July 7: Approaching the Lord / Acercándonos al Señor

In Matthew 9, 18-26 two different people approach Jesus – with two quite different needs. One is a synagogue official who comes on behalf of his ailing daughter and the other is a woman with a hemorrhage who comes on her own behalf. Their ways of approaching Jesus are quite different: the synagogue official comes quite publicly, and speaks aloud his need and his request; the woman, meanwhile comes almost secretly, touching the fringe of Jesus’ cloak.

Is it not true that our own approach to the Lord always has a quality unique to each of us, as unique and individual as our way of relating to other people? Both the synagogue official and the woman were people of faith, but they expressed their faith differently. The common denominator for them was that they approached Jesus. Will that be something we have in common with them as well – as this week unfolds?

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Dios nos ha hecho para vivir. En Jesús, Dios nos muestra que quiere guiarnos, protegernos, y curarnos – que nos quiere totalmente vivos y resucitados de entre los muertos, porque por su Resurrección Jesús derrotó a la muerte en su raíz. Por eso, podemos decir con toda confianza: Dios quiere que vivamos a tope, con plenitud. 

Oremos. “O Dios, nuestra vida y nuestra muerte están en tus manos. Estamos seguros de ti, porque sabemos que tu amor es irrevocable y tu gracia es eterna. Te pedimos la gracia de aprender de ti y de tu mismo Hijo Jesús a hacernos presentes los unos a los otros, y a ser mensajeros creíbles de tu cuidado paternal y de tu gratuito amor. Te lo pedimos por el mismo Cristo nuestro Señor. Amén.”