Thursday, August 08, 2019
FRIDAY, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
AUGUST 9, 2019 – FRIDAY, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr
Green.
Dt 4: 32 – 40 / Mt 16: 24 – 28
Born a Jew in Poland, Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942) was baptized in 1922. Twelve years later she became a Carmelite sister. She died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on 09 August 1942 at the age of fifty-one. Beatified in Cologne by Pope St. John Paul II in 1987, she was canonized by the same Pope in 1998.
FROM THE 1ST READING: Dt 4: 39 – 40
Therefore, try to be convinced that Yahweh is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other. Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So will you live long in the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you forever.
GOSPEL READING: Mt 16: 24 – 28
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for my sake will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys himself? There is nothing you can give to recover your own self.
"Know that the Son of Man will come in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels, and he will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the Son of Man coming as king."
REFLECTION
In the first reading, Yahweh reminds Israel of his special love for them and of the covenant he had made with Israel: "Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today and everything will be well with you and your children after you."
In the Gospel reading Jesus tells his disciples in very clear language what to be his follower entails: "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."
If we have as our leader one who gave up his life on the cross for our sake, do we have any choice? The disciple must be like his master. The disciple of one who carried his cross, suffered and died on it must then be ready to carry his own cross following his master.
Jesus puts this in another way: "For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for my sake will find it." One who carries his cross in following Christ may seem to be giving up and losing his life: in reality he is finding true life in following Christ.
The following of Christ is possible only if one loves him. If we truly love someone, no sacrifice is too great to show love for the beloved; it is easy and natural, it comes from the heart of the lover.
If the following of Christ is the only way to eternal life, "What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys himself?"
FINALLY, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following:
+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
-- St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr
Green.
Dt 4: 32 – 40 / Mt 16: 24 – 28
Born a Jew in Poland, Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942) was baptized in 1922. Twelve years later she became a Carmelite sister. She died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on 09 August 1942 at the age of fifty-one. Beatified in Cologne by Pope St. John Paul II in 1987, she was canonized by the same Pope in 1998.
FROM THE 1ST READING: Dt 4: 39 – 40
Therefore, try to be convinced that Yahweh is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other. Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So will you live long in the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you forever.
GOSPEL READING: Mt 16: 24 – 28
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for my sake will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys himself? There is nothing you can give to recover your own self.
"Know that the Son of Man will come in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels, and he will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the Son of Man coming as king."
REFLECTION
In the first reading, Yahweh reminds Israel of his special love for them and of the covenant he had made with Israel: "Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today and everything will be well with you and your children after you."
In the Gospel reading Jesus tells his disciples in very clear language what to be his follower entails: "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."
If we have as our leader one who gave up his life on the cross for our sake, do we have any choice? The disciple must be like his master. The disciple of one who carried his cross, suffered and died on it must then be ready to carry his own cross following his master.
Jesus puts this in another way: "For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for my sake will find it." One who carries his cross in following Christ may seem to be giving up and losing his life: in reality he is finding true life in following Christ.
The following of Christ is possible only if one loves him. If we truly love someone, no sacrifice is too great to show love for the beloved; it is easy and natural, it comes from the heart of the lover.
If the following of Christ is the only way to eternal life, "What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys himself?"
FINALLY, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following:
+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
Archive: http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
© 2018 Daily-Homily
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DAILY-HOMILY" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to daily_homily+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/daily_homily/0477aa7f-eefa-47ed-b5ec-3c350df9b7f9%40googlegroups.com.
