Daily Reflection – Aug 8, 2016
Monday 8 August 2016
First Reading: Judith 8:11-17, 28-31 / Colossians 3:12-17
Responsorial Psalm:
Into your hands, O Lord, I entrust my spirit
Psalm 31(32):1-5, 7-8
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6:25‑34
Today’s Saint: St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
Gospel Reading:
Therefore I tell you,
do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the flowers of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’
or ‘What shall we drink?’
or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Reflection:
‘I am telling you not to worry about your life.’
Waking every morning is a wonderful experience. A new day to fill with your own unique touch, a gift to enjoy, perhaps trials to endure but experiences to enrich nevertheless. On waking I see the sun dappling the trees just outside my window bathing them in lime and gold brilliance and I am reminded they have been waiting all night in the darkness to bring me this moment. The chorus of magpies and butcher birds reach my ears and I hear a gang of cockatoos circling and singing in unison. None of these is troubled by approaching storms or unpaid bills. Rather, they are living their moment, and reminding me to live each of my moments trusting and loving and reaching out with my own unique purpose. A bird sings because it has a song. What song will you sing tomorrow morning?
