Posted on 07/01/2003 12:44:47 PM PDT by NYer
July 1, 2003
Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm: Tuesday 29
Reading I
Gn 19:15-29
As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, "On your way!
Take with you your wife and your two daughters who are here,
or you will be swept away in the punishment of Sodom."
When he hesitated, the men, by the LORD's mercy,
seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters
and led them to safety outside the city.
As soon as they had been brought outside, he was told:
"Flee for your life!
Don't look back or stop anywhere on the Plain.
Get off to the hills at once, or you will be swept away."
"Oh, no, my lord!" Lot replied,
"You have already thought enough of your servant
to do me the great kindness of intervening to save my life.
But I cannot flee to the hills to keep the disaster from overtaking me,
and so I shall die.
Look, this town ahead is near enough to escape to.
It's only a small place.
Let me flee thereit's a small place, is it not?
that my life may be saved."
"Well, then," he replied,
"I will also grant you the favor you now ask.
I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
Hurry, escape there!
I cannot do anything until you arrive there."
That is why the town is called Zoar.
The sun was just rising over the earth as Lot arrived in Zoar;
at the same time the LORD rained down sulphurous fire
upon Sodom and Gomorrah
from the LORD out of heaven.
He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain,
together with the inhabitants of the cities
and the produce of the soil.
But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
Early the next morning Abraham went to the place
where he had stood in the LORD's presence.
As he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah
and the whole region of the Plain,
he saw dense smoke over the land rising like fumes from a furnace.
Thus it came to pass: when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain,
he was mindful of Abraham by sending Lot away from the upheaval
by which God overthrew the cities where Lot had been living.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 26:2-3, 9-10, 11-12
R (3a) O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
Search me, O LORD, and try me;
test my soul and my heart.
For your mercy is before my eyes,
and I walk in your truth.
R O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
Gather not my soul with those of sinners,
nor with men of blood my life.
On their hands are crimes,
and their right hands are full of bribes.
R O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
But I walk in integrity;
redeem me, and have mercy on me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the assemblies I will bless the LORD.
R O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
Gospel
Mt 8:23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
"Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?"
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea obey?"
Lectionary for Mass, Copyright © 1970, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
New American Bible Home Page Next Day
How appropriate!
Over the centuries, Church fathers and Scripture scholars have seen the gospel boat as a representation of the Church. On occasion, the boat is rocked by violent storms, which threaten imminent destruction. Through it all, Jesus is constantly present to the Church, even when He seems to be sleeping (Mt 8:24). As this is being written, the Catholic Church in the United States is being swamped (Mt 8:24) by the storm of scandal. Some pundits even speculate that we are lost as a Church (Mt 8:25). To this, Jesus would reply: How little faith you have! (Mt 8:26) As horrible as scandal is, as tragic as the devastation is to a victim, as burdensome as the taint of scandal is to innocent clergy and religious, Jesus maintains that the issue is essentially the same as it was that night in the boat. The disciples naturally saw the problem as the imminent danger of the storm. However, Jesus, upon waking, instantly put His finger on the crisis of faith. How many of us think of faith when we first wake up? Jesus does! Faith in Jesus is the answer. All depends on faith (Rm 4:16). Jesus is an innocent Victim. In the blood of His cross, He has the answer for victims (Col 1:20). By His wounds, victims are healed (1 Pt 2:24). Jesus died the death of a condemned, scandalized criminal and bore our guilt. He understands and even removes guilt (Mi 7:18) for the repentant guilty. For the innocent clergy who are regarded with suspicion, Jesus shows the way by maintaining His dignity even when wrongly portrayed as a sinner (Jn 9:24). Jesus reconciles all things in Himself (Col 1:20). Jesus commands us: Have faith in Me (Jn 14:1). |
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Prayer: Lord, increase our faith (Lk 17:5). | ||
Promise: He stood up and took the winds and the sea to task. Complete calm ensued. Mt 8:26 | ||
Praise: Bl. Junipero reacted to being expelled from Mexico by immediately becoming a missionary to California. | ||
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Nihil obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, December 29, 2002 | ||
Imprimatur: Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 31, 2002 |
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