Daily Reflection for Monday, September 07, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Monday’s readings at this link:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090720.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Responsorial: Psalm 5:5-7, 12
Gospel: Luke 6:6-11
Our Labor Day reflection:
Like most of our country, we are taking today as a holiday to celebrate the work of our minds, hearts, and especially the work of our hands. The following prayer is from the website, Prayer in America. It has become a Labor Day tradition for us because of the many dimensions of work that it describes and which we honor today:
Blessed be the works of your hands, O Holy One.
Blessed be these hands that have touched life.
Blessed be these hands that have nurtured creativity.
Blessed be these hands that have held pain.
Blessed be these hands that have embraced with passion.
Blessed be these hands that have tended gardens.
Blessed be these hands that have closed in anger.
Blessed be these hands that have planted new seeds.
Blessed be these hands that have harvested ripe fields.
Blessed be these hands that have cleaned, washed, mopped, scrubbed.
Blessed be these hands that have become knotty with age.
Blessed be these hands that are wrinkled and scarred from doing justice.
Blessed be these hands that have reached out and been received.
Blessed be these hands that hold the promise of the future.
Blessed be the works of your hands, O Holy One. AMEN
On this Labor Day, we give thanks for all who labor in service to others, especially those who have served each of us.
During this pandemic time we also pray for those who are struggling to find work. May they discover the vocation to which God calls them and may God guide them in ways that will enable them to care for their families and to recognize the dignity of their work.
Your work—whatever it may be--is an extension of Jesus’ ongoing work in the world. Whether in an office, at home, as a volunteer, in praying for others, in some other setting … you are Jesus for others. Blessed be the work of your hands.
Blessings to you from the St. Monica Daily Reflection Ministry Team