1st READING
The wise warrior looks for the weakness of his enemy and attacks there. Only a fool plays to the strength of his opponent. We need to take stock of our situation and make our decisions with respect to all the various factors. We need to be wise about the way we make these decisions so that we do so with the best advice we can find. Let us listen to the Spirit of God and His Word as it is made available to us in the Scriptures.
Jeremiah 11:18-20
18 I knew their plot because the Lord informed me; at that time you, O Lord, showed me their doings. 19 Yet, I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized that they were hatching plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will not be spoken no more.” 20 “But you, O Lord of hosts, O just Judge, searcher of mind and heart, let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause!”
P S A L M
Psalm 7:2-3, 9-10, 11-12
R: O, Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
1 [2] O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me, 2 [3] lest I become like the lion’s prey, to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me. (R) 8 [9] Do me justice, O Lord, because I am just, and because of the innocence that is mine. 9 [10] Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but sustain the just, O searcher of heart and soul, O just God. (R) 10 [11] A shield before me is God, who saves the upright of heart; 11 [12] a just judge is God, a God who punishes day by day. (R)
GOSPEL
Some people hated what He had to say and others loved it. This should not surprise us at all. When you are making suggestions as serious as Jesus is, you can expect a lot of opposition. Sometimes you have to be willing to make a mess before achieving the end you desire. It is like following a recipe — mixed ingredients rarely resemble the desired result. Similarly, in the midst of a mission, there will be many messy situations. Let us trust they will work themselves out with both our help and that of the Holy Spirit.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.
John 7:40-53
40 Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. 45 So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” 47 So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, 51 “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” 52 They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” 53 Then each went to his own house.
think: Sometimes you have to be willing to make a mess before achieving the end you desire.
T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Genesis 34-36
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