Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

It’s hard to imagine in what tone Jesus says these words to the Pharisee who invited him to dinner. Rude, accusative, and authoritarian are just some of the terms someone at that moment might have used to describe Jesus. Yet, it was the Pharisee who was amazed at Jesus not following the prescribed ritual of washing before the meal. The Greek word Luke used to describe the Pharisee is ἐθαύμασεν (ethaumasen), “to wonder” or “to marvel.” The Pharisee’s amazement was based on his adherence to the law and Jesus’ disobedience to the law. In the first reading, Saint Paul faces the same strict adherence to the law that Jesus say, when he said, “every man who has himself circumcised . . . is bound to observe the entire law.” Instead, Jesus says, “Give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

Only faith working through love is what counts, Saint Paul says. To avoid the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, I have to consider areas in my life where I am strict and unrelenting. God, help me understand that on my own, I am incapable of avoiding hypocrisy and being a complete, loving person made in your image. It is you, who make everything clean for me. It is my faith and your love that will make everything whole. “Give alms,” Jesus says. What can I do, Lord, to help the poor today? Make that clear to me, and give me the opportunity to act.

Thank you, Lord, for your presence by making clear where love is needed. Sometimes I see presented to me two ways: one, where I act out of love and look in another’s eyes and see what is needed; another, where I respond rudely or rigidly or with sarcasm and look over what is most needed—love. Teach me to see so that I choose love.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuJ5WytCOA

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Today’s short Gospel reading echoes the words Elizabeth spoke on greeting her cousin Mary: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary carried and bore Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God. For that reason, Mary was born free of original sin to be the Ark of the New Covenant. When Jesus replies to the woman, the word of God he refers to includes Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God, help me understand the mystery of your Incarnation. To hear and observe your word should be my primary aim every day. On my own, I will fail time after time, but through your grace—or as Saint Paul put it, “clothed with Christ”—it makes hearing and observing your word possible. Lord, I ask for that grace today; help me see.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6ufFVFbOvU

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

In today’s Gospel reading, again on how Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, Luke tells of Jesus driving out a demon. The crowd confronts Jesus, saying that he drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”

Understanding perfectly the course of division, Jesus offers unity through him, with him, and in him by saying, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” The Gospel acclamation echoes this in the words of Jesus from the Book of Revelation: “The prince of this world will now be cast out, and when I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.” Help me understand, God, that I need to stay close to you so that when you come again you will draw me to you.

Thank you, God, for the gift of your presence in the Gospel, at Mass in the Eucharist, and in the Blessed Sacrament. I’m not confident that I know what it means to gather with you; through your grace, I ask that you give me an example today. I want to be with you and not against you. Stay with me, Lord, and guide me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuJ5WytCOA

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke follows immediately after Jesus teaches the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. In praying, Jesus tells his disciples, be persistent. The parable that tells about the man who goes to his friend’s house at midnight for three loaves of bread describes approaching God in prayer. Because every moment on earth may be our last, it is always the midnight hour when we approach God, who is always ready to receive the ones who seek him out.

Not everything I ask God to give me will be given to me. In the parable, Jesus makes clear that what we pray for that is in accord with the will of God will be given. The friend will give his persistent friend three loaves of bread, which he will in turn share with his friend who is on a journey. In seeking God, the will of God will be found; in knocking, the door will be opened; in asking, God will give every good thing there is to receive. In the Our Father it is the same perfect unity and abandonment to the will of God. “Thy will be done” and “give us this day our daily bread.” Help me discern, Lord, whether what I ask you in prayer is one with your will.

God, teach me today to know your will. I know you want me to know your will, not because it shackles and confines my will but because to do your will is to live in the truth and freedom of your divine love. When I say I want to do your will, let it not be as if I am fulfilling another’s human wish. Let me see instead that your will is woven into the very fabric of existence. Your will simply is; it is the way things work on earth as in heaven—a mystery. Job said it best: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuJ5WytCOA