1ST READING
Good times are coming. This was the message of Isaiah to the people of Israel — they may be enduring tough times now, but in the future there will be better ones. His images of “better times” are powerful and worth reflecting on. Let us keep in mind how good life is with the Lord at our side and remember them when times get tough.
Isaiah 35:4-7
4 Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; 6 then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. 7 The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
P S A L M
Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
R: Praise the Lord, my soul!
7 The God of Jacob keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (R) 8The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those that were bowed down; the Lord loves the just; 9 the Lord protects strangers. (R)The fatherless and the widow the Lord sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. 10 The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. (R)
2ND READING
James said that all people are equal when it comes to faith. Faith knows no divisions among people, other than the one between those who believe and those who do not. Let us avoid making distinctions. In heaven there is no first, second or third-class citizens.
James 2:1-5
1 My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? 5Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
GOSPEL
The final line of today’s Gospel talks about making the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. This came from Isaiah 61. It was a prophecy outlining the things that will happen Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease among the people.
Mark 7:31-37
31 Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, Ephphatha! —that is, “Be opened!” 35 And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
think: Let us avoid making distinctions. In heaven there is no first, second or third-class citizens.
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 Psalm 61-65
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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