B. Opening Prayer: Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth you Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
C. Reading of the Day:
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.” - Matthew 7:12
D. Period of Silence: Personal integration of the reading
E. Reflection on the Reading: What is God’s message for you today?
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| Image from catholiccartoonblog.blogspot.com |
Today's Sharing:
Today the Lord tells us a very important teaching: the laws that the Jews have been trying to fulfill and the messages that the prophets have been telling them are expressed in a very simple rule: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” The Lord makes the “self” as the basis of doing things because He understands very well how the attitudes and nature of man: we are almost all the time self-centered, that is, we want good things for ourselves, we want good things to be done to us, we want nothing bad or evil to befall us. Hence if we have to relate with others, it must be based on what we want them to do to us: good things, good deeds. That’s why the Lord tells us therefore to do likewise to others so that we may be able to get what we want – in order to reap a harvest of good things, we must plant good seeds!
“A man never hates his own body,” writes the Apostle Paul when telling husbands about loving their wives [see Ephesians 5:9]. He wanted to emphasize the truth that husband and wife already are one body just as the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church is one body. Hence being part of his "body" the husband ought to take care of the wife also - and vice versa. Of course
there are people who do – even commit suicide, the worst and most violent thing
one person can do against himself or herself since the law of nature calls for
self-preservation - but these are exceptions and naturally sinful. No one would want evil things to be done to him or her by
others. But the law of nature states that whatever you plant, you reap. If one
plants bad seeds, he or she will reap a harvest of evil. If one plants
good seeds, he or she will reap a bountiful harvest of goodness.
May we keep this rule, called the Golden Rule, as our first
rule in life for it is a stable hinge that will keep our door of relating with
others strong. Perhaps the best expression of this is by fulfilling the admonition to do good to the least of the Lord's brethren for they are the most vulnerable ones. For those who are well-off - it's the challenge to not expect for any return so that you may be rewarded handsomely by the Lord.
Even our relationship with God is founded on this because if we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, mind, strength and will, the greatest commandment that we ought to fulfill, we will express it by doing good things to the least of the Lord's brethren which according to the Lord is also doing these to Him and He will also return the favor: our names shall be written in the Book of Life.
Even our relationship with God is founded on this because if we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, mind, strength and will, the greatest commandment that we ought to fulfill, we will express it by doing good things to the least of the Lord's brethren which according to the Lord is also doing these to Him and He will also return the favor: our names shall be written in the Book of Life.
F. Application of the Message
- Pray that you may always abide by the Golden Rule as your manifestation of your friendship with the Lord.
- What are you are willing to abstain from today as a manifestation of "not doing what I do not want done unto me"?
- What are you willing to share materially as an expression of "what I want done unto me"?
G. Praying the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
H. Closing Prayer: Here you say your personal thanksgiving to the Father for today’s message
i. Closing Song [if done with others]
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