Gospel for June 7, 2013, Friday Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. Posted at 06/07/2013 5:35 AM | Updated as of 06/07/2013 5:37 AM Sacred Heart of Jesus Psalter: Proper Ps 23:1–3a, 3b–4, 5, 6 The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. 1st Reading: Ezk 34:11–16 Indeed Yahweh says this: I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them. As the shepherd looks after his flock when he finds them scattered, so will I watch over my sheep and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in a time of cloud and fog. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from other countries. I will lead them to their own land and pasture them on the mountains of Israel in all the valleys and inhabited regions of the land. I will take them to good pastures on the high mountains of Israel. They will rest where the grazing is good and feed in lush pastures on the heights of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and let them rest, word of Yahweh. I will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the fat and strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd my flock with justice. 2nd Reading: Rom 5:5b–11 And hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us: when we were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die. But see how God manifested his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us and we have become just through his blood. With much more reason now he will save us from any condemnation. Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of his Son; with much more reason now we may be saved through his life. Not only that; we even boast in God because of Christ Jesus, our Lord, through whom we have been reconciled. Gospel: Lk 15:3–7 Jesus told them this parable, “Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent.” Reflection: Here, on this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a fitting piece from The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis: Sunrise found Jesus and John the Baptist sitting above the Jordan in the hollow of a precipitous rock. All night long the two of them had held the world in their hands, deliberating what to do with it. Sometimes one took it, sometimes the other. The one’s face was severe and decisive: his arms went up and down as though he were actually holding an ax and striking. The other’s face was tame and irresolute, his eyes full of compassion. “Isn’t love enough?” he asked. “No,” answered the Baptist angrily. “The tree is rotten. God called to me and gave me the ax, which I then placed at the roots of the tree. I did my duty. Now you do yours: take the ax and strike!” “If I were fire, I would burn: if I were a woodcutter, I would strike. But I am a heart, and I love.”
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:13:39 +0000
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