1ST READING
If you want to reflect upon the majesty and power of God, find a beautiful place where you can look over at Creation and contemplate how it came into being. There is the power and majesty of God at work before your very eyes. Every sunrise and sunset is a miracle with different colors and forms; every landscape in the world is a wonder in itself and always changing. Could there be a better argument for the existence of God?
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
32 Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? 33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? 34 Or did any God venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 39 This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. 40 You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.”
P S A L M
Psalm 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
R: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
4 Upright is the word of the Lord, and all his works are trustworthy. 5 He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full. (R) 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host. 9 For he spoke, and it was made; he commanded, and it stood forth. (R) 18 See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, 19 to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. (R) 20 Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield. 22 May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you. (R)
2ND READING
The Holy Spirit is at work within us in ways that we cannot even contemplate. It is truly a mystery as to why God continues to work with such stubborn people who both refuse and do not seem to want to be bothered to reflect upon His love daily. How ungrateful can we be and not incur His wrath? This is a constant cry of the Old Testament where the bad things that ”happened” to the Israelites were ”blamed” on God’s wrath at their disobedience. We know better than this today; God does not punish us. The bad things that result from sin are its natural consequences, not God’s doing.
Romans 8:14-17
14 Brothers and sisters: Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
GOSPEL
The Trinitarian formula of baptism is a reminder to us that we live in a complicated relationship with God — one substance but three persons. It would be wise if we do not spend too much time trying to unravel the mystery of the Trinity because it is simply beyond our comprehension. Let us be grateful that God calls us into a threefold relationship with Him — with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
Matthew 28:16-20
16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted. 18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
think: God does not punish us. The bad things that result from sin are its natural consequences, not God’s doing.
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 2 Samuel 13-16
SABBATH PAUSE
My weekly time with God
THANK YOU LIST
Things to be grateful for from the past week
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SPECIAL NEEDS
Things to ask God for in the coming week
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HIDDEN TREASURE
Most important word God told me this week
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BLESSING
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