Are you familiar with Melchizedek? If not, read up on him. For someone who shows up in just a few short verses in Genesis, he's a very important figure in the big picture. Today's first reading from Hebrews helps flesh this out.
In the Gospel reading from Mark 3, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the sabbath. Some Pharisees were watching and Jesus looked "at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart."
Of course Jesus can heal anything, but I wonder which would be harder to heal - a withered hand, or a withered heart? I suspect it's the latter. That's why it's so important to make sure that our hearts never become withered, dried up and useless. We can accept when our bodies begin to wither. But we should never accept or be complacent if our hearts begin to wither.
Father, give us the grace to keep our hearts healthy and filled with love. And help us to repent when our hearts begin to wither. Amen.
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Lovely prayer!
Looking forward to meeting you at IGNITE in March!!