9th Week, Saturday, Jun 6th

2 Timothy 4:1-8 / Mark 12:38-44

I have finished the race: I await God’s reward.

In his book Light from the Ancient Past, Jack Finegan cites a 4,000-year-old Egyptian writing. Called the “Prayer of Ani,” it is addressed to the 42 gods who must decide Ani’s fate after death. Excerpts from Ani’s prayer read: “I have not stolen. . . .I have not played the hypocrite. . . .I have not told falsehoods. . . .I gave bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothed the naked. . . .Enter no complaint against me.”

9th Week, Friday, Jun 5th

2 Timothy 3:10-17 / Mark 12:35-37 

You know the Scriptures: They are inspired by God.

How did God inspire the Scriptures? Some suggest that God dictated to the biblical writers, as a boss dictates to a private secretary. Others suggest the biblical writers were inspired religiously, as songwriters are inspired musically. Most people hold a middle position. They hold that God enlightened the writers in such a way that they wrote all and only what God wanted them to write. God is therefore the primary author; the biblical writers are secondary authors. The important thing, however, is not how the biblical writers were inspired, but that they were.

9th Week, Thursday, Jun 4th

2 Timothy 2:8-15 / Mark 12:28-34 

They can chain me: But they can’t chain God’s Word.

Marjorie Lawrence was one of the great operatic stars of our time. At the height of her career, she was struck down with polio. It left her a helpless invalid, unable to walk or to stand. Up to this point in her life, neither she nor her husband was religious. Nevertheless, they began to read the Bible together for strength. For the first time in their lives, they discovered the power of God’s Word. Marjorie said, “There were parts of the Scriptures that seemed to have been written just for me.”

9th Week, Wednesday, Jun 3rd

2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12 / Mark 12:18-27

Keep God’s gift alive: The gift came when I laid hands on you.

Timothy was dedicated to God’s service when church leaders laid hands on him. This ancient gesture is still used in the liturgy of the Church today. It is a powerful visual symbol that something is being communicated from the person laying on the hands to the person upon whom the hands are laid.

Holy Trinity - A: Liturgical Prayers

Greetings     The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    the love of the Father
    and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
    be with you all.
    R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant
    A. Experience God with the Heart
    At this celebration of the Blessed Trinity, perhaps we ask ourselves how we can understand this one God with three faces, the Trinity. Our human mind is too small to grasp this mystery. But the Bible, already in the Old Testament, shows us that wisdom is not mere knowledge but the art of life, understanding with the heart as we reflect on our experience. And that experience tells us: God is love, and comes to us in many ways, with fatherly and motherly concern and care, with forgiveness and life brought us by Jesus, with courage and joy, hope and light poured out on us by the Holy Spirit. May we grow in this experience in this eucharist.

Jun '20: Reflections from Pune CSC Scholastics

9th Week, Tuesday, Jun 2nd

2 Peter 3:11-15, 17-18 / Mark 12:13-17

We await a new creation: God’s justice will reside in the new creation.

In their joint statement on Justice, the bishops of the world said something that jarred many Christians from complacency. They said it’s not enough to preach the Gospel. We must also work for justice.