 |
| ... my silent 'cleft in the rock' before the stillness of the dawn, |
Ordinary Time:
January 29th
Tuesday of the
Third Week of Ordinary Time
First Reading
TUESDAY
Romans 9:1-18
Responsory
Rom 9:7; Gal 3:29; 4:28
Not all are children
of Abraham because they are his descendants.
+ If you are Christ's,
then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
V. We, like Isaac,
are children of the promise. t If you are Christ's ...
Second Reading
From a
meditation by Saint Therese of Lisieux
When he had gone
up the hill, Jesus called those he wanted; and they came to him. Jesus does not
call those who are worthy to be called, but those he wants, or as Saint Paul says,
God takes pity on whomever he wishes, and has mercy on whomever he pleases. So
what counts is not what we will or try to do, but the mercy of God.
For a long time
I wondered why the good God had preferences, why every soul did not receive
grace in equal measure. I was amazed to see him lavishing extraordinary favours
on saints who had offended him, like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine, and whom
he practically forced to accept his graces. Or else, when I read the lives of
saints whom our Lord was pleased to cherish from the cradle to the grave, allowing
no obstacle to stand in their way that would have prevented them from rising
toward him, and visiting them with such graces that it was impossible for them
to tarnish the immaculate brightness of their baptismal robe, I wondered why,
for instance, poor people were dying in great numbers before they had even
heard God's name. Jesus kindly explained this mystery to me. He placed the book
of nature before my eyes, and I understood that all the flowers he has created
are beautiful, that the splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do
not rob the little violet of its scent or the daisy of its delightful
simplicity. I understood that if all the little flowers wanted to be roses, nature
would lose its spring adornment, and the fields would no longer be spangled
with flowerets.
It is the same
in the world of souls which is the garden of Jesus.
He wanted to
create the great saints who may be compared with lilies and roses; but he also
created smaller ones, and these must be content to be daisies or violets
destined to gladden the eyes of the good God when he looks down at his feet. Perfection
consists in doing his will, in being what he wants us to be.
I understood too
that the love of our Lord is revealed in the simplest soul who offers no
resistance to his grace as well as in the most sublime soul. In fact, since the
essence of love is humility, if all souls were like those of the learned saints
who have illuminated the Church by the light of their teaching, it would seem
as if God would not have very far to descend in coming to their hearts. But he
has created the baby who knows nothing and whose only utterance is a feeble
cry; he has created people who have only the law of nature to guide them; and
it is their hearts that he deigns to come down to, those are his flowers of the
field whose simplicity delights him. In coming down in that way the good God
proves his infinite greatness. Just as the sun shines at the same time on cedar
trees and on each little flower as if it was the only one on earth, so our Lord
takes special care of each soul as if it was his only care.
Responsory Wis 6:7; Ps 113:13
The Lord made both
small and great, and + he takes thought for all alike.
V. The Lord will bless those who fear him, both high and low. +He takes ...
COMMENTS: