My Saturday Daily Blessings, February 1, 2014

My Saturday Daily Blessings

 

Be still, quiet your heart and mind, the Lord is here, loving you, talking to you.............

Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time (Roman Rite Calendar)

First Reading: 2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17

The LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him, Nathan said: “Judge this case for me! In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers. But the poor man had nothing at all  except one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children. She shared the little food he had  and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom. She was like a daughter to him. Now, the rich man received a visitor,  but he would not take from his own flocks and herds  to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb  and made a meal of it for his visitor.”
David grew very angry with that man and said to him:  “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this merits death! He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold  because he has done this and has had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The sword shall never depart from your house,  because you have despised me  and have taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives while you live to see it,  and will give them to your neighbor. He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. You have done this deed in secret,  but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel,  and with the sun looking down.’”
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die. But since you have utterly spurned the LORD by this deed,  the child born to you must surely die.” Then Nathan returned to his house.
The LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David,  and it became desperately ill. David besought God for the child. He kept a fast, retiring for the night  to lie on the ground clothed in sackcloth. The elders of his house stood beside him  urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not,  nor would he take food with them.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 51: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17

"Create a clean heart in me, O God.." 

Gospel:  Mk 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:“Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up,
rebuked the wind,  and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

Meditation: 

How can we fight fear with faith? Jesus' sleeping presence on the storm-tossed sea reveals the sleeping faith of his disciples. They feared for their lives even though their Lord and Master was with them in the boat. They were asleep to Christ while he was present to them in their hour of need. The Lord is ever present to us. And in our time of testing he asks the same question: Why are you afraid? Have you no faith? Do you recognize the Lord's presence with you, especially when you meet the storms of adversity, sorrow, and temptation? Whenever we encounter trouble, the Lord is there with the same reassuring message: "It is I, do not be afraid."

What are the characteristics of faith and how can we grow in it? Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to us. Believing is only possible by grace and the help of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and who opens the eyes of the mind to understand and accept the truth which God has revealed to us. Faith enables us to relate to God rightly and confidently, with trust and reliance, by believing and adhering to his word, because he is utterly reliable and trustworthy. If we want to live, grow, and persevere in faith, then it must be nourished with the word of God. Fear does not need to cripple us from taking right action or rob us of our trust and reliance on God. Courage working with faith enables us to embrace God's word of truth and love with confidence and to act on it with firm hope in God's promises. The love of God strengthens us in our faith and trust in him and enables us to act with justice and kindness towards our neighbor even in the face of opposition or harm. Do you allow the love of Christ to rule in your heart and mind, and to move your will to choose what is good in accordance with his will?

Prayer: 

"Lord Jesus, you guide me by the light of your saving truth. Fill my heart and mind with your light and truth and free me from the blindness of sin and deception that I may see your ways clearly and understand your will for my life. May I radiate your light and truth to others in word and deed."

 

 

Amen.

Source: 

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 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.

**Don Schwager

Author and Writer

Editor of Living Bullwark

Member of the Servants of the Word