1ST READING
“If you do not stand by me then you will not stand at all.” They are ominous words but they are true in just about every applicable situation. We must be willing to pay the cost of discipleship when we choose to follow Jesus. There is nothing worse than people deserting the team or cause in the middle of a battle. We will encounter battles in our lives where we will be injured and sorely tested. However, if we stand by God we know He will never desert us.
Isaiah 7:1-9
1 In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. 2 When word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind. 3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field, 4 and say to him: Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands [the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans, and of the son of Remaliah], 5 because of the mischief that Aram [Ephraim and the son of Remaliah] plots against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force, and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.” 7 Thus says the Lord: This shall not stand, it shall not be! 8 Damascus is the capital of Aram, and Rezin the head of Damascus; Samaria is the capital of Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria. 9 But within sixty years and five, Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation. Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!
P S A L M
Psalm 48:2-3, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R: God upholds his city for ever.
1 [2] Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, 2 [3] fairest of heights, is the joy of all the earth. (R) Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,” is the city of the great King. 3 [4] God is with her castles; renowned is he as a stronghold. (R) 4 [5] For lo! the kings assemble, they come on together; 5 [6] they also see, and at once are stunned, terrified, routed. (R) 6 [7] Quaking seizes them there; anguish, like a woman’s in labor, 7 [8] As though a wind from the east were shattering ships of Tarshish. (R)
GOSPEL
As we serve the mission of the Church we will face people who refuse to believe the Gospel. This is the nature of things when people are given the ability to choose for themselves. Some people refuse to believe in God even when we demonstrate that faith is an eminently reasonable choice to make. Let us pray that intellectualism will not hinder the spread of the Gospel.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Matthew 11:20-24
20 Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And as for you, Capernaum: ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
1st READING 2nd READING
think: We must be willing to pay the cost of discipleship when we choose to follow Jesus.
T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Nehemia 6-9
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