Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
June 27, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062724.cfm
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
Matthew 7:24-25
When the storm comes, who doesn’t want their house to be built on rock – steady, constant, imperturbable ROCK! But take a good look at the picture above. How hard do you think it was for the builders to:
- penetrate that rock for a new foundation
- transport and maintain building materials on to that precipice
Jesus recognizes that such commitment is not easy, but the rewards are incomparable. He teaches the people that empty proclamations will not sustain a spiritual life. Such stability is achieved only by committed “building” – by opening ourselves to God’s word and acting on it.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray for the courage and vision to sincerely engage God’s word by our actions for mercy and justice.
Poetry: Psalm 18 – interpreted by Christine Robinson
I open my heart to you, O God
for you are my strength, my fortress,
the rock on whom I build my life.
I have been lost in my fears and my angers
caught up in falseness, fearful, and furious
I cried to you in my anguish.
You have brought me to an open space.
You saved me because you took delight in me.
I try to be good, to be just, to be generous
to walk in your ways.
I fail, but you are my lamp.
You make my darkness bright
With your help, I continue to scale the walls
and break down the barriers that fragment me.
I would be whole, and happy, and wise
and know your love
Always.
Music: O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer – Prayers of the Saints Alive
Lavish Mercy 