Lectionary: 414
Reading 1
Ezekiel 2:8-3:4
The Lord GOD said to me:
As for you, son of man, obey me when I speak to you:
be not rebellious like this house of rebellion,
but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.
It was then I saw a hand stretched out to me,
in which was a written scroll which he unrolled before me.
It was covered with writing front and back,
and written on it was:
Lamentation and wailing and woe!
He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you;
eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel.
So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat.
Son of man, he then said to me,
feed your belly and fill your stomach
with this scroll I am giving you.
I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel,
and speak my words to them.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth,
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Gospel
Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: "TASTE AND SEE" (Ps 34:9)
"Be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you." –Ezekiel 2:8
Picture a baby in a high chair. No matter what the parents do, the baby refuses to eat, shutting its mouth. That is the picture of many Christians today. We Christians are spiritually anorexic. We refuse to eat what God gives us because we are stuffed with the things the world has brainwashed us into eating (see Prv 13:19). The food of the "feel-good culture," materialism and consumerism, is much more appetizing to us than God's scroll with "lamentation and wailing and woe" written all over it (Ez 2:10).
However, the Lord is commanding us to repent of our eating habits and of anorexia. He commands: "Be as eager for milk as newborn babies – pure milk of the Spirit to make you grow unto salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Pt 2:2-3). The Lord warns us: "Not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3). He commands: "Take this and eat it...this is My body" (Mt 26:26).
Eat what God puts before you, and don't take candy from strangers. "Taste and see how good the Lord is; happy the man who takes refuge in Him" (Ps 34:9).
PRAYER: Father, may I eat right.
PROMISE: "How sweet to my palate are Your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" –Ps 119:103
PRAISE: St. Jane Frances served faithfully as wife, mother, religious, and foundress, serving God and her neighbor.
Be an inspiration, kindly Share.
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