Catholic Calendar for Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24
Psalm 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34
Matthew 14:1-12
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
This man is John the Baptist. . . .
Herod's eerily prophetic statement is also a revelation of the human heart. Herod knew that what he had done to John the Baptist was wrong and one of his great fears was that John's ghost would return to avenge John. Herod may not have feared God, but he did fear the supernatural world.
We know when we do wrong. The spirit convicts us. We may have all the excuses in the world for having done it. There may be some very good reasons in and among all the rationalizations -- but we have a sense of what is right and what is wrong -- it is a sense that is stronger than our individual nurturing. (We know this because Herod himself knew his evil, even though he was raised with the idea that as ruler he could do as he chose.)
The Holy Spirit convicts us -- not just to make us feel bad, but to bring us back home. God is a father who loves us intensely. When we sin, we have chosen to leave His house and go outside to the mud and wallow. The Father continues to call us back. Sure, He could come and bring us back, but He wants us back of our own accord, because as anyone knows of a willful child, the only way to keep them is to let them come back on their own. We can choose to stay outside of His house, but we will know that we are apart. We'll feel it in our hearts, in our minds, in the actions of the day. Each day will be like swimming through molasses as we seek to avoid His love.
So why do it? Acknowledge your wrong, return to the Father Who loves you. The Church offers many formal ways to do this, and each has a special place, but start right now, speaking from the Heart. "I am sorry to have caused You so much grief, Father." You'll be amazed at how much better your own life becomes when you start with this, return to confession, and align your life with what God wants from you.
~ JuandelaCruz | email: sriddle415(at)yahoo(dot)com
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See today's Scripture or the Lives of the Saints
This Week's Meditations: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Look up a meditation in our Archives
Please consider praying online, the Liturgy of the Hours - the official prayer of the Church - complete with audio and text presentations for computer, iPhone and Podcast. Also, available, either single or four-volume paper versions of the Divine Office, reasonably priced at: http://divineoffice.org/
Would you like to know more about the Catholic Faith? click here!
Back to The Journey Home Page
Copyright © “The Way, The Truth, The Life”
