Friday, August 1 2014; Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 405

Reading 1 
Jeremiah 26:1-9

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,
son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this message came from the LORD: 
Thus says the LORD:
Stand in the court of the house of the LORD
and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah
who come to worship in the house of the LORD;
whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing.
Perhaps they will listen and turn back, 
each from his evil way,
so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them
for their evil deeds.
Say to them: Thus says the LORD: 
If you disobey me,
not living according to the law I placed before you
and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets,
whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them,
I will treat this house like Shiloh,
and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth
shall refer when cursing another.

Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people
heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.
When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
“You must be put to death! 
Why do you prophesy in the name of the LORD:
‘This house shall be like Shiloh,’ and
‘This city shall be desolate and deserted’?”
And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm 
Psalm 69:5, 8-10, 14

R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Those outnumber the hairs of my head
who hate me without cause.
Too many for my strength
are they who wrongfully are my enemies.
Must I restore what I did not steal?

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Since for your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
Because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.

R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Gospel 
Matthew 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: GIVE ME THE WORKS

"He did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith." –Matthew 13:58

If we are seeing only occasional miracles in our lives, we should repent of our lack of faith. If we are seeing only a few people converted every few weeks (see Acts 17:34), we must repent because the Lord wants to give us a great harvest of conversions as He adds to our number daily (Acts 2:47). If we never go beyond moving mountains with our little faith (Mt 17:20), we should repent of not letting the seed of faith grow. In our watered-down, lukewarm Christianity, those things seen in the Bible as failures can appear to us to be successes. However, we must not settle for anything less than the total fulfillment of God's promises and the abundant life (Jn 10:10).

The Lord has promised us immeasurably more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). Therefore, we must not expect anything less. The Lord has promised us: "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9). If we love Him, we must expect and receive the unseeable, unhearable, and the unthinkable. "Is it possible that He Who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for the sake of us all will not grant us all things besides?" (Rm 8:32)

PRAYER: Father, may I let You do everything You want.

PROMISE: "I pray to You, O Lord, for the time of Your favor, O God! In Your great kindness answer me with Your constant help." –Ps 69:14

PRAISE: As a youngster, St. Alphonsus and his father went on retreats together. This seed bore great fruit as Alphonsus later became a bishop and a Doctor of the Church.

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