What a complex world we live in, to survive we need to know the ways of the world and struggle to get by each and every day. We also have to face sharp tongued adversaries who mock and taunt us often through gossip! Is our Lord not present in their lives? How long shall we endure? What other hardship is coming our way?
Father! Help me! Come to my aid, make haste and come! Come Lord Jesus come! Come Holy Spirit come! My simple heart cries out to You and I know you will surely come, for You are a faithful God who loves me dearly.
So Yes Lord, You are above all in my heart and so I will forgive everyone who hurt me. For You forgave us from the cross for we did not know what we were doing! I will likewise forgive my sister and brother. For I know You are far from those who do not have mercy in their heart; and so, I cling to You by forgiving all those who have sinned against me. Bless them Lord as You have blessed me.
Through Your loving grace, let my faith grow this and every day. Amen
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First reading
Wisdom 1:1-7 ·
Seek the Lord in simplicity of heart
Love virtue, you who are judges on earth,
let honesty prompt your thinking about the Lord,
seek him in simplicity of heart;
since he is to be found by those who do not put him to the test,
he shows himself to those who do not distrust him.
But selfish intentions divorce from God;
and Omnipotence, put to the test, confounds the foolish.
No, Wisdom will never make its way into a crafty soul
nor stay in a body that is in debt to sin;
the holy spirit of instruction shuns deceit,
it stands aloof from reckless purposes,
is taken aback when iniquity appears.
Wisdom is a spirit, a friend to man,
though she will not pardon the words of a blasphemer,
since God sees into the innermost parts of him,
truly observes his heart,
and listens to his tongue.
The spirit of the Lord, indeed, fills the whole world,
and that which holds all things together knows every word that is said.
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Gospel
Luke 17:1-6
If your brother does wrong, reprove him
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Obstacles are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them! It would be better for him to be thrown into the Sea with a millstone put round his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!
If your brother does something wrong, reprove him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, “I am sorry,” you must forgive him.’
The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.’
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