Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist

Jesus said to the seventy-two disciples, “Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.”

Jesus instructs his disciples on how to go out into the world and tell people that the Kingdom of God is at hand for them. He is specific about the austerity of being sent: “no money bag, no sack, no sandals.” And, Jesus says, “first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.” These first disciples were sent literally on mission out into the world. Although it’s unlikely I will ever go out the same way as an evangelist, the literal world I face as an evangelist is my family, my church, my coworkers, and with people I happen to meet every day.

Help me understand, Jesus, that when a family member or someone I encounter asks for help, I am literally sent out in the same way you sent out the disciples. I tend to want to take my own aims into that situation, but let me remember “no money bag, no sack, no sandals.” Before helping someone, is it so much for me to say interiorly “Peace to you” and let that peace rest on them? Jesus, you say to me, “I am sending you like lambs among wolves”—that is, among my family, my fellow parishioners, my coworkers, and people I happen to meet every day. In the first reading, Saint Paul says that Alexander the coppersmith strongly resisted his preaching. Despite situations like this, give me the grace, Lord, to see and proclaim the Kingdom of God.

It’s unsettling, Lord, but true to think that I am at times like Alexander the coppersmith, doing wrong and resisting the splendor of your kingdom. For this reason, God, you sent your Son, and in that ocean of mercy my sins are drowned. Thank you, God, for the gift of your mercy! Teach me to be a means of your peace.

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=am72_e-h9d8

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Then [Jesus] said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

From among the crowd that followed Jesus, someone said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” He then told the parable of the man who had fertile land and a bountiful harvest. To store all that he gathered, he decided to tear down his old barns and build larger ones. After that, he decided to enjoy himself. “Rest, eat, drink, be merry!” he said to himself. But God said to the man that same night that his life would be taken from him and asked him who will own all of his things. “Thus will it be,“ God said, “for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Today's Gospel reading is clear with little explanation. But, Lord, how do I look to how it applies to my own life, my own possessions? What treasures do I store up for myself that will someday—perhaps today—be taken from me when I die? “Take care to guard against all greed,” Jesus says, “for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” There are other riches mentioned by Saint Paul in the first reading: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ . . . that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” God, I do not ask for the comfort of your mercy but to be rich through your grace and to have the faith to see it and know it.

At times I know my smallness, Lord; at other times, the realization fades. Help me to see that there is no false humility in that but the recognition that all is your gift and that my life is worth nothing if it is not for love of you and for your greater glory. From you I came to be and to you I will return. The psalmist writes, “Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends.”

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://youtu.be/tpuJ5WytCOA

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Lord said, “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Jesus tells the parable of the judge in a certain town and a widow who would come to him and ask him to make a just decision against an adversary of hers. For a long time, the widow kept coming to him, and eventually he gave in to making a just decision for her. Before telling this parable to his disciples, Jesus says to them that it is necessary to pray always without becoming weary.

How is it possible, Lord, to pray always? There are moments during the day where I am engaged in something or with someone and am hardly aware of anything else. Help me understand that through your grace, the disposition I take toward things and toward others can be a form of prayer. And what is it the widow wanted from the judge? A just decision. God is always good, always just, and I sometimes lose sight of that. As Jesus says at the end of the Gospel reading, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your presence! Be a light to me throughout the day, and teach me to seek you out in quiet prayer and in my disposition toward all I know and experience, which is pure gift.

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

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

“When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”

Speaking to the disciples, Jesus says things that comfort and warn them. Everyone who acknowledges Jesus will be recognized in heaven, but everyone who denies him will be denied in heaven. Everyone who speaks a word against Jesus will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Jesus then tells his disciples not to worry about what to say in defense before synagogue officials and authorities. The Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.

God, help me take to heart the words “do not worry.” There are many instances throughout the day where I will believe and fear that I need to say something to maintain order or give direction. Help me understand that it is the Holy Spirit I should listen to in those moments. Today, on the Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, let me remember to pray for her help and pray as she prayed: “Let nothing frighten you, / All things pass away: / God never changes. . . . He who has God / Finds he lacks nothing; / God alone suffices.”

Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Teach me not to worry today about the things that I know you can take care of. May it be as Saint Paul says in the first reading: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, grant a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Lift the ordinary burdens of the day, God, so that I can be joyful in the presence of others and give glory to your name.

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