LORD I TAKE REFUGE IN YOU

Prayer before Mass: Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only- begottenSon, Our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in Your great  generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help  to bring me to salvation. 

May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical body and numbered among His members.
Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever. Amen. By Knights of the HolyEucharist.  Mass Readings  Lectures Reflection

First Reading   Jeremiah 11:18-20

'Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten'

The Lord revealed it to me; I was warned. O Lord, that was when you opened my eyes to their scheming. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter-house, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’

But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence,

who probe the loins and heart,

let me see the vengeance you will take on them,

for I have committed my cause to you.   

Responsorial Psalm

Lord God, I take refuge in you

Gospel    John 7:40-52 

The law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without hearing him

Several people who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.

The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.

’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’

My Father in heaven, I take refuge in you. May your kingdom come. May your justice reign. Deliver me from evil plots of my enemies.  Truely the heart of man is desperately wicked.  I cannot tell for sure those who love me from those who hate me. You said Lord I should love both, and pray for my enemies. I should pray for those who persecute me. It is hard to pray for those who are against me especially those I know. 

Those who have openly shown their hatred towards me. Loving Father those who pretend to be my friends and are my foes what can I do? I guess it is right to pray for all of them as you command me to do. For in obeying your command to love my enemies and pray for them, Father you will deliver me.  Lord Jesus Christ, you are the way, the truth and life guide, guard and direct me. Make my heart like yours.  Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for loving me.