| PITH Press |
| July 2009 Readings |
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July 6, 2009, Monday St. Maria Goretti Read: Gn. 28:10-22 Mt. 9:18-26 "A synagogue leader came up, did him reverence, and said: ‘My daughter has just died. Please come and lay your hand on her and she will come back to life.' " (Mt. 9:18)The people of the town accepted Jesus. Recognizing His divine powers, they sought His miraculous benefit. The leadership saw Jesus actions through eyes of jealousy, fear and distrust. Jairus had to be open to Jesus in his heart to not be ashamed to seek out the Lord's intervention, to kneel before Him and beg that He raise his little girl from the dead. A life-threatening illness is a sufficient enough ‘jolt’ or ‘blow’ to make one wake up and move from indifference and unbelief to faith in God. The old saying holds true: "There are no atheists in foxholes." We forget that all the goods of the Lord in this life are temporary and fragile. We do not like the idea that, in an instant, we could lose everything -- including our very lives. The moment will come when we must give an account of our lives to the Lord -- a moment for which most of us are spiritually unprepared. We must learn to have faith and confidence in the goodness of the Lord and to thank Him before the trials come. Thus, when the inevitable trial does come, we will be able to approach the heavenly throne with greater confidence.Reflection and commentary Psalm 104:33 "I will sing praise to my God while I live."St. Maria Goretti , d. 1902 at age 12; she was stabbed to death, preferring to die rather than be raped alive, with her mother present, she was canonized in 1950 before the largest crowd ever assembled in Rome for a canonization; patroness of teenage girls. |
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