Prayer & Readings

Dear Lord God, thank You for this day, another day to love and server You, another day to give thanks, another day to love someone in Your name, another day to practice my faith, another day to hope for all I dream, another day to try, another day to walk with You. O Lord God today’s a day for me to choose where and what I will focus on; yesterday, tomorrow or now; regret, fear or hope. Help me to see and chose with Your eyes, eyes of faith.  Lord I come to You, I seek You, knowing that You are the source for all I need and through You all things are possible. So today a day I repeat the prayer of Jabez ‘ Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me always to keep me from evil and from causing pain.’ This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 The whole world is asleep, and God, so full of goodness, so great, so worthy of all praise, no one is thinking of Him! See nature praises Him, and man….who ought to praise Him, sleeps! Let us go and wake up the universe…. and sing praises! St. Mariam Baouardy

Genesis 18:16-33

16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? 19 No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him." 20 Then the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor’rah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know." 22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake." 27 Abraham answered, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." 29 Again he spoke to him, and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." 30 Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." 31 He said, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it." 33 And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Bible Study: [20] Israelite tradition was unanimous in ascribing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the wickedness of these cities, but tradition varied in regard to the nature of this wickedness. According to the present account of the Yahwist, the sin of Sodom was homosexuality (Genesis 19:4-5), which is therefore also known as sodomy; but according to Isaiah (Isaiah 1:9-10; 3:9), it was a lack of social justice; Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16:46-51) described it as a disregard for the poor, whereas Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:14) saw it as general immorality.


Psalm 103:1-4, 8-11

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

Bible Study: [Psalm 103] Of David – The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Psalm 103:1-5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Psalm 103:6-18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Psalm 103:11-13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Psalm 103:14-18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Psalm 103:19-22).


Matthew 8:18-22

18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Bible Study: [18] The other side: i.e., of the Sea of Galilee. [19] Teacher: for Matthew, this designation of Jesus is true, for he has Jesus using it of himself (Matthew 10:24, 25; 23:8; 26:18), yet when it is used of him by others they are either his opponents (Matthew 9:11; 12:38; 17:24; 22:16, 24, 36) or, as here and in Matthew 19:16, well-disposed persons who cannot see more deeply. Thus it reveals an inadequate recognition of who Jesus is.  [20] Son of Man: see the note on Mark 8:31. This is the first occurrence in Matthew of a term that appears in the New Testament only in sayings of Jesus, except for Acts 7:56 and possibly Matthew 9:6 (Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24). In Matthew it refers to Jesus in his ministry (seven times, as here), in his passion and resurrection (nine times, e.g., Matthew 17:22), and in his glorious coming at the end of the age (thirteen times, e.g., Matthew 24:30).  [22] Let the dead bury their dead: the demand of Jesus overrides what both the Jewish and the Hellenistic world regarded as a filial obligation of the highest importance. See the note on Luke 9:60.

 

Leave a comment