Take Five for Faith
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Invest just five minutes a day, and your faith will deepen and grow - a day at a time. Look up the daily passages from the New American Bible online at www.usccb.org/nab/bible. Download Take Five for Faith by clicking on the date below: Sunday reflections available in Spanish! DOMINGO, 19 DE JULIO DE 2009 |
SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2009
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Street smarts
A grade-school kid spent the whole of a summer playing school in the neighborhood. Didn’t she get enough of the classroom during the academic year? The girl insisted it wasn’t for herself that she maintained her street-corner “classroom.” She was teaching younger children down the street how to read. Why? “Because they don’t know how,” she said simply. Sometimes the ignorance of others compels the teacher in us all to come forward. Jesus couldn’t walk away from a crowd that demonstrated a need to learn. Another name for the divine teacher is Compassion.
TODAY'S READINGS: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34
"[Jesus] began to teach them many things."
DOMINGO, 19 DE JULIO DE 2009
DECIMOSEXTO DOMINGO EN TIEMPO ORDINARIO
"¡Es un milagro!"
Una niña de escuela primaria pasó todo el verano jugando a la escuelita en el vecindario. ¿No se cansó del salón de clases durante el año escolar? La niña insistió que no era para ella misma que mantenía su “salón” en la esquina de la calle. Ella estaba enseñando a leer a los niños más pequeños en la calle. ¿Por qué? “Porque no saben,” dijo ella simplemente. A veces la ignorancia de otros obliga al maestro en todos nosotros a salir. Jesús no podia apartarse de una multitud que demostrara una necesidad de aprender. Otro nombre para el maestro divino es Compasión.
LECTURAS DE HOY: Jeremías 23:1-6; Efesios 2:13-18; Marcos 6:30-34
"[Jesús] comenzó a enseñarles muchas cosas."
MONDAY, JULY 20
FEAST OF APOLLINARIS, BISHOP, MARTYR
Seeing is believing
Apollinaris was a disciple of Jesus who was commissioned a bishop by Peter and sent to Ravenna, Italy. Upon his arrival he met a soldier who implored him, “If your God is as powerful as you say, ask him to give sight to my son who is blind. Then I will believe.” Apollinaris made the sign of the cross over the boy’s eyes and his sight was immediately restored. Sometimes we long for a sign—it would be so much easier to believe if only we had some sign! But the truth is all the things in this world are signs of God’s love for us; all of creation is a love letter from God. Today may your prayer be the same as the soldier’s: to see.
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 14:5-18; Matthew 12:38-42
"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."
TUESDAY, JULY 21
FEAST OF LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI, PRIEST, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
The gift of tongues
The term “precocious child” could have been coined for Lawrence of Brindisi, who progressed in his studies so rapidly that he was the student chosen to give a sermon to his fellow students on the infant Jesus at Christmas, an Italian custom. He entered the Capuchin order at age 16 and was said to have mastered not only the major European languages but most Semitic languages as well. He used his prodigious gifts to build up the church during the contentious age of the Reformation. How can you use your gifts to promote unity during divisive times?
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 14:21-15:1; Matthew 12:46-50
"Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22
FEAST OF MARY MAGDALENE
Jesus & Mary Magdalene: BFF
We seem to be coming closer to understanding Mary Magdalene as she was, not the reformed sinner (a role mistakenly ascribed to her first not in scripture but by Pope Gregory I in 591) but, as the Mass prayers and readings for her feast day remind us, the beloved friend of Jesus, the first witness of his resurrection, and its first missionary. All the prayers in the Mass in her honor praise her memory as one much like the Beloved Disciple in John’s gospel—a particularly close but not an exclusive friend of the Lord. During his last night on earth, Jesus made a point of calling his disciples his friends rather than his servants because he has told us everything in his heart. We can celebrate Mary Magdalene by recommitting ourselves to our own intimate, open-hearted, prayerful friendship with Jesus and to our own treasured friends.
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15; John 20:1-2, 11-18
"Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord.' "
THURSDAY, JULY 23
FEAST OF BRIDGET OF SWEDEN
Out and about
Saint Bridget could have stayed home. She was the daughter and wife of important Swedish officials and could have taken advantage of an easy life. But that was not for her. She experienced revelations—the written form of which filled up seven volumes—and journeyed to Rome where she became involved in the politics of both church and state. She even used her revelations to influence the course of events. Like Bridget you can make your faith an active and not a passive affair. “No good works,” Bridget heard in one of her revelations, “will be forgotten before God.” Find some ways to put your faith into action.
TODAY'S READINGS: Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b; Matthew 13:10-17
"Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it."
FRIDAY, JULY 24
FEAST OF SHARBEL MAKHLUF, PRIEST
From East to West
Sharbel Makhluf (1828-1898) was a monk of the monastery of St. Maron at Annaya, Lebanon who lived as a hermit for the final 23 years of his life. His reputation for holiness prompted people to seek him to receive a blessing and be remembered in his prayers. His canonization in 1977 helped reinforce the notion that Christians East and West have much to learn from each other. As Pope John Paul II put it, the church “has two lungs [East and West]” and must learn to breathe with both of them. Today we can cherish and honor the diversity and scope of Christianity in the world.
TODAY'S READINGS:Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23
"What was sown on good soil indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
SATURDAY, JULY 25
FEAST OF JAMES, APOSTLE
A shrine to endless life
Legend has it that Saint James was preaching the gospel in Spain when the Virgin Mary appeared to him and called him back to Judea, where he was beheaded by King Agrippa. His body, along with his head, was then taken up by angels and brought back to Spain, where it was buried at Compostela. A shrine to James was established there in the ninth century, and for the next thousand years the Way of Saint James to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was the most important pilgrimage in the world next to Jerusalem and Rome. Today it serves as a reminder to us to be fearless in proclaiming the truth: Our lives are eternal.
TODAY'S READINGS: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken."
Contributors: Father Paul Boudreau, Daniel Grippo, Father Larry Janowski, O.F.M., Ann O’Connor, Joel Schorn, Patrice J. Tuohy, and Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M.
©2009 by TrueQuest Communications, L.L.C. PHONE: 800-942-2811; E-MAIL: mail@takefiveforfaith.com; WEBSITE: www.takefiveforfaith.com. Licensed for noncommercial use. All rights reserved. Scripture quotes come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
