June 15
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Parishioners of Holy Cross
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
2 Corinthians 8:1-9
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones, and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God, so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also. Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also.
I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 146:2, 5-6ab, 6c- 7, 8-9a
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the LORD, my soul!
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
Who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
Gospel Acclamation
John 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“Praise the Lord, my soul!”
Reflection
“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” These words tend to ring true to our ears, but in the Gospel of Matthew today the quote continues as Jesus says we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. The final part of this utterance of Christ does not sit well with many people. Why? Because it seems counter intuitive to love those who hate us or who wish to do us harm.
We know what Jesus has said about loving one another, but what do we say? It is likely that we try to love all people, but when relationships become difficult or personalities or beliefs do not mesh with ours, we tend to push people away and villainize them. Christ would tell us that it is at that time we should pray for them and draw them ever closer in order that we may influence them in the way of Christ. This puts us at an emotional disadvantage because others may see us as weak. In reality, it is in this type of action that we are the strongest in Christ.
Peace,
Fr. John
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