Saturday, 11th August 2018

Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin

LECTIONARY
412

FIRST READING
HAB 1:12—2:4

Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?

I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

PSALM
PS 9:8-9, 10-11, 12-13

Response: You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.

The LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of distress.
They trust in you who cherish your name,
for you forsake not those who seek you, O LORD.

Sing praise to the LORD enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations his deeds;
For the avenger of blood has remembered;
he has not forgotten the cry of the poor.

GOSPEL
MT 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
"Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him."
Jesus said in reply,
"O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me."
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
"Why could we not drive it out?"
He said to them, "Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to 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.
Nothing will be impossible for you."

Daily Reflection

In the Gospel we observe the demands made on Jesus. After the glory at the mountain top, Jesus encounters human suffering and the demands of human need. When the world is shut out it is easier to experience the presence of God. In our moments of prayer and meditation it is easy for us to have faith. But that is not what our faith should be like. Real faith is to draw strength from God even in our moments of trial and tribulation. Jesus demonstrates the faith we need. Moved by the faith of the epileptic boy’s father and in answer to it, Jesus with a stern word bids the demon to be gone and the boy is cured. When He speaks about moving mountains He means that any difficulty can be solved and the hardest task accomplished with enough faith. Faith in God is the key instrument that enables us to move the hills of difficulty that block the path of our faith.

As true disciples of Jesus, can our faith and trust in God move mountains?