As you place your day before God, give him praise and reflect on your need to give him praise.

For Reading 2

Q: What bad habit or vice do you find difficult to give up? Why

is it difficult to rid yourself of this nuisance? Q: How do you offer your day to God? How do you make seek-

ing his will day-by-day process? How do you include you bad habits or vices in your prayer of daily offering?

For Gospel:

Q: Why is it easier for us to focus on today than the future?

Why do we make decisions for the future based upon to-day's needs?

Q: Peter had expectations for Jesus. What do we expect from

God? Why are we surprised when he chides us for our self-ishness?

Q: What are the benefits of sacrifice? How does desire

postponed bring you closer to Jesus?

Make a short list of your important possessions, relation-ships, and powers. Offer that list to the Lord. Pray for guid-ance and prudence. And pray for faith when those things and people are taken from you.

Sources: dailyscripture.net; usccb.org; word-Sunday.org

W e e k l y R e f l e c t i o n

Jeremiah 20:7-9: You were too strong for me and you triumphed.

Psalm 63: 2-6, 8-9

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God

Romans 12: 1-2 Do not conform yourselves to this age.

Matthew 16: 21-27

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself."

F O R A U G U S T 3 0 , 2 0 2 0

The 22nd Sunday

o f Ord inary T ime

"Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

""Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding,

and all my will, all that I have and possess. You have given them to me;

to you, O Lord, I restore them; all things are yours, dispose of them ac-

cording to your will. Give me your love and your grace, for this is

enough for me." (Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556)

Question of the Week: How have the challenges in your life led you to Jesus?

Page 2

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem

and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the

scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus

aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever

happen to you.”

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to

me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must

deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save

his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What

profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come

with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to

his conduct.”

What is the most important investment you can make with your life?

Jesus poses some probing questions to challenge our assumptions about

what is most profitable and worthwhile. In every decision of life we are

making ourselves a certain kind of person. The kind of person we are, our

character, determines to a large extent the kind of future we will face and

live. It is possible that some can gain all the things they set their heart on,

only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed the most im-

portant things of all. Of what value are material things if they don't help

Gospel Reading: Matthew 16: 21-27

Gospel Meditation

Page 3

you gain what truly lasts in eternity? Neither money nor possessions

can buy heaven, mend a broken heart, or cheer a lonely person. Jesus

asks the question: What will a person give in exchange for his life?

Everything we have is an out-right gift from God. We owe him every-

thing, including our very lives. It's possible to give God our money, but

not ourselves, or to give him lip-service, but not our hearts. A true dis-

ciple of Jesus gladly gives up all that he or she has in exchange for an

unending life of joy and happiness with God. God gives without meas-

ure. The joy he offers no sadness or loss can diminish. The cross of

Christ leads to victory and freedom from sin and death. What is the

cross which Jesus Christ commands me to take up each day? When my

will crosses with his will, then his will must be done. Are you ready to

lose all for Jesus Christ in order to gain all with Jesus Christ?

www.dailyscripture.net Copyright © 2013-2020 Don Schwager

For Reading 1: Q: How can you be mad at a person, yet love him or her at the

same time? Q: Have you ever been mad at God? Has serving the Lord caused

you so much stress, you've doubted his wisdom? What keeps you loyal to him?

For Psalm:

Q: What is your morning routine? How does prayer fit into that routine?

Readings Reflections