Saturday, August 09, 2014. 

Today's Liturgical Reading.
Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Readings: Habakkuk 1:12 - 2:4; Psalms 9:8-13; Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:12 - 2:4;

Are you not from of old,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

You shall not die.

O Lord, you have marked them for judgment;

and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment.

Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,

and you cannot look on wrongdoing;

why do you look on the treacherous,

and are silent when the wicked swallow

those more righteous than they?

You have made people like the fish of the sea,

like crawling things that have no ruler.

The enemy brings all of them up with a hook;

he drags them out with his net,

he gathers them in his seine;

so he rejoices and exults.

Therefore he sacrifices to his net

and makes offerings to his seine;

for by them his portion is lavish,

and his food is rich.

Is he then to keep on emptying his net,

and destroying nations without mercy?

I will stand at my watchpost,

and station myself on the rampart;

I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,

and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

Then the Lord answered me and said:

Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so that a runner may read it.

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20

When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Focus: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed...." (Matthew 17:20)

Today's Gospel stresses the need to have faith in the Lord and to nurture that faith. The disciples could not cure the epileptic boy, although they tried their best. Jesus blamed it on their lack of faith. (Matthew 17:20)

Life brings many troublesome situations when faith is tested. One Sunday I was compelled to leave home late for Mass. On the way, I was filled with unpleasant feelings; that I would encounter plenty of traffic and that I would not reach in time. Then I thought - let me be positive and trust in the Lord. I relaxed. To my surprise I reached early, even before Mass began.

Do we get restless when things do not happen as we want? We must remind ourselves that the Lord is a stronghold... in times of trouble' (Psalm 9:9). He promises to honour even the slightest hint of faith in our hearts (Focus).

Then why do we find it so difficult to trust in Him? We cannot even find enough time to confide in Him! Maybe we secretly believe that He can't or won't help us. 

St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) combined scholarship and faith, seeking to be a "tool of the Lord" in everything she taught. She said, "If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him."

Fruit: Let us always look to the Lord in faith - it is the best way to bring others to Him.