Anglican Militant

26/06/2025

Today's Gospel(June 27 2025)
Matthew 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and behold, a l***r came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.”

TODAY’S REFLECTION:
Leprosy was considered a dreaded disease, a living death with many sweeping implications in the time of Jesus. Anyone suffering from this disease was considered unclean and untouchable and thus an outcast. A l***r had to wear torn clothes, let the hair of his head remain dishevelled, and cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean’ (Lev 13:45). A l***r was a dead man walking, shorn of all human dignity and was denied even a human touch. Anyone who touched a l***r became unclean. However, the l***r in today’s gospel dared to call out to Jesus crying not ‘unclean, unclean’ but he touching Jesus’ heart with his ‘faith-filled’ request: “If you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus immediately touches the untouchable and, healing him completely of his illness, makes him a follower!

Let Us Pray:
Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will. Amen.

Have a great day ahead and God bless.

26/06/2025

25/06/2025

Today's Gospel(June 26, 2025)
Matthew 7:21,24-27

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”

TODAY'S REFLECTION:
Your word is straightforward: you say praying to God is not enough. What makes me eligible for the kingdom is doing the father’s will. I am a bit puzzled: which is more important-praying to you or doing your will? You seem to tell me today that doing your will is more important. At the same time, you have so often insisted on the importance of prayer. Certainly, you don’t intend to say that ‘prayer’ is opposed to ‘action’. It is in prayer that I communicate with you and the Father. And in this communication with you I come to know the will of the Father. I thus realize that prayer is the first step in doing the Father’s will. Help me, Lord, to discover and discern your will listening attentively to your voice in prayer. Grant me the grace to do this will in the faithful discharge of my daily responsibilities.

Let Us Pray:
Most sweet Jesus, set my love on fire for you. Transform me into yourself, divinize me that my deeds and thoughts may be pleasing to you. May this be accomplished by the Power of your Spirit which I plead that you do not take away from me. O how great my soul tastes and desires you now. Releases upon me a fresh outpouring of your Love and Spirit, Lord. Amen.

Have a great day ahead and God bless.

24/06/2025

Today's Gospel(June 25, 2025)
Matthew 7:15-20

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.”

TODAY’S REFLECTION:
We should be docile to the word of God by allowing it to pe*****te our hearts and transform our lives. In the First Reading we hear how the word of God delved deep into the hearts of the people of God and they made a covenant of love and faithfulness unto God. The word of God is the light of truth. In it we are able to distinguish light from darkness and truth from falsehood. No one who treasures the word of God in his or her heart will ever be deceived by the spirit of falsehood but will, rather, always be led by the spirit of truth into the joy of God’s presence as it did in the case of Saint Cyril of Alexandria.

Let Us Pray:
Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will. Amen.

Have a great day ahead and God bless.

23/06/2025

Today's Gospel(June 24, 2025)
Luke 1:57-66;80
⚪️BIRTH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST (SOLEMNITY)

Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your kindred is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all marvelled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbours. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

TODAY’S REFLECTION:
What will this child turn out to be? This question could be asked of any one of us at any stage of our lives: “what will he/she turn out to be?” John became the one who prepared the way for Jesus by witnessing to him. He led people in Jesus’ direction through his life and preaching. We all share in different ways in the work of john the Baptist. Each of us is called to live in such a way that we point others towards the lord and help others to meet the lord. We point others towards the Lord when we constantly seek the Lord ourselves, and, by opening ourselves more fully to the Lord’s presence, try to grow in our relationship with him.

Today’s Saint and Quote:
St John the Baptist – June 24th

He must increase, I must decrease.

Let Us Pray:
O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness, and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us to have perfect trust in your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to you, we shall see your hand, your purpose, your will through all things. Amen.

Have a good day and God bless.

22/06/2025

Today’s Gospel (June 23, 2025)
Matthew 7: 1-5

SUPERIORITY

Jesus said to his disciples: "Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

TODAY’S REFLECTION :

Why are we judgmental? Where is this coming from?

Being judgmental, or negatively judging others can give us a sense of SUPERIORITY over others, or it may also be a way to deflect attention from our own shortcomings. Sometimes even, we judge others according to our own past experiences. We think that what they are going through are the same with what we ourselves experienced and therefore, make our conclusions. Having a sense of SUPERIORITY does not mean we are superior. Far from it even. Having superiority complex is often a defense mechanism for an underlying inferiority complex. So, why be judgmental at all? It will not help us or the one we are judging to be better persons.

As Jesus says, instead of looking at the mistakes/sins of others, why don’t we look at ourselves? Surely, there will be a lot to see, and a lot of room to improve ourselves!

Let Us pray:

Lord Jesus, help us keep our focus on you, so we may more and more, become like you!

Have a blissful week Ahead and may the Lord be with you now and ever Amen.

21/06/2025

Today’s Gospel (June 21, 2025)

Luke 8:26-39
When the Lord Jesus Christ arrived at the country of Gerasenes, there was a man possessed by many demons and suffered greatly (8:26-27). He begged the Lord Jesus Christ to leave him alone (8:28-29), and subsequently begged Him for an escape into the swine (8:30-32). After the Lord Jesus Christ granted the request, the huge crowd of demons came out of the man and entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned (8:33). Now, this man is free of spiritual bondages! When the villagers came to know of the miraculous spiritual deliverance, they were afraid and even asked the Lord Jesus Christ to leave the place (8:34-37). The healed man wanted to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, but he was sent back to the region to declare the good news of God’s mighty acts (8:38-39). This incident is yet another demonstration of the power of God through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! Meditate: “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”

TODAY’S REFLECTION:

Have you been so embarrassed by failure or ashamed over a fault that you wanted to crawl in a hole and pull it in after yourself? I’ve felt that way! I didn’t want anyone to notice me or what I’d done.

The cry, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (v. 28), reveals painful shame, fear, and despair. Jesus heard the cry. He chose to notice the man, stop, and ask, “What is your name?” (v. 30). Jesus demonstrated that seeking someone’s name may lessen their embarrassment or shame and show genuine concern. Jesus compassionately calls us by name when he chooses us to become his siblings.

With Jesus’ call, God saves us from separation’s abyss (v. 31). God doesn’t leave us hiding in a hole. Instead, God chooses to crawl in the hole alongside us to restore us into relationship with Godself.

Let us pray:

Steadfast God, thank you for choosing to hear our cries, call us by name, and restore us to you—even when we try to hide. Help us choose to reach out to all people who are suffering in despair’s dark hole. Amen.

Have a blissful Sunday and God bless.

21/06/2025

Sunday 22nd June 2025

🟢1st Sunday after Trinity
Proper 7

Collect

O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

or

God of truth,
help us to keep your law of love
and to walk in ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life
in Jesus Christ your Son.

Readings

Continuous:

1 Kings 19.1–4 [5–7] 8–15a

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.
3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a days journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.[
5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, Get up and eat.
6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.]
8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, What are you doing here, Elijah?
10 He answered, I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.
11 He said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, What are you doing here, Elijah?
14 He answered, I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.
15 Then the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.

This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.

Psalms 42, 43 [or 42 or 43]

1 As the deer longs for the water brooks, •
so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God; •
when shall I come before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my bread day and night, •
while all day long they say to me, Where is now your God?
4 Now when I think on these things, I pour out my soul: •
how I went with the multitude
and led the procession to the house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, •
among those who kept holy day.
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, •
and why are you so disquieted within me?
7 O put your trust in God; •
for I will yet give him thanks,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 My soul is heavy within me; •
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
and from Hermon and the hill of Mizar.
9 Deep calls to deep in the thunder of your waterfalls; •
all your breakers and waves have gone over me.
10 The Lord will grant his loving-kindness in the daytime; •
through the night his song will be with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
11 I say to God my rock,
Why have you forgotten me, •
and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresses me?
12 As they crush my bones, my enemies mock me; •
while all day long they say to me, Where is now your God?
13 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, •
and why are you so disquieted within me?
14 O put your trust in God; •
for I will yet give him thanks,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
1 Give judgement for me, O God,
and defend my cause against an ungodly people; •
deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.
2 For you are the God of my refuge;
why have you cast me from you, •
and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresses me?
3 O send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, •
and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling,
4 That I may go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and gladness; •
and on the lyre I will give thanks to you, O God my God.
5 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, •
and why are you so disquieted within me?
6 O put your trust in God; •
for I will yet give him thanks,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.

New Testament Reading

Galatians 3.23–end

23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams offspring, heirs according to the promise.

This is the word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
All: Glory to you, O Lord.

Luke 8.26–39

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me-
29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)
30 Jesus then asked him, What is your name? He said, Legion; for many demons had entered him.
31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.
33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.
35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.
37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to you, O Christ.

Post Communion

Eternal Father,
we thank you for nourishing us
with these heavenly gifts:
may our communion strengthen us in faith,
build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.