Daily Gospel - Readings for friday, july 3, 2020. Pope Reflection

Daily Gospel - Readings for July 3, 2020.

Reading for friday.

Ephesians 2:19-22

"You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit."

Daily Psalm for friday.

Psalm 116(117):1-2.

"Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News." (R).

Praise the Lord, all nations, let all peoples acclaim him. (R).

Firm is his mercy towards us, his faithfulness lasts forever. (R).

Daily Gospel Acclamation.

"¡Aleluya, aleluya! Jesús dijo: "Crees porque puedes verme". Felices los que no han visto y sin embargo creen". ¡Aleluya!" (Cfr. John 20:29)

Daily Gospel for july 3. John 20:24-29

#dailygospel Daily Gospel reading for friday, July 3 (Those who believe in Jesus without having seen him will be happy): "At that time Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, "We have seen the Lord", he answered, "Unless I see the holes that the nails have made in his hands and can put my finger in the holes that they have made, and unless I can put my hand in his side, I refuse to believe". Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came in and stood among them. "Peace be with you," he said. Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; look, here are my hands". Give me your hand; put it into my side. Do not hesitate any longer, but believe". Thomas answered, "My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, "You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe".

Daily Gospel reflection by Pope Francis.

In the daily Gospel reading for today, some time has already passed since the disciples saw the risen Lord, but in spite of that, they remained fearful, crouched behind "closed doors", unable even to convince St. Thomas, the only one absent, of the resurrection. What is Jesus doing in the face of this timid lack of faith? He returns and, standing in the same place, "in the midst" of the disciples, repeats his greeting: "Peace be with you! He starts again.

The resurrection of his disciple begins here, from this faithful and patient mercy, from the discovery that God never tires of reaching out to pick us up when we fall. He wants us to see him, not as a foreman with whom we have to settle accounts, but as our Father who always lifts us up. In life we go forward timidly, uncertainly, like a child who takes a few steps and falls; a few more steps and falls again, but each time his father brings him back to his feet. The hand that always brings us back to our feet is mercy: God knows that without mercy we will remain on the ground, that to keep on walking, we need to be brought back to our feet.

...] [The disciples] had abandoned the Lord in his Passion and felt guilty. But when he met them, Jesus did not give a long sermon. To them, who were wounded inside, he showed his own wounds. Thomas can now touch them and know of Jesus´ love and how much he had suffered for him, even though he had abandoned him. In those wounds, he touches with his hands the tender nearness of God. Thomas arrived late, but once he had received mercy, he surpassed the other disciples: he not only believed in the resurrection, but in the boundless love of God. And he made the simplest and most beautiful profession of faith: "My Lord and my God!" (v. 28). Here is the disciple´s resurrection: it is fulfilled when his fragile and wounded humanity enters into that of Jesus. There, all doubt is resolved; there, God becomes my God; there, we begin to accept ourselves and to love life as it is.

Dear brothers and sisters, in the time of trial that we are currently experiencing, we too, like Thomas, with our fears and our doubts, have experienced our fragility. We need the Lord, who sees beyond that fragility an irrepressible beauty. With him we rediscover how precious we are even in our vulnerability. We discover that we are like beautiful crystals, fragile and at the same time precious. And if, like the crystal, we are transparent before him, his light - the light of mercy - will shine in us and through us into the world. As the Letter of Peter said, this is a reason to be "filled with joy, even though you may now be suffering various trials" (1 Peter 1:6).

On the feast of the Divine Mercy, the most beautiful message comes from Thomas, the disciple who arrived late; he was the only one missing. But the Lord waited for Thomas. God´s mercy does not abandon those who are left behind.

Now, as we wait for a slow and arduous recovery from the pandemic, there is a danger that we will forget those who are left behind. The risk is that we will then be hit by an even worse virus, that of selfish indifference. A virus that spreads by thinking that life is better if it is better for me, and that everything will be fine if it is fine for me. It starts there and ends up selecting one person over another, discarding the poor, and sacrificing those left on the altar of progress.

The current pandemic, however, reminds us that there are no differences or boundaries between those who suffer. We are all fragile, all equal, all precious. Let us be deeply moved by what is happening around us: the time has come to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice that is undermining the health of the entire human family! Let us learn from the early Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles. He received mercy and lived in mercy: "All who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as anyone had need" (Acts 2:44-45). (Acts 2:44-45) This is not an ideology; it is Christianity.

In that community, after Jesus´ resurrection, only one stayed behind and the others waited for him. Today it seems that the opposite is true: a small part of the human family has moved forward, while the majority has remained behind. Each one of us could say: "These are complex problems, it is not my job to take care of the needy, the others have to worry about it! St. Faustina, after meeting Jesus, wrote

"In a suffering soul we must see Jesus on the cross, not a parasite and a burden... You give us the opportunity to practice the works of mercy and we practice the judgments". (Diary, Sept. 1937, p. 3).

However, she herself complained one day to Jesus that, being merciful, one thinks one is naive. She said:

"Lord, my goodness is often abused." Jesus replied: "Never mind, don´t let it bother you, just always be merciful to everyone". (December 24, 1937).

To all: let us not think only of our interests, our vested interests. We welcome this time of trial as an opportunity to prepare our collective future, a future for all without ruling out anyone. Because without a global vision, there will be no future for anyone.

Today the simple and disarming love of Jesus revives the heart of his disciple. Like the apostle Thomas, let us accept mercy, the salvation of the world. And let us show mercy to the most vulnerable, because only in this way will we build a new world. (Daily Gospel reflection. Feast of Divine Mercy. April 19, 2020)

The Pope´s daily quotation.

"Dear young people, I want to say to each of you: God loves you. Never doubt it, no matter what happens to you in life. In any circumstance, you are infinitely loved." (Pope Francis, 06.21.19)

Daily porpose.

Let´s say a prayer for the families, including our own. Because of so much need, because of this hard thing we´re going through. Let us hand over our situation to God and seek family unity.

🎧 Video of the daily Gospel.

Enjoy now the video meditation for friday, for the daily Gospel for July 3, 2020. 13th Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Gospel Intentions for the july 3.

Let us pray for all those prayer intentions for today, friday, that you wish to express. Write down in the commentaries all that you want God to give you or heal you through the reading of his Word in the daily Gospel for july 3. God Bless you.