The WORD
today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/062416-mass-during-day.cfm)
reminds me that I am wonderfully made.
Cars
are generally expensive. And cars who are made and assembled in another country
is relatively more expensive. This includes luxury vehicles that are wholly
imported from abroad. They give a premium to where and how vehicles were made.
This reminds me that just as the value if the vehicle goes up depending on
where and how they were made, our value as God's children is high as
well.
The
psalmist echoes this thought. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God made
masterpieces, great human beings for a great purpose in life. We should always
remember this and not question our value in life.
In
the second reading, we see David as the king. He was simple, but God chose him
because of his heart. He was wonderfully made, so special that God's Som came
from his line. We also see John the Baptist, whose birth we celebrate today. He
was wonderfully made, as we see in the gospel how his mere birth opened up his
father's lips and caused holy fear in the people. He worked tirelessly for
Christ, preparing his way in this world.
You are
wonderfully made. And God has a special plan for you.
We
are wonderfully made. No matter what we
feel. No matter how other people makes us feel. God created us wonderfully and
fearfully. And it does not stop there. He has a special plan
for each and everyone of us. However, if it will come to fruition is
based not just on God's plan, but on us as well. We need to cooperate with God.
We need to surrender
to him. Just as David, John and Baptist and Jesus surrendered and cooperated
with God in order for his plans to come to fruition. No matter how great God's plans for us are,
if we will not cooperate, it will not happen.
When
we cooperate, when we surrender, we give God permission to do his plans. We
give him permission to work in us. To work through us. When we obey God, slowly,
every single day, we give him access to our hearts. We allow him to use us. To
change us. To mold us to be more and more like him. And as we continue to do
so, it will be easier for God to use us mightily and make his great plans for
us become reality.
May
we always remember that God made us wonderfully, and that he has great plans
for us. And may we always submit to his will and cooperate with him for the
completion of his plans.
Father God,
Thank you for
today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another day to love and
serve you. Thank you for another reminder. Lord, sorry for the times I question
my worth. Sorry for the times I let others make me feel bad about myself. Sorry
for forgetting that you made me wonderfully. Sorry for the times I feel that
you do not have great plans for me, and sorry for not cooperating with you.
Help me live right. Help me live in a way pleasing to you. Help me live
cooperating with you for your plans to come into fruition. Use me for your
glory. Amen.
Blessed
day!
In
Christ,
-g-
June 24, 2016 - Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 587
Reading 1 Is 49:1-6
Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’
“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.”
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
Reading 2 Acts 13:22-26
“God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’
“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.”
Alleluia See Lk 1:76
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Lk 1:57-66, 80
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.
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