Category: Prayers

“Every hair of your head has been counted.” –Matthew 10:30 Mass Readings: July 15 First: Wisdom 8:2-7,16-18; Resp: Psalm 16:5-9,11; Gospel: Matthew 5:13-19 Listen to the Mass Readings Today is haircut day. The apron I wear as I sit in the barber chair is covered with little shavings of white hair. When the haircut is over, the barber removes the apron and shakes it out, spreading those hairs all over the floor. Then he sweeps the floor and throws my shorn hair into the trash. God has counted all the hairs of my head (Mt 10:30), even those that are...

“At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive.” –Genesis 46:30 Mass Readings: July 14 First: Genesis 46:1-7,28-30; Resp: Psalm 37:3-4,18-19,27-28,39-40 ; Gospel: Matthew 10:16-23 Listen to the Mass Readings Simeon prayed: “Now, Master, You can dismiss Your servant in peace” (Lk 2:29). Simeon was ready to die because he had seen Christ. St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was ready to die because shortly before his death he saw “an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand” (Acts 7:56). Death is knocking at the...

“Come closer to me.” –Genesis 45:4 Mass Readings: July 13 First: Genesis 44:18-21,23-29; 45:1-5; Resp: Psalm 105:16-21; Gospel: Matthew 10:7-15 Listen to the Mass Readings The conversation between the powerful Joseph, second-in-command in all Egypt, and his estranged brothers was not going well. Joseph broke through the communication gap by setting aside his glory (cf Phil 2:7), emptying himself of his power (see Phil 2:8), and telling his brothers, “Come closer to me” (Gn 45:4). In the Song of Songs, God likewise calls to the beloved, hidden in the rocks of the cliff, to “let Me see you” (Sg 2:14)....

“In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.” –Genesis 41:57 Mass Readings: July 12 First: Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7,17-24; Resp: Psalm 33:2-3,10-11,18-19; Gospel: Matthew 10:1-7 Listen to the Mass Readings A worldwide famine is one of the worst tragedies. It is even worse than the hundreds of millions of people, especially children, starving at this moment in our world. A worse tragedy than a worldwide famine for food is a famine “for hearing the word of the Lord. Then shall they wander from sea to sea and rove from...

“You have contended with divine and human beings.” –Genesis 32:29 Mass Readings: July 11 First: Genesis 32:23-33; Resp: Psalm 17:1-3,6-7,8,15; Gospel: Matthew 9:32-38 Listen to the Mass Readings Jacob contended with a messenger of God in a wrestling match and prevailed (Gn 32:25, 29; Hos 12:5). “As a man he contended with God” (Hos 12:4). A Jacob lurks inside each of us. Jesus calls us to beg the Father for laborers for the harvest and to answer our prayer by becoming one of those laborers ourselves (Mt 9:37-38). Yet how often do we contend with God for long periods of...