Corpus Christi Solemnity
June 6th, 2010
David says in Psalm 50: "Have mercy on me God in your kindness In your compassion wash out my offence Oh, wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin"
Gen. 18 : 22-33.
The Lord told Abraham he was going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. However, Abraham begged God to have mercy on them for the sake of the good people living in these cities. So, the Lord said he would save the cities if Abraham could find fifty good people. Abraham checked, returned to the Lord and said, “If I find forty five will you spare these cities.” God promised he would. And so the numbers dropped to thirty, to twenty, to ten.
If we all fell on our knees and begged God”””’’s mercy for ourselves or for others, what a powerful miracle we would witness.
CrossGod so loved the world that he gave his only Son. “What more can I do for my people that I have not done?” asks the prophet Isaiah 5 : 4. I asked my God how much he loved me. He stretched out his arms and said, “This much” and then he died.
Human beings need to be loved, because they need God. We alone of all creation have the gift of love.
Prayer
Merciful Lord on the Cross you opened wide your arms to draw us all close to your loving heart. You offer us your friendship, your endless loving mercy. Help us Lord to turn with confidence to you. Grant that we may understand how compassionate and merciful you are to us sinners. May we always proclaim your message of love for all who call upon you in sincerity of heart. Amen.
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
