The WORD
today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/060117.cfm)
reminds me that God wants me to take courage and continue doing his work
despite of the challenges I face.
Some people say that when you get closer to God, life seems to be more
challenging. It seems that God
is allowing you to be tested and pruned. This is true. God's ways
are not our ways. While Children are usually rewarded for doing good -
some parents give toys, food or something the child wants to make him or her
feel rewarded for doing good, for studying well, for acting properly; God does
not always act that way. We see in the first reading that God wants us to continue doing good even if he might not
immediately reward us for the good we are doing.
Serving
God does not stop after one good deed.
After Paul gave a testimony to
the people, which could have caused him his life, God appeared to him. However,
unlike a parent rewarding the child, God did not tell him to rest first.
Instead, God told him to take courage, because he will continue to bear witness
and suffer persecution in Rome. Working for God does not end after one good
deed. God wants us to continue doing his work, especially despite the challenges
that come with it.
Serving God is
more powerful when done with love, despite the pain.
God
may not have directly affirmed Paul, but we know God is pleased. Service
becomes more powerful if we continue to do it with love for God, despite the
pain, challenges and discomfort we experience. God may not have immediately
rewarded Paul, but we know the great reward waiting for him. This is important
to remember, especially as we do God’s work. We may experience challenges one
after another. We may think that God is mad or is not looking after us. We may
even question what we do. Unlike Paul, we may not necessarily see or feel God,
but we should take comfort in his words to Paul. In as much as Paul continued
to suffer as he proclaimed God’s kingdom, we too should not be surprised if we
continue to experience challenges and persecutions as we do God’s work.
May we take courage and
continue doing God’s work despite the challenges that come with it.
Father God,
Thank you for
today. Thank you for another day to live. thank you for another chance to love
and serve you. thank you for the reminder. Lord, as a human being, it’s hard to
continue when I do not get affirmation and encouragement from you. I may
sometimes question what’s happening and even doubt myself. But Lord, today you
remind me to take courage and just continue doing your work. Sorry for the
times I get discouraged. Sorry for the times I let challenges and problems stop
me or weigh me down. Help me be faithful to you, especially when times get
tough. I ask that you continue to strengthen and guide me as I serve you.
use me mightily, even if it will entail pain on me. Do not lessen my pain and
suffering for you, I just ask that you help me and give me strength to bear
them. Amen.
Blessed
day!
In
Christ,
-g-
June 1, 2017
Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr
Lectionary: 300
Reading 1ACTS 22:30; 23:6-11
about why Paul was being accused by the Jews,
the commander freed him
and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene.
Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.
Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees,
so he called out before the Sanhedrin,
"My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees;
I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead."
When he said this,
a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees,
and the group became divided.
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection
or angels or spirits,
while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.
A great uproar occurred,
and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party
stood up and sharply argued,
"We find nothing wrong with this man.
Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"
The dispute was so serious that the commander,
afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them,
ordered his troops to go down and rescue Paul from their midst
and take him into the compound.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage.
For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,
so you must also bear witness in Rome."
Responsorial PsalmPS 16:1-2A AND 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
or:
R. Alleluia.Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, "My Lord are you."
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 17:21
May they all be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that the world may believe that you sent me, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 17:20-26
"I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."
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