Whose hand are you holding?
As we draw closer to the end of this rather difficult year in which unprecedented challenges led nations out into the wilderness. How have we lived as children of God our Heavenly Father? Have we kept the faith? Hope? Have we been charitable with one another especially with those most affected? Have we held on to the hand of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ who will lead us out of the desert into the land of milk and honey?
Whose hand are you holding?
Holding up our right hand, touched by grace and clasped in love; whose hand are we holding in our left to gently lead into His Kingdom? For we are called to turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents. To lead the children of God our Heavenly Father back to Him.
Whose hand are you holding?
Take my hand Lord Jesus and lead me. Amen
Our Lady of Loreto pray for us…
First reading
Isaiah 41:13-20 ·
I, the Holy One of Israel, am your redeemer
I, the Lord, your God,
I am holding you by the right hand;
I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid,
I will help you.’
Do not be afraid, Jacob, poor worm,
Israel, puny mite.
I will help you – it is the Lord who speaks –
the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.
See, I turn you into a threshing-sled,
new, with doubled teeth;
you shall thresh and crush the mountains,
and turn the hills to chaff.
You shall winnow them and the wind will blow them away,
the gale will scatter them.
But you yourself will rejoice in the Lord,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and needy ask for water, and there is none,
their tongue is parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them,
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
I will make rivers well up on barren heights,
and fountains in the midst of valleys;
turn the wilderness into a lake,
and dry ground into waterspring.
In the wilderness I will put cedar trees,
acacias, myrtles, olives.
In the desert I will plant juniper,
plane tree and cypress side by side;
so that men may see and know,
may all observe and understand
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Gospel
Matthew 11:11-15
A greater than John the Baptist has never been seen
Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!’
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