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The Catholic Calendar for Monday, June 10, 2002 The Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: 1 Kings 17:1-6 Psalm 121:1-8 Matthew 5:1-12 A reflection on today's Scripture. . . . "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you...because of me." (Matthew 5:11) They best serve God who put their trust in Him and obey His words with abandonment. Elijah's immediate and unquestioning response to God summoning him to the Wadi Cherith, demonstrated a mind and heart perfectly attuned to God, trusting that He would preserve him through the coming drought. This same trust and dependence upon God later enabled him to lead the fight against the worship of Baal, a false god introduced by Jezebel, King Ahab's foreign wife. Today's psalm echoes this same theme of loving trust in a Father who protects His children throughout life's journey. As we read today's Gospel, the Beatitudes, it is evident that the standard of behavior depicted in them is far beyond our unaided human capabilities. But we need not despair, for surely God does not promise blessings that are impossible for us to attain. The solution to this problem is simply that in order to live the Beatitudes we must trust that He will accomplish them in us by our recognizing our need for God's grace, cooperating with Him by willing to behave as He would choose us to do and relying entirely on His love to accomplish it. In brief, success comes if we accept God's will and make it our own. Therefore, if we accept and consent to live by the first beatitude, that the kingdom of God belongs to the poor in spirit (deeply humble) all the rest will follow; for once we recognize our spiritual poverty, our sinfulness, and our need of and desire for righteousness -- pure and peaceful hearts -- and beseech God to help us attain these things, we can be certain He will comply with our wishes. Even the evil done to us by the world He will work to our greater good. God of all blessings, imbue us with a steadfast trust, courage and love for You, that we may overcome our human fears and weaknesses as we serve you. Amen. - Marie Bocko, ocds ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The meditations are in English & Spanish at http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html (case sensitive). ARCHIVED Meditations: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/dailymed%40saturn.nibcomp.com For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit. All scripture quotes are from the Douay-Rheims edition of the Catholic Bible. Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/ |
Title: Meditation: Monday, June 10, 2002
