Thursday, June 8, 2017

Tobit 6:10-11, 7:1, 9-17, 8:4-9, Psalm 128:1-5, Mark 12:28-34

 DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS


Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel. 2 Tim 1:10



Tobit 6:10-11, 7:1, 9-17, 8:4-9, Psalm 128:1-5, Mark 12:28-34


Tobit 6:10-11, 7:1, 9-17, 8:4-9

Dear Love,

This is such a beautiful love story of two people who love God and trust Him to take care of them. Raphael as we know is God's messenger, Tobiah's response when Raphael calls him is, "Here I am!" This must be our response as well whenever You call us. Always attentive, always listening and ready to respond in obedience to whatever You ask. In this alone is true peace and lasting happiness.

Tobiah was a young man of honor and integrity. He knew what God desired of him and he was prepared to obey Him despite the terrible history of his soon to be bride Sara. He trusted God. 

Both Raguel and his wife Edna were filled with trepidation and so was Sara but she encouraged her daughter to be brave, to have courage and to trust that God would surely grant her joy after all that she had suffered. As parents, we too ought to be like her in counselling our children.

Tobiah shows us how important it is for the husband to be the spiritual head of his household. He takes the initiative and tells his wife to rise and pray with him before they went to sleep. He led her in making this wonderful prayer,

"Blessed are you, O God of our fathers,
praised be your name forever and ever.
Let the heavens and all your creation
praise you forever.
You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve
to be his help and support;
and from these two the human race descended.
You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone;
let us make him a partner like himself.'
Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine
not because of lust,
but for a noble purpose.
Call down your mercy on me and on her,
and allow us to live together to a happy old age."

They said together, "Amen, amen," and went to bed for the night.


You are good and kind and when we come to You as trustfully as young Tobiah and Sara did we can be assured that You will hear and answer us.

Psalm 128:1-5

Dear Love,

The psalmist also reminds us that those who look to You with trust will receive Your favor. Those who walk in obedience to the law of God will eat the fruit of their labor for God will cause all they do to yield a bountiful harvest.

Your blessings are for the entire household and are not limited to one generation alone but to subsequent generations - such is You magnanimity.

Thank You for Your favor and for Your abundant blessings on me and mine.

Mark 12:28-34

Dear Love,

We see from this incident in the Gospel that You applaud the scribe who understood what God meant when He gave us the commandments. When the scribe asked You which commandment was the most important of all You answered as any Jew ought and should 

 "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.

The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."

The scribe had no way of knowing that You were the Messiah, the Son of God sent by the Father. He praised You for quoting the commandment in its full context. He commented further: 

You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,

and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."


Our first and foremost mission is to love all our sacrifices and good works are the fruit of love. You applauded the scribe for his deep insight and assured him that he understood the spirit of the commandment as well as the letter. Any critics in the crowd were silenced.

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