GOSPEL REFLECTION OF POPE FRANCIS - 08/12/23 (Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time)

From the Gospel according to Matthew

Mt 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,

"Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;

often he falls into fire, and often into water.

I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him."

Jesus said in reply,

"O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?

How long will I endure you?

Bring the boy here to me."

Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,

and from that hour the boy was cured.

Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,

"Why could we not drive it out?"

He said to them, "Because of your little faith.

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain,

'Move from here to there,' and it will move.

Nothing will be impossible for you."

Words of the Holy Father:

 We must ask everything of Jesus, who can do everything. Do not forget this. We must ask everything of Jesus, with my insistence before Him. He cannot wait to pour out his grace and joy into our hearts; but unfortunately, it is we who keep our distance, through timidness, laziness or unbelief. Many of us, when we pray, do not believe that the Lord can work miracles. I am reminded of the story — which I have seen — of the father who was told by the doctors that his nine-year-old daughter would not survive the night; she was in hospital. And he took a bus and travelled 70 kilometres to the Shrine of Our Lady. It was closed and, clinging to the gate, he spent the whole night praying: “Lord, save her! Lord, give her life”! He prayed to Our Lady all night long, crying out to God, crying out from his heart. Then in the morning, when he returned to the hospital, he found his wife weeping. And he thought: “She is dead”. And his wife said: “No one understands, no one understands, the doctors say it’s a strange thing, she seems to have healed”. The cry of that man who asked for everything was heard by the Lord who had given him everything. (Angelus, 24 October 2021)

Source:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious—Optional Memorial:

https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/august-12---saint-jane-frances-de-chantal-religious

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth