July 4, 2022

Word for today: With us is the LORD our GOD to help us, and to fight our battles. 2nd Chronicles 32:8 KJV

A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.

To finish the Bible in one year, Read Psalms 16-20 and 2nd Corinthians 4:1-15

Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:

Reflection for Today.

Catholic

Prophets

Kids

Also read the verses, if you like.

psalm 16

¹ [In a quiet voice Of David] Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge.

² To Yahweh I say, ‘You are my Lord, my happiness is in none

³ of the sacred spirits of the earth.’ They only take advantage of all who love them.

⁴ People flock to their teeming idols. Never shall I pour libations to them! Never take their names on my lips.

⁵ My birthright, my cup is Yahweh; you, you alone, hold my lot secure.

⁶ The measuring-line marks out for me a delightful place, my birthright is all I could wish.

⁷ I bless Yahweh who is my counsellor, even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸ I keep Yahweh before me always, for with him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.

⁹ So my heart rejoices, my soul delights, my body too will rest secure,

¹⁰ for you will not abandon me to Sheol, you cannot allow your faithful servant to see the abyss.

¹¹ You will teach me the path of life, unbounded joy in your presence, at your right hand delight for ever.

psalm 17

¹ [Prayer Of David] Listen, Yahweh, to an upright cause, pay attention to my cry, lend an ear to my prayer, my lips free from deceit.

² From your presence will issue my vindication, your eyes fixed on what is right.

³ You probe my heart, examine me at night, you test me by fire and find no evil. I have not sinned with my mouth

⁴ as most people do. I have treasured the word from your lips,

⁵ my steps never stray from the paths you lay down, from your tracks; so my feet never stumble.

⁶ I call upon you, God, for you answer me; turn your ear to me, hear what I say.

⁷ Show the evidence of your faithful love, saviour of those who hope in your strength against attack.

⁸ Guard me as the pupil of an eye, shelter me in the shadow of your wings

⁹ from the presence of the wicked who would maltreat me; deadly enemies are closing in on me.

¹⁰ Engrossed in themselves they are mouthing arrogant words.

¹¹ They are advancing against me, now they are closing in, watching for the chance to hurl me to the ground,

¹² like a lion preparing to pounce, like a young lion crouching in ambush.

¹³ Arise, Yahweh, confront him and bring him down, with your sword save my life from the wicked,

¹⁴ Yahweh, from mortals, by your hand, from mortals whose part in life is in this world. You fill their bellies from your store, their children will have all they desire, and leave their surplus to their children.

¹⁵ But I in my uprightness will see your face, and when I awake I shall be filled with the vision of you.

Psalm 18

¹ [For the choirmaster Of David, the servant of Yahweh, who addressed the words of this song to Yahweh when Yahweh had delivered him from all his enemies and from the clutches of Saul. He said:] I love you, Yahweh, my strength (my Saviour, you have saved me from violence).

² Yahweh is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer is my God. I take refuge in him, my rock, my shield, my saving strength, my stronghold, my place of refuge.

³ I call to Yahweh who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my foes.

⁴ With Death’s breakers closing in on me, Belial’s torrents ready to swallow me,

⁵ Sheol’s snares every side of me, Death’s traps lying ahead of me,

⁶ I called to Yahweh in my anguish, I cried for help to my God; from his Temple he heard my voice, my cry came to his ears.

⁷ Then the earth quaked and rocked, the mountains’ foundations shuddered, they quaked at his blazing anger.

⁸ Smoke rose from his nostrils, from his mouth devouring fire (coals were kindled at it).

⁹ He parted the heavens and came down, a storm-cloud underneath his feet;

¹⁰ riding one of the winged creatures, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.

¹¹ His covering he made the darkness, his pavilion dark waters and dense cloud.

¹² A brightness lit up before him, hail and blazing fire.

¹³ Yahweh thundered from the heavens, the Most High made his voice heard.

¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered them, he hurled his lightning and routed them.

¹⁵ The very springs of ocean were exposed, the world’s foundations were laid bare, at your roaring, Yahweh, at the blast of breath from your nostrils!

¹⁶ He reached down from on high, snatched me up, pulled me from the watery depths,

¹⁷ rescued me from my mighty foe, from my enemies who were stronger than I.

¹⁸ They assailed me on my day of disaster but Yahweh was there to support me;

¹⁹ he freed me, set me at large, he rescued me because he loves me.

²⁰ Yahweh rewards me for my uprightness, as my hands are pure, so he repays me,

²¹ since I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and not fallen away from my God.

²² His judgements are all before me, his statutes I have not put away from me.

²³ I am blameless before him, I keep myself clear of evil.

²⁴ So Yahweh repaid me for acting uprightly because he could see I was pure.

²⁵ You are faithful to the faithful, blameless with the blameless,

²⁶ sincere to the sincere, but cunning to the crafty,

²⁷ you save a people that is humble and humiliate those with haughty looks.

²⁸ Yahweh, you yourself are my lamp, my God lights up my darkness;

²⁹ with you I storm the rampart, with my God I can scale any wall.

³⁰ This God, his way is blameless; the word of Yahweh is refined in the furnace, for he alone is the shield of all who take refuge in him.

³¹ For who is God but Yahweh, who is a rock but our God?

³² This God who girds me with strength, who makes my way free from blame,

³³ who makes me as swift as a deer and sets me firmly on the heights,

³⁴ who trains my hands for battle, my arms to bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵ You give me your invincible shield (your right hand upholds me) you never cease to listen to me,

³⁶ you give me the strides of a giant, give me ankles that never weaken.

³⁷ I pursue my enemies and overtake them, not turning back till they are annihilated;

³⁸ I strike them down and they cannot rise, they fall, they are under my feet.

³⁹ You have girded me with strength for the fight, bent down my assailants beneath me,

⁴⁰ made my enemies retreat before me; and those who hate me I destroy.

⁴¹ They cry out, there is no one to save; to Yahweh, but no answer comes.

⁴² I crumble them like dust before the wind, trample them like the mud of the streets.

⁴³ You free me from the quarrels of my people, you place me at the head of the nations, a people I did not know are now my servants;

⁴⁴ foreigners come wooing my favour, no sooner do they hear than they obey me;

⁴⁵ foreigners grow faint of heart, they come trembling out of their fastnesses.

⁴⁶ Life to Yahweh! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁷ the God who gives me vengeance, and subjects whole peoples to me,

⁴⁸ who rescues me from my raging enemies. You lift me high above those who attack me, you deliver me from the man of violence.

⁴⁹ For this I will praise you, Yahweh, among the nations, and sing praise to your name.

⁵⁰ He saves his king time after time, displays his faithful love for his anointed, for David and his heirs for ever.

Psalm 19

¹ [For the choirmaster Psalm Of David] The heavens declare the glory of God, the vault of heaven proclaims his handiwork,

² day discourses of it to day, night to night hands on the knowledge.

³ No utterance at all, no speech, not a sound to be heard,

⁴ but from the entire earth the design stands out, this message reaches the whole world. High above, he pitched a tent for the sun,

⁵ who comes forth from his pavilion like a bridegroom, delights like a champion in the course to be run.

⁶ Rising on the one horizon he runs his circuit to the other, and nothing can escape his heat.

⁷ The Law of Yahweh is perfect, refreshment to the soul; the decree of Yahweh is trustworthy, wisdom for the simple.

⁸ The precepts of Yahweh are honest, joy for the heart; the commandment of Yahweh is pure, light for the eyes.

⁹ The fear of Yahweh is pure, lasting for ever; the judgements of Yahweh are true, upright, every one,

¹⁰ more desirable than gold, even than the finest gold; his words are sweeter than honey, that drips from the comb.

¹¹ Thus your servant is formed by them; observing them brings great reward.

¹² But who can detect his own failings? Wash away my hidden faults.

¹³ And from pride preserve your servant, never let it be my master. So shall I be above reproach, free from grave sin.

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth always find favour, and the whispering of my heart, in your presence, Yahweh, my rock, my redeemer.

psalm 20

¹ [For the choirmaster Psalm Of David] May Yahweh answer you in time of trouble, may the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

² May he send you help from the sanctuary, give you support from Zion!

³ May he remember all your sacrifices and delight in your burnt offerings!

⁴ May he grant you your heart’s desire and crown all your plans with success!

⁵ So that with joy we can hail your victory and draw up our ranks in the name of our God. May Yahweh grant all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that Yahweh gives victory to his anointed. He will respond from his holy heavens with great deeds of victory from his right hand.

⁷ Some call on chariots, some on horses, but we on the name of Yahweh our God.

⁸ They will crumple and fall, while we stand upright and firm.

⁹ Yahweh, save the king, answer us when we call.

2nd Corinthians 4:1-15

¹ Such by God’s mercy is our ministry, and therefore we do not waver

² but have renounced all shameful secrecy. It is not our way to be devious, or to falsify the word of God; instead, in God’s sight we commend ourselves to every human being with a conscience by showing the truth openly.

³ If our gospel seems to be veiled at all, it is so to those who are on the way to destruction,

⁴ the unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world, so that they cannot see shining the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁵ It is not ourselves that we are proclaiming, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

⁶ It is God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ that has shone into our hearts to enlighten them with the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.

⁷ But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own.

⁸ We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair;

⁹ we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us;

¹⁰ always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body.

¹¹ Indeed, while we are still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.

¹² In us, then, death is at work; in you, life.

¹³ But as we have the same spirit of faith as is described in scripture — I believed and therefore I spoke -we, too, believe and therefore we, too, speak,

¹⁴ realising that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up with Jesus in our turn, and bring us to himself — and you as well.

¹⁵ You see, everything is for your benefit, so that as grace spreads, so, to the glory of God, thanksgiving may also overflow among more and more people.

Sermons and explanations for the above chapters.

Reading 1, Hosea 2:16, 17-18, 21-22

¹⁶ But look, I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.

¹⁷ There I shall give her back her vineyards, and make the Vale of Achor a gateway of hope. There she will respond as when she was young, as on the day when she came up from Egypt.

¹⁸ When that day comes- declares Yahweh- you will call me, ‘My husband’, no more will you call me, ‘My Baal’.

²¹ I shall betroth you to myself for ever, I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful love and tenderness.

²² Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

² Day after day I shall bless you, I shall praise your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is Yahweh and worthy of all praise, his greatness beyond all reckoning.

⁴ Each age will praise your deeds to the next, proclaiming your mighty works.

⁵ Your renown is the splendour of your glory, I will ponder the story of your wonders.

⁶ They will speak of your awesome power, and I shall recount your greatness.

⁷ They will bring out the memory of your great generosity, and joyfully acclaim your saving justice.

⁸ Yahweh is tenderness and pity, slow to anger, full of faithful love.

⁹ Yahweh is generous to all, his tenderness embraces all his creatures.

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Gospel, Matthew 9:18-26

¹⁸ While he was speaking to them, suddenly one of the officials came up, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’

¹⁹ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.

²⁰ Then suddenly from behind him came a woman, who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak,

²¹ for she was thinking, ‘If only I can touch his cloak I shall be saved.’

²² Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.’ And from that moment the woman was saved.

²³ When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion, he said,

²⁴ ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead; she is asleep.’ And they ridiculed him.

²⁵ But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took her by the hand; and she stood up.

²⁶ And the news of this spread all round the countryside.

Catholic Daily Reflections