Panis Angelicus: Enter Through The Narrow Gate

JUNE 21, 2022, TUESDAY

MEMORIAL OF SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, RELIGIOUS (White)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 372

Reading I

2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah

with this message:

“Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah:

‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you

by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over

to the king of Assyria.

You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done

to all other countries: they doomed them!

Will you, then, be saved?’”

Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it;

then he went up to the temple of the LORD,

and spreading it out before him,

he prayed in the LORD’s presence:

“O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim!

You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.

You have made the heavens and the earth.

Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen!

Open your eyes, O LORD, and see!

Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.

Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations

and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire;

they destroyed them because they were not gods,

but the work of human hands, wood and stone.

Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man,

that all the kingdoms of the earth may know

that you alone, O LORD, are God.”

Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah:

“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,

in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria:

I have listened!

This is the word the LORD has spoken concerning him:

“‘She despises you, laughs you to scorn,

the virgin daughter Zion!

Behind you she wags her head,

daughter Jerusalem.

“‘For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,

and from Mount Zion, survivors.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.’

“Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:

‘He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it,

nor come before it with a shield,

nor cast up siege-works against it.

He shall return by the same way he came,

without entering the city, says the LORD.

I will shield and save this city for my own sake,

and for the sake of my servant David.’”

That night the angel of the LORD went forth and struck down

one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.

So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp,

and went back home to Nineveh.

Responsorial Psalm

48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11

R. (see 9d) God upholds his city for ever.

Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised

in the city of our God.

His holy mountain, fairest of heights,

is the joy of all the earth.

R. God upholds his city for ever.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”

is the city of the great King.

God is with her castles;

renowned is he as a stronghold.

R. God upholds his city for ever.

O God, we ponder your mercy

within your temple.

As your name, O God, so also your praise

reaches to the ends of the earth.

Of justice your right hand is full.

R. God upholds his city for ever.

Alleluia

Jn 8:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;

whoever follows me will have the light of life.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 7:6, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,

lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

This is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter through the narrow gate;

for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,

and those who enter through it are many.

How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.

And those who find it are few.”

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Availability of good things and success in life can increase greed. False gods can take over and direction is lost. Being better off does not mean being better in what really matters. I need good values and time to reflect, so that good decisions about God’s bounty may be arrived at.

It is easy to drift, to follow the broad and easy route, but that does not lead to life. Jesus is the way to life and he is the entry point. ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep…whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture’ (John 10:7-9). Lord, help me to be a good follower of you.

PRAYER:

The easy option is to avoid personal responsibilities and to go with the crowd. The choice between right and wrong can often be lonely and narrow. Lord, please show me the road that leads to you. May I follow it with joy, whether it is hard or easy.

What is "Panis Angelicus"?

It started from a simple spiritual bible verse on which I mostly posted daily in my personal Facebook account, I've seeing myself realizing the idea what if I will post something different to my audiences sharing my spiritual thoughts/insights in life based on my experiences as a former church servant. Indeed, the world of social media nowadays are full of negativity where many people who are "toxic" in terms of sharing ideas and opinions, on which I personally described. Some people have already forgotten the so-called respect and being open-minded in terms of sharing ideas and opinions on each other. It comes to the point that sometimes we didn't know and feel that we're already crossing the lines causing our egos would probably triggered and even tempered due to our different emotions and expressions. For me, there are lots of causes and reasons why all of these are happen in our society today. Maybe it's because the world nowadays are also under the influence of a so-called millennial traits and other social aspects in life on which other people most especially the youth tend to do unnecessary traits that would make to hurt the feelings of others. By this, some people often forget to show RESPECT to their elder ones and even their parents as well. The new generation of youth today is far different from those times of our lolos and lolas. Even in simple greeting (in a normal traditional Filipino custom of Mano Po) showing your respect to your elders are already forgotten to practice by some of our younger ones and even adults of today. Some people often forget to pray and say the Holy Rosary together with your family every night and even go to church on Sundays to attend holy masses, maybe it is because the people of today are also changing their personal aspects and priorities in life due to power, wealth and pride.

So I decided create this blog page entitled, "Panis Angelicus". This name (Latin for "Bread of Angels" or "Angelic Bread") derived from the penultimate strophe of the hymn "Sacris solemniis" written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a collection of spiritual reflections/verses taken from the Daily Readings in the Holy Bible. Aside of spiritual reflections/verses, you'll also read some of my different insights/opinions regarding on the different types of issues that happen in our world today and what would be its connection in terms of talking about the spiritual aspects in life.

By this simple cause on which I usually loved to do during my church days to help other people in the community by means of participating on various community outreach programs organized by the former parish church that I've served, I'm eagerly open my hands to help most especially those people who already reject nor forget GOD as the center of their life by means of educating and enlighten their minds not just in spiritual aspects but also in moral aspects of life that in this world, nobody's perfect and permanent. Feel free to comment on my posts or share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.

Enter Through The Narrow Gate

No comments:

Post a Comment