The WORD today reminds me that I should always pray for others as well.
There
are people who request prayers from others. Some feel that other people are
more mature in faith. Others feel that the prayers of others are stronger.
Others simply ask for help in praying. We may think this is unnecessary or
useless, but the first reading tells us otherwise.
Praying for others can be powerful.
In
the first reading, we see how great an intercessor Moses was. God relented of
the punishment he wanted to inflict on the stubborn people. The people most
probably did not know what God was planning to do, and how Moses interceed, or
came in between God and them. Moses prayed to God on their behalf, and because
of Moses’ good relationship with God, God changed his mind.
The
prayer of Moses basically saved the people from extinction. Yes, it may be
because Moses was special. It may be because Moses had a great and personal
relationship with God, that's why God listened. But I believe that in our own
little way, we can do this for others too.
However,
simply praying for others is not enough. There is another important thing. It
is important to have a good relationship with God as we pray for others, as we
intercede for others. And one way of having this is to love right. To live
pleasing to God. In the bible it says that “the prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective (James 5:16)” we should live this and do our best
to have this, so in our own little way, we can have more confidence when we
pray to God for others.
Do
I pray for others? Do other people ask me to pray for them? How do I take it?
Do I really believe that my prayers are powerful? Do I maintain an intimate
relationship with God? Do I faithfully pray for others, even when God does not
seem to respond? With the covid situation, do I feel useless and powerless to help others, or do I realize that I can actually pray for others? Do I pray for others with what we are going through?
May
we never forget to pray for others, and live a life pleasing to God as we do
so.
Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live.
Thank you for another chance to love you and to build my relationship with you.
Sorry for the times I take this for granted. Sorry for not having the will and the
desire to work on my relationship with you. Sorry for not praying for others.
Help me have faith in you. Help me believe in the power of prayer. And help me
do my best to have a strong and intimate relationship with you as I pray for
others...and I have faith that you will hear me. Lord, I have faith you will get us through this. Amen.
Blessed Day!
In Christ,
-g-
Ps
See related reflection:
March
26, 2020
4th
Week of Lent - Thursday; St. Margaret Clitherow
FIRST
READING
The
LORD said to Moses,
“Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ The LORD said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, “Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“ So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
“Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ The LORD said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, “Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“ So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM
R.
(4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image; They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt, Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them, but Moses, his chosen one, Withstood him in the breach to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image; They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt, Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them, but Moses, his chosen one, Withstood him in the breach to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
VERSE
BEFORE THE GOSPEL
God
so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who
believes in him might have eternal life.
GOSPEL
Jesus
said to the Jews:
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.
“I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.
“I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
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