Gospel: August 9, 2025
August 9, 2025 (Saturday)
18th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 (Green/Red/White)
Blessed Virgin Mary St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr
Ps 18:2-3a, 3c-4, 47 & 51
I love you, Lord, my strength
1st Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-13
Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus, knelt before him and said, “Sir, have pity on my son, who is an epileptic and suffers terribly. He has often fallen into the fire, and at other times into the water. I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him.” Jesus replied, “O you people, faithless and misled! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed. Later, the disciples approached Jesus and asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive out the spirit?” Jesus said to them, “Because you have little faith. I say to you: if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible for you.
Reflection:
Edith Stein grew up in a practicing Jewish household, but had completely rejected belief in God by the age of 15. She studied philosophy and gained renown for her outstanding skills, though a professorship was still not possible for women at that time. Edith was a seeker of truth, ultimately finding it through the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila and the example of a friend who showed great serenity in bereavement because of her faith. Edith’s professor, Edmund Husserl, had taught her to examine all things without prejudice, and so she explored faith with the same approach and eventually came to embrace Christ as the Truth. The mustard seed of her faith grew rapidly. She was baptized and became a Carmelite nun, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Yet, her awareness of God’s love was increasing just at the time when the world was in the grip of growing hatred, as Hitler took power. She did not fear death, as she had abandoned her whole self to God. Saint Teresa Benedict teaches us to reach out to the hand of Christ with complete trust.
