Sunday 18 June
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time First reading - Exodus 19:2-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.”’ In these words of the Lord spoken to Moses we can see the relation of God to humanity. God desires a deep relationship with us. He wants to bring us to Himself. And He wants to bring us on eagle’s wings. Long way to go and it should be a sure way because there are lots of challenges on the way. That is why the Lord is speaking of “eagle’s wings”. It shows the concern of the Lord, the love of the Lord, and it shows the initiative of the Lord. This Lord we must obey and follow His covenant. This is our vocation. Following the Lord is our consecration. Following the Lord who is carrying us in the eagle’s wings is our consecration. Being in the eagle’s wings of the Lord is our consecration. Let’s not try to fly ourselves. Let’s be in the eagle’s wings. We must let the Lord to carry us. Let’s reflect: Am I letting the Lord to carry me or am I trying to fly myself?
Saturday 17 June
The Immaculate Heart of Mary Saturday of week 10 in Ordinary Time First reading - Isaiah 61:9-11 “I exult for joy in the Lord”. This is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Exulting for joy in the Lord. This is a double joy. The joy in the Lord and the rejoicing in that joy in the Lord. Mary finds her joy in the Lord and then she lives with that joy in happiness. Finding the joy in the Lord and living with that joy is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That is how the soul rejoices in my God. Living with the joy found in the Lord, is being clothed in the garments of salvation. The more joy one finds in the Lord, the more immaculate his or her heart is. The Immaculate Heart of Mary finds joy only in the Lord and She lives only in that joy. The more our joy is liberated from other things, the more we are close to the joy in the Lord. Let’s reflect: How much joy I find in the Lord and how much I live with that joy?
Friday 16 June
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - Solemnity First reading - Deuteronomy 7:6-11 “…it is you that the Lord our God has chosen to be his very own people…” The Lord has chosen us to be his very own people. His choice of heart so that we are His own. It is out of His love for us. He redeems us to make us His own. He is faithful to His covenant to keep us His own. By His graciousness for thousand generations, we remain as His own forever. His love for us is not because of our merits. But because of His choice. So, we must remain in that love by our choice in all things. He wants that we remain as His very own people. Therefore, we must make choices of love as He chose us. We must develop a relationship with the Heart of Jesus where we can find the love of God in its perfection. The Heart of Jesus is the best place to be because it’s full of love and forgiveness, mercy and grace. It’s a sure place because it’s God who decided to love us knowing us perfectly. Let’s reflect: How much am I devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?