September 23, 2015
Readings
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth week in
Ordinary Time
Then, at the time of the evening
sacrifice, I rose in my wretchedness, and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on
my knees, stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God. I said: "My God, I
am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked
deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven.
From the time of our fathers even to
this day great has been our guilt, and for our wicked deeds we have been
delivered over, we and our kings and our priests, to the will of the kings of
foreign lands, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace, as is
the case today.
"And now, but a short time ago,
mercy came to us from the LORD, our God, who left us a remnant and gave us a
stake in His holy place; thus our God has brightened our eyes and given us
relief in our servitude.
For slaves we are, but in our
servitude our God has not abandoned us; rather, He has turned the good will of
the kings of Persia toward us. Thus He has given us new life to raise again the
house of our God and restore its ruins, and has granted us a fence in Judah and
Jerusalem.
For He scourges and then has mercy; He casts down to the depths of the nether world, and He brings up from the
great abyss. No one can escape His hand. Praise Him, you Israelites, before the
Gentiles, for though He has scattered you among them, He has shown you His
greatness even there.
Exalt Him before every living being, because He is the
Lord our God, our Father and God forever. He scourged you for your iniquities,
but will again have mercy on you all. He will gather you from all the Gentiles
among whom you have been scattered. Let all men speak of His majesty, and sing His praises in Jerusalem."
He summoned the Twelve and gave them
power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them to
proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal (the sick).
He said to them, "Take nothing
for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let
no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from
there.
"And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them."
Then they set out and went from
village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
And how can
people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are
the feet of those who bring (the) good news!" - Romans 10:15
Reference: The New American Bible
Reference: The New American Bible
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Dear Humanity,
I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.
And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.
Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.