Prayer, Gospel and Reflection 29.9.2024

Sunday, 29th September 2024

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Lord, open my lips — and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

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God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Send the fire of your Holy Spirit deep within us.

Protect us, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

Souls in purgatory, pray for us.

Angels and Saints, pray for us.

Lord, send peace to our own homes and to the whole world.

Have mercy, Lord, and hear our prayer.
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_The Lord said to St. Paul: “Fear not. . . . I am with you” (Acts 18:9-10)._
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Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Gospel
Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus,

“Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”

Jesus replied,

“Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.

Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'”

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*REFLECTION*

Sometimes we need to wake up to the horror of sin. Sin and sin alone is capable of sending you to hell.

Hell is real, and going there for eternity is a real possibility.

Therefore, we must do whatever it takes to avoid that frightful possibility.

This teaching from Jesus might not, at first, be thought of as one of His most inspiring teachings, but it should be.

It’s not inspiring in the sense that it is quite graphic.

But it is very inspiring in the sense that it has the potential to motivate us to action.

Are you motivated to do all that you can to avoid sin?

Would you even go so far as to cut off your hand or foot, and to pluck out your eye so as to avoid sin? First of all, this should not be seen as a literal command in which Jesus is telling us to mutilate ourselves. But He is the one Who chose such graphic language. Therefore, we should not shy away from pondering these images in a prayerful way so as to more clearly see those things that lead us into sin. When we see them, we must take the radical step of completely eliminating them from our lives.

Many of the Church Fathers say that the hand, foot and eye in this teaching refer to our friends. Just as a hand, foot and eye are good in and of themselves, so also are friends.

We are made for friendship with God and with others.

However, not every friendship helps us grow closer to God.

Therefore, when an earthly friend becomes a source of sin, we must eliminate that friendship.

Friendship is different from charity.

We owe charity to all people, even those who are the most sinful. But acting with charity toward others is different from being friends with them.

To be a friend implies mutual giving and receiving.

And though we must always give of ourselves to others, we ought not always receive from them when what they have to offer is an invitation to sin.

This is how we “cut it off” and “pluck it out.”

When another person tries to relate to us in such a way that they lead us into sin, we must take that temptation very seriously and reject it with much vigor.

The hand, foot and eye in this teaching also represent every situation in life that tempts us to sin. For example, consider material possessions. If buying a very expensive car, house, or electronic gadget tempts you to become more materialistic, then you must avoid buying it.

People are drawn to nice things.

But does possessing nice things help your soul to become holy?

One could argue that they can have nice things, while at the same time remain spiritually detached from them. But this is difficult to live. The more luxurious our material possessions, the more tempted we will be to rely upon them for our happiness.

Therefore, choosing to live simply is almost always better for your soul than choosing to live in luxury.

This teaching also applies to anything else that could become a source of temptation.

Reflect, today, upon those things or persons in your life that have become an occasion of sin for you.

Do not fool yourself into believing that you can handle the temptation.

If you have some source of ongoing temptation in your life, you need to eliminate it.

Ponder this very graphic teaching from Jesus and try to apply it to your life.

Identify those things that lead you into sin and eliminate them with much determination.

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Prayer based on todays Gospel

My radical Lord, You call all of Your children to a life of holiness and perfection. Please help me to take Your teachings seriously so as to eliminate all occasions of sin from my life. May I have the eyes to see these temptations and the courage to reject them with all my might. Jesus, I trust in You.

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Prayer for Peace—

Lord Jesus, we ask you to give the people of this world peace in their minds, bodies, soul and spirit. We want you to heal and remove everything that is causing stress, grief, and sorrow in their lives. Please guide our path’s through life and make our enemies be at peace with us. Amen

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THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

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Jesus… Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul.

Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.

The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine. It will be you, shining on others through me.

Let me thus praise you in the way which you love best, by shining on those around me’.
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May the Lord bless us and keep us.

May the Lord let his face shine on us and be gracious to us.

May the Lord show us his face and give us his peace.

May the all-powerful Lord
grant us a restful night
and a peaceful death.
— Amen.
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Be patient in suffering, be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12).

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Father, I thank you for you have heard my prayer (John 11:41).

 

Relection from Catholic daily reflections.com