The Catholic Calendar for Saturday, July 10, 2004
Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today’s Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 93:1-2, 5
Matthew 10:24-33

A reflection on today’s Sacred Scripture:

Whom Shall I Send? Who Will Go for Us? (Isaiah 6:8)

The ember of purification taken from the altar of the cross purges our sinfulness. We hear what Isaiah heard, “See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin is purged.” (Isaiah 6:7) Our Lord then questions, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” Will our reply be as generous as the purging we have received? Will we answer with the same voice as Isaiah, “Here I am, send me!”

Surely we know that our fiat leads to our cross. Jesus reminds us that if we desire to become like Him, we’ll do as He did, go where He wants to be known. He continually calls us to proclaim Him as we pray and share readily the faith. Let us encourage one another to continue in the face of loss or hardship--to give our time to bless our spouse, a child, a bewildered soul, to work carefully, blessing God and others.

Our cross is any lack of faith that tempts us to fear ridicule or rejection from those who prefer a different voice than Truth. Jesus reminds us that denying Him by failing to proclaim Him is a denial of our own selves before the Father.

O Lord,
grace us not to fear the suffering that passes;
but rather the suffering of eternal separation.
Amen

- Mary Williams
(wlmsconsul at pdq dot net)

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posted by joachim at 5:01 AM