Daily Reflection for Friday, February 03, 2023
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020323.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8
Responsorial: Psalm 27:1, 3, 5, 8b-9abc
Gospel: Mark 6:14-29
Our reflection on Friday’s readings:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
Reflecting on the last verse of Hebrews in today’s reading, I (Dorothy) can think back and remember and almost hear my mother playing the piano and hearing the choir sing the lyrics to “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hands.” God is unchanging. However, the world around us, and we ourselves are changing in many ways. We live with changes every day because change is necessary for growth and prosperity; we would have a difficult time surviving without change such as the invention of the cell phone and the Internet. God’s unchanging hands allow us to accept changes in lifestyle so we can grow into the image of Christ.
God is unchanging, and we must “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hands.” This song was written by an Indiana native—Mary Jane Bain Wilson—born in Whitely County (just west of Fort Wayne). This poet and hymn writer, born in 1856 and died in 1913, was crippled by typhoid fever at the age of four and wheelchair bound the remainder of her life. Ms. Wilson composed around 2,200 poems and hymns. She also penned the slogan of Fort Wayne Indiana “Fort Wayne with Might and Main.” Even though she had physical struggles, she relied and trusted on “God’s Unchanging Hands”
Through all our ups and downs, God is with us for eternity. His love for us is unswerving and bountiful. The hymn sung by the Oakridge Boys sums up God’s relationship with us. To hear this hymn by the Oak Ridge Boys, Click Here.
Some of the very touching lyrics are . . .
“Time is filled with swift transition, naught of earth unmoved can stand; build your hopes on things eternal, Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
“Trust in Him who will not leave you, whatsoever years may bring; if by earthly friends forsaken, still more closely to Him cling.
May we remember to be faithful and trust in the unchanging Jesus in the midst of this ever-changing world and remembering that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Blessings to All,
Dorothy and Carlos Alexander