This United Nations flag was retrieved from the site of the bombing at the Canal Hotel, UN Headquarters, Baghdad, Iraq, 13 August 2003
It is so very clear that God proclaims peace. Why are we so intent on declaring war?
Tuesday’s responsorial psalm is Psalm 85 where we hear,
I will hear what God proclaims . . . peace. . . . Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. . . . The Lord speaks of peace to the people.
Psalm 8 is Saturday’s Responsorial Psalm and marvels at God’s creation.
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place – How is it that you should be mindful of us, or the sons and daughters of people that you should care for us?
We marvel at God’s moon
This shot was achieved by layering two images, shot at different shutter speeds so that I was able to capture both the foreground and the detail of the moon.
Is there anything that can give thanks quite like a sunflower?
Thursday’s Responsorial is Psalm 145. Here is a verse from it:
Let all your works give you thanks, O God, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might.”
This nursing lamb surely knows the sound of his mother’s call, as he does the shepherd’s voice.
In Thursday’s Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Woe to you!” because they led people in the wrong direction. The Gospel Acclamation prior to this reading is:
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.”
– John 10:27
May we recognize the voice of truth when we hear it.
Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.”
Today is the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582). She was a Doctor of the Church, also a mystic and writer – and truly a practical, down-to-earth woman who saw into the heart of God, and truly made a difference in her world. Teresa reformed the Carmelite Order during the very difficult pass in the Catholic Church of the Spanish Inquisition.
Through it all, she kept her marvelous sense of humor. Once, after being thrown from a carriage into the mud, she said to God, “If this is how you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few of them.” She was serious about her spiritual practices and being observant to, what we would call, strict religious practices. Nonetheless, she enjoyed life to the fullest, and encouraged her sisters to do the same. One wonderful story tells how Teresa danced on the table during recreation!
OPreach 