GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 9TH JUNE 2017
FRIDAY OF THE NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING: Tobit 11:5-17
PSALM: Psalm 146:1-2, 6-10
GOSPEL: Mark 12:35-37
THEME: TAKE HEART!
Life has its ups and downs. There are moments when thick dark clouds rob one’s world of brightness but no matter how long the dark clouds hang up there in the sky, we are confident that the sun would shine again. There are certain events in life that can shake our faith in God and make us wonder whether God cares. However, the good news is that tears of pain have an expiry date. Yes, “weeping may linger for the night but joy comes with the morning “ (Psalm 30:5).
The First Reading from the Book of Tobit confirms the above point. We started reflecting on the Book of Tobit on a painful note. We relived the story of a Jewish man who was among the captives deported to Nineveh – Assyria from the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722/721 B.C. We shared in his agony of seeing his fellow Jews die and having to bury them and eat his food in sorrow. We relived the agony Tobit had to go through when he became blind and how the taunt of his wife broke his heart leading him to offer a prayer of lamentation to God.
Now in today’s First Reading, Tobit receives his sight back. His tears of pain change into tears of joy. He bursts out into a song of praise: “Blessed be God! Blessed be his great name! Blessed be all his holy angels! Blessed be his great name for evermore! For, having afflicted me, he has had pity on me and now I see my son Tobias!” (Tob 11:14-15). In sum, the touch of the Lord changed his mourning into dancing.
Today, let us turn to everyone who is mourning and tell him/her: Take heart! Tell everyone who has lost someone or something precious: Take heart! Tell the one who is drowning in pain: Take heart! No matter how deep one’s pain is, in Christ one would smile again.
PRAYER: Lord God, you are the strength and salvation of all those who hope in you. Comfort the sorrowing and cause your light to shine in the dark hours of the journey of the night. For the sake of Christ, I pray. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).