Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News. 2TIM 1:10
DEUTERONOMY 6:4-13
My Soul's Beloved,
God commands us to love Him, to put Him before all else, even before ourselves and any other creature, not because God needs our love. There is nothing that we can offer God that can add anything to His glory, majesty, power, grandeur, for You, O Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the fullness of life, beauty, goodness, truth, and love. You are all in all. It is we who are raised to glorious heights when we love You as You desire us to. We grow more and more in Your image and likeness, the more we transcend the frailties of our mortal being with the ever-present help and graces that the Holy Spirit readily heaps on us when we ask, and we become more and more like You.
You are the Word of God, containing in Yourself the fullness of the power of God, and this Word is revealed to us in nature, in Sacred Scripture, in Apostolic Tradition, and on our very hearts. No one can be excused, whether they know You as we do or not, for You, O Lord, are etched into our very soul. The breath we breathe is the breath of God, and it is His breath that sustains us. Withdraw it, and we die.
Lord Jesus Christ, as members of Your Body, and as branches of the Vine, receiving life from You, we have access to all that is Yours. You give us generously all that You possess of the fullness of love and life, beauty and grace. You raise us up to be children of God, for this is the Father's will that all who believe that He sent You into the world not to condemn but to redeem us, will receive a share in Your inheritance.
Grant us the graces we need, O Lord, to keep the two great Commandments always and surely. Lord, when we breathe our last breath on earth, You will ensure that we will take our next in the presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and enjoy the fullness of life forever.
Moses said to the people:
‘Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart. You shall repeat them to your children and say them over to them whether at rest in your house or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising; you shall fasten them on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a circlet; you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
‘When the Lord has brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give you, with great and prosperous cities not of your building, houses full of good things not furnished by you, wells you did not dig, vineyards and olives you did not plant, when you have eaten these and had your fill, then take care you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must fear the Lord your God, you must serve him, by his name you must swear.’
PSALM 17(18):2-4,47,51
I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
MATTHEW 17:14-20
My Soul's Beloved,
A man came up to Jesus and went down on his knees before him. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.’ ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.
Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out?’ they asked. He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’
Moses said to the people:
‘Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart. You shall repeat them to your children and say them over to them whether at rest in your house or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising; you shall fasten them on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a circlet; you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
‘When the Lord has brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give you, with great and prosperous cities not of your building, houses full of good things not furnished by you, wells you did not dig, vineyards and olives you did not plant, when you have eaten these and had your fill, then take care you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must fear the Lord your God, you must serve him, by his name you must swear.’
PSALM 17(18):2-4,47,51
I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
MATTHEW 17:14-20
My Soul's Beloved,
Nothing is hidden from us when it comes to the Kingdom of God. You have revealed all, and it is in the measure with which we believe what You have said and taught that we will receive. The greater the faith, the greater the blessing; the weaker the faith, the more we will be overwhelmed by fear, anxiety, sadness, and distress, and the more discouraged and heartsick we will get.
We have a perfect example of the disciples' lack of faith in today's gospel passage for our prayer and reflection. The Apostles have been with You for a while now. You have taught them, and You have given them Your authority to do all that they witnessed You do. Despite this, they lack the confidence to act boldly in faith. They are unsure, diffident, and they doubt the power given to them. This is why they were unable to command the evil spirit to leave the poor boy. The wretched father, heartbroken for his son, had hoped Your disciples would rid his boy of the evil spirit, but they could not. Seeing You, hope flooded anew, and he threw himself before You, begging You to do for his son what the disciples had failed to do.
You did take pity on the boy, and You rebuked and commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and it did, but not before admonishing the disciples for their lack of faith and belief in the power given to them. When they asked You in private why they were unable to do what You had done, You replied, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’
Lord, increase my faith daily more and more.
A man came up to Jesus and went down on his knees before him. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.’ ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.
Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out?’ they asked. He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’
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