Daily Gospel Reflection for August 14, 2019

Today's Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 - Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe When Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew today, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”, I immediately think about togetherness, about how we are all a family in the Body of Christ. We can obviously call upon God any time that we like, but the Gospel tells us that praying together with a fellow believer is very fruitful. There is so much solace in reaching out to someone who shares our faith in Christ, and in experiencing their presence beside us, melding our prayer with theirs. We may also reach out to friends who are not in close proximity to us physically, and pray together with them in time and spirit. We know that God always hears our prayers, and loves us! The saints are also part of family that is the Church. They are our great cloud of witnesses, able to intercede for us if we call upon them. We can pray in union with them for our intentions as well. We are so blessed that God loves us so much that He gives us such wonderful companions on our journey. St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast is today, pray for us! And life is indeed a journey. As we make our way through, we will encounter many good times, but also many challenging ones, even some that break our hearts and our spirits for a time. We have each other though, together in prayer, and a Father who loves us always.

Ponder:

In what ways can I reach out more to friends so that we may pray together for special intentions?

Pray:

Lord, I know that You always hear my prayers, even when I do not immediately sense an answer. Help me to always trust in Your loving guidance, and to seek out the prayer support of my friends and family.