I LIVE BY FAITH…

Galatians 2:19-20

19 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Matthew 16:24-27

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
26 For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?
27 For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.

 
MEDITATION

St PAUL Address the gentile believers who were holding on to the old covenant laws, informing them that those laws were no longer applicable. The Spirit of Christs death and ressurection has set him free. Rm 8:2 Paul lives by faith after his encounter with Christ and his discovery of Christ’s teachings, death and ressurection which he learned from the Apostles.

Catec 166 Faith is a personal act – the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

THE GOSPEL READING: The world we live in presents us with all manner of atractions that on the face of it appears to answer our questions and feed into our temporal desires. We may be dissipointed when we exclusively placed our faith in another person! Fame, fortune and power are but a few atractions that can shipwreck our journey of faith. Furthermore evil, injustice suffering and death may potentially shake our faith that God exist to the extent that we may even abandon the belief in an after live with Christ! Our Lord calls us to a radical state of self-denial exclusively devoted to His truths and teachings!

Catec 150 Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.

Catec 2609 Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to “seek” and to “knock,” since he himself is the door and the way.

LET US PRAY:Psalms 16:1-25-8,11

Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge.2 I say to the LORD, “Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee.”5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.8 I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.11 Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.