Tarshish

You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord. (Jonah 2:7b)

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Jonah Mosaic at St. Anne Melkite Greek Catholi...

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Gift: Piety (Reverence) – With the gift of reverence, sometimes called piety, we have a deep sense of respect for God and the Church. A person with reverence recognizes our total reliance on God and comes before God with humility, trust, and love.

Reading:  Set out for the great city* of Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before me.  But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish,* away from the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went down in it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the LORD.  (Jonah 1:2-3)

Observation:  If I quote the Responsorial Psalm in the title for my journal from the daily readings, it usually stands alone.  I find it interesting today that the Responsorial is taken from the following chapter of Jonah from the first reading.  As I sat at Mass this morning, I thought about the fact that it is a sacrifice to be able to make it to Mass in the morning.  I see in the readings this morning, the realization of the fact that just as Jonah chose to take a trip to Tarshish, and not go to Nineveh.  We often choose other tasks and not make time for Mass, even though we know that it is God’s will that we spend time with his Son in the Eucharist.  We often look for other things to distract us.  I am truly thankful to God that he rescued me from the pit today, and supplied the grace I need to follow his will.

Personification: Love  I hope that I can display the fruit of love today, and be an example of God’s love to everyone that I meet.  There are so many things in this world that try to counterfeit God’s love, that I need to keep my eyes on the cross to remember what his love really looks like.  I must remember the sacrifice he made, so I don’t lose sight of the lengths that he would go to show me that he loves me.  I hope that I will be willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to show that love to the people I meet today.

Prayer:  (Saint Francis Prayer)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
I ask this, as always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit.  Amen.
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