You O Lord, are indeed my Rock and my Fortress,
for Your name’s sake lead me and guide me. –Psalm 31:3 (NRSVCE)
Jesus Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” (See: Isaiah 29:14)Where is the one who is wise? Where is the Scribe? Where is the Debater of this age? Has not
God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not
know God through wisdom, God decided who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks
desire wisdom but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is
stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call Brothers and Sisters: Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth but God chose what is foolish in the
world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose
what is low and despised in the world, things that are not to reduce to nothing things that are,
so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness, sanctification and redemption, in
order that as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (See: Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Prayer and Praise for Deliverance From Enemies
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me O Lord, faithful God. (Psalm 31:5)In You, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; In Your righteousness deliver
me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to
save me. You are indeed my Rock and my Fortress; For Your name’s sake lead me and guide
me, take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for You are my refuge.
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. (Psalm 31:5)You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols but I Trust in the Lord. I will exult and rejoice
in Your steadfast love because You have seen my affliction; You have taken heed of my
adversities and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a
broad place. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; My eye wastes away from grief, my
soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing; My strength
fails because of my misery and my bones waste away. I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a
horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; Those who see me in the
street flee from me. I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a
broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many — terror all around! — As they scheme
together against me, as they plot to take my life but I trust in You, O Lord! I say, ‘You are My
God!’ My times are in Your hand, deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let
Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your steadfast love. Do not let me be put to
shame, O Lord, for I call on You; Let the wicked be put to shame; Let them go dumbfounded to
Sheol (Hell). Let the lying lips be stilled that speak insolently against the righteous with pride
and contempt. O how abundant is Your goodness that You have laid up for those who fear You
and accomplished for those who take refuge in You, in the sight of everyone! In the shelter of
Your presence your hide them from human plots; You hold them safe under Your shelter from
contentious tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for He has wondrously shown His steadfast love to
me when I was beset as a city under siege. I had said in my alarm, ‘I am driven far from Your
sight’ but You heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help. Love the Lord, all you
His Saints. The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. –Psalm 31:1-24
If you are reviled for the Name of Christ, you are blessed
because the Spirit of Glory which is the Spirit of God is resting on you. –1 Peter 4:14
Jesus speaking to His Disciples said, “If any want to become My followers, leg them deny
themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For those who want to save their life
will lose it and those who lose their life for My sake will save it.
What does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who
are ashamed of Me and of My Words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes
in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the Holy Angels. –Luke 9:23-26
Related: For Today’s Bible Readings for the Memorial of St. Agatha, Visit: -USCCB
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