Reading 1
Jer 38:4-6, 8-10
In those days, the princes said to the king:
“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.”
King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”;
for the king could do nothing with them.
And so they took Jeremiah
and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,
which was in the quarters of the guard,
letting him down with ropes.
There was no water in the cistern, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank into the mud.
Ebed-melech, a court official,
went there from the palace and said to him:
“My lord king,
these men have been at fault
in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,
casting him into the cistern.
He will die of famine on the spot,
for there is no more food in the city.”
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite
to take three men along with him,
and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before
he should die.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18
R. (14b) Lord, come to my aid!
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
The LORD heard my cry.
He drew me out of the pit of destruction,
out of the mud of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a crag;
he made firm my steps.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in awe
and trust in the LORD.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
Though I am afflicted and poor,
yet the LORD thinks of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, hold not back!
R. Lord, come to my aid!
Reading II
Heb 12:1-4
Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
he endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
Please post your thought and/or connections.
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6 comments:
Lookin' at the second reading... the sin parts jumped out at me. It's easy to take forgiveness for granted, isn't it? We have this wonderful, loving, merciful God. We have the sacrament of reconciliation for healing and forgiveness. In all that, we can't forget about sin. Very bad, very bad! Speaking from experience, if we get too tolerant of sin, and if we don't look at it as destructive, it will hurt us a lot. We really have to struggle against sin and rid ourselves of it to run the race... to live a true life of faith.
The part that really stuck out for me was where Jeremiah was literally in the pits. It reminds me of how living a Christian is not all flowers and hapiness - at times there are trials that need to be overcome. The second reading also speaks to this - the Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint.
The part in the psalm "the Lord thinks of me" is such a wonderful thought and really spoke to me this morning...Its very different to feel alone because you are not surrounding by anyone then it is to not know that you are being thought about (if that makes sense) It is just such a blessing to know that the Lord thinks of me. And that kind of rolls right into the second reading...knowing that the Lord is leading you in your race is such a great comfort to me and it is something that I sometimes forget. If you know that you have someone like the Lord on your side, rooting for you, it sure does make a "marathon" seem like a jog in the park.
Reading 1 -
1 - have been at fault in all they have done TO Jeremiah
2 - There is hope in the most hopeless cases
3 - Keep my eye on the prize
Response:
1 - stoop
2 - no one has fallen too low for the Lord to rescue
3 - keep making small steps toward God and he will leap toward me.
Reading 2:
1 - cloud of witnesses and JOY
2 - the road may be one of suffering, but we are not the only ones who have endured this and the prize is great.
3 - do not feel sorry for myself
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