Oh how I’d imagine the lush beauty of the garden of Eden! Vibrant colours all around me, flowers, plants, trees of every magnificent stature reaching to the sky. Waterfalls and wellsprings positioned by the master architect intricately beautified by greenery, rock formations, even rainbows. Abundant fruits, vegetation and meat. Peace, love, joy in my heart with perfect union with my other half and the Lord my God. Why would it not be enough? Why was it not enough father Adam? mother Eve?
Lord let me hear you say to me, sinner that I am turning to you with all my heart, “Son this very day you will be with me in paradise.” For I want nothing more than to be with You my Lord and my God. To have Your peace and love reign in my heart. True joy abounds when You Lord dwell within me. If only all should desire You the way I do this very day, then surely we will all already be in paradise. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Now and forever. Amen
St Francis Xavier pray for us….
First reading
Isaiah 11:1-10 ·
A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse
A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,
a scion thrusts from his roots:
on him the spirit of the Lord rests,
a spirit of wisdom and insight,
a spirit of counsel and power,
a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
(The fear of the Lord is his breath.)
He does not judge by appearances, he gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.
His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,
his sentences bring death to the wicked.
Integrity is the loincloth round his waist,
faithfulness the belt about his hips.
The wolf lives with the lamb, the panther lies down with the kid, calf and lion feed together, with a little boy to lead them.
The cow and the bear make friends, their young lie down together.
The lion eats straw like the ox.
The infant plays over the cobra’s hole;
into the viper’s lair the young child puts his hand.
They do no hurt, no harm, on all my holy mountain, for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters swell the sea.
That day, the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples.
It will be sought out by the nations
and its home will be glorious.
Gospel
Luke 10:21-24
No-one knows who the Son is except the Father
Filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said:
‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’
Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’
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