June 21
Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Intentions of the Parish Rosary Group / Margaret Ingraham
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
Genesis 12:1-9
The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.
“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”
Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife, Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the terebinth of Moreh. (The Canaanites were then in the land.)
The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel, pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name. Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 33:12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Gospel Acclamation
Hebrews 4:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 7:1-5
Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
“Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”
Reflection
In the Book of Genesis, the Lord says to Abraham, you and your wife Sarai leave this land of your kinsfolk and go forth to a new land. The Lord continues by telling Abraham that what he will do for them and their descendants will be miraculous!
This type of summons and sending forth might make sense to a young couple, just starting out on their journey through life together, after all, it is common for a new couple to move away from their place of origin and start life anew. However, Abram, although a nomad, one who is used to moving about in order to find land for his herd to graze, is all of seventy-five years old. This is a challenging summons and must have caused Abram to stop and pause, at least momentarily, to consider what God was asking of him.
As we look at our lives, we begin to downsize at Abram’s age. Often we move back to the land of our origin to be closer to family as our earthly life begins to draw to a conclusion. The Lord God is sending Abram forth to begin anew. Abram does so with faith in God that what he does is at the pleasure and bidding of the Lord God. Are we willing to “move” as the Lord God demands of us, or are we intent on following our own plans that we miss the divine hand of God, the Spirit trying to place us where God wants us in every stage of our life?
Peace,
Fr. John
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