to really want to hear Him calling us to growth in love or in holiness.
Jesus told St. Faustina: “Oh, if souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time” (Diary 584).
Prayer: Merciful Lord Jesus, open my heart to hear Your words of love and direction. Reveal Your will to me, and teach me to carry it out in all that I do. Grant that my heart may be attuned to my neighbour’s often unspoken cries for help. Give me the grace and courage to venture out of my comfort zone to the people and places You call me to. I trust in You! Amen.