Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 08, 2024
Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
08th August 2024 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 2
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 (R. 12a)
R/. Create a pure heart for me, O God.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 16:13-23
At that time: When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ”Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, ”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, ”Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ”Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
The Reflection of August 08 invites us,
Guidelines: Faith is not a matter of mere knowledge or familiarity, but an experience, a relation and a commitment
1. “Who do people say I am?”, “Who do you say I am?” A question posed by Jesus to his disciples. Is it a sign of an identity crisis? Is it a sign of a psychological process of self-realization and self-discovery? Is it a sign of natural human curiosity or inquisitiveness to know what others say about oneself? Is it a sign of an ordinary human seeking recognition and affirmation?
2. Nothing of these. But rather it is a question that invites and challenges us for a sincere and authentic self-discovery and a profound and core identity. We can discover our true self, and realize our core identity, only in relation to Jesus, only in bonding with him, in intimacy and communion with him.
What he is to us, makes us what we are.
3. It is not a matter of merely saying who he is but living and experiencing who he is. It is not enough that words and expressions do abound unless experience does abound. All our acclamations and assertions, all our professions and proclamations should not be mere collections of formulations. Rather they should be expressions, extensions and expansions of a deeper and consistent experience and love of the Lord.
4. What others say, what we learn from others, and what we receive from them, comes on only to a certain point of the journey. Ultimately, it is each one personally that has to make the journey with the Lord. It is this personal encounter, personal relationship that counts the most.
5. Therefore, it is not enough to say ‘Lord, Lord’, but is also needed to surrender to him. Not enough to call him ‘master’, but is needed to be loyal to him and to follow in his footsteps. Not enough to acclaim him as Saviour, but it needs to be saved and liberated. Not enough to praise him as a ‘healer’, but is needed to show the effect and signs of healing, that we are healed. Not enough to proclaim him as a ‘guide’, but is needed to be guided. Not enough to attest him as Light, but is needed to be illumined and enlightened. Not enough to sing him as Love, but is needed to love him totally and passionately. Not enough to claim him as our strength and power, but is needed to be strengthened and empowered by him. Not enough to believe him as our nourishment, but is needed to be nurtured by him.
6. Yes, we must go beyond, we must rise above the minimum, the just ordinary, toward the maximum, toward a more harmonious living of grace. Our creed must go together with our deed, intention with action, feeling with healing, ability with humility, capacity with simplicity, competence with benevolence, intelligence with temperance, education with dedication, qualification with edification, specialization with realization, beauty with duty, convenient with commitment and modernity with modesty. This is the real experience and love with Jesus.
Practice: Expressions alone do not make one a person of great faith, however eloquent and powerful they may be. Every expression must be rooted in a profound experience of God, flow into a passionate bonding with God and concretise in an authentic life of devotion and dedication.
Thank You Visiting Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection of August 08 2024, May God bless you and Inspire you. Amen !!!
