One Minute Reflection – 23 June – “The road that leads to life”

One Minute Reflection – 23 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Tuesday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: 2 Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-36, Psalm 48:2-4, 10-11, Matthew 7:6, 12-14

“The road that leads to life” … Matthew 7:14

REFLECTION – “This, beloved, is the way in which we found our salvation, Jesus Christ, the High Priest who offers our gifts, the patron and helper in our weakness (Heb 10:20; 7:27; 4:15).   It is through Him, that we look straight at the heavens above.   Through Him, we see mirrored, God’s faultless and transcendent countenance.   Through Him, the eyes of our heart were opened.   Through Him, our unintelligent and darkened mind shoots up into the light.   Through Him, the Master was pleased to let us taste the knowledge that never fades, He who is “the radiance of His splendour, who towers as much above the angels, as the title He has inherited, is superior to theirs” (He 1:3-4) (…)

Let us take our body.   The head is nothing without the feet and the feet are nothing without the head.   The smallest organs of our body are necessary and valuable to the whole body, in fact, all parts conspire and yield the same obedience, toward maintaining the whole of the body (cf.1 Co 12:12f.).
Therefore, let the whole of our body be maintained in Christ Jesus and let each submit to their neighbour’s rights in the measure determined by the special gift bestowed on them.   Let the strong care for the weak and the weak respect the strong;  let the rich support the poor and the poor render thanks to God for giving them the means of supplying their needs;   let the wise show their wisdom, not in words but in active help;  the humble must not testify to themselves but leave it to another to testify in their behalf.   Those who are continent must not boast, knowing that it is another who confers on them the ability to remain continent.

Let us, therefore reflect, brethren, of what clay we were made, what and who we were when we entered the world, out of what grave and darkness, our Maker and Creator has brought us into the world, where He has prepared His benefits before our birth.   Since, then, we owe all these blessings to Him, we are obliged to thank Him in every way.” … St Pope Clement I (c 35 – c 99)- Pope from c 90 to c 99 – Letter to the Corinthians, § 36-38

PRAYER – The Elder Brother’s Prayer

Teach me, my Lord,
to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life,
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.
Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.
Teach me to profit by the suffering
that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may make me
patient, not irritable.
That it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.
May no one be less good
for having come within my influence.
No one less pure, less true, less kind,
less noble for having been a fellow traveller
in our journey toward Eternal Life.
As I go my rounds from one distraction to another,
let me whisper from time to time,
a word of love to Thee.
May my life be lived in the supernatural,
full of power for good,
and strong in its purpose of sanctity.
Amen