October 31st, 2018

Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
481

FIRST READING
EPH 6:1-9

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Honor your father and mother.
This is the first commandment with a promise,
that it may go well with you
and that you may have a long life on earth.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,
but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling,
in sincerity of heart, as to Christ,
not only when being watched, as currying favor,
but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
willingly serving the Lord and not men,
knowing that each will be requited from the Lord
for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Masters, act in the same way towards them, and stop bullying,
knowing that both they and you have a Master in heaven
and that with him there is no partiality.

PSALM
PS 145:10-11, 12-13AB, 13CD-14

Response: The Lord is faithful in all his words.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.

Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.

GOSPEL
LK 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.’
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”

Daily Reflection

31st October 2018

For those who naively believe that being ‘Catholic’ is a ticket to a life in heaven, the warning of Jesus in today’s Gospel may come as a shock. God’s invitation is open to all, Jew and Gentile alike. But Jesus warns that we can be excluded if we do not strive to enter by the narrow door, which is Himself! Hence, if we are to enter through that door we would need to walk in the footsteps of Jesus – to speak the truth, to stand for justice, to foster peace, to show mercy, to be compassionate, to serve selflessly and to love unconditionally.

St. Paul says we must struggle against the forces of temptation to sin (even apathy, indifference, and compromise) that would hinder us from walking the way of Christ and doing the will of God. The good news is that we do not struggle alone. God is with us and His grace is sufficient!

We cannot enter heaven on borrowed goodness, we need to walk through the narrow door!

October 30th, 2018

Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
480

FIRST READING
EPH 5:21-33

Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the Church,
he himself the savior of the Body.
As the Church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the Church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of his Body.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.
In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,
and the wife should respect her husband

PSALM
PS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

Response: Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

GOSPEL
LK 13:18-21

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”

Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

Daily Reflection

30th October 2018

Some are quick to dismiss the writings of Paul as being male chauvinistic when he says, “... so is the husband the head of his wife... and ... so should wives submit to their husbands, in everything”. However, a closer reading of the text in its proper context will reveal the real meaning to be quite different. To begin with, Paul’s analogy of the relationship of Christ and His bride, the Church, with that of the relationship between a husband and wife, is drawn from the Old Testament. Prophets like Hosea, Isaiah and Ezekiel made similar analogies comparing the intimate relationship between God and Israel with the love of a husband and wife.

Therefore, by comparison itself, such a relationship is sacred. Further, a deeper study of the text points to equality, mutual love and respect, selfless sacrifice and fidelity. It is when husbands and wives live thus, that they become the leaven in the dough, working towards making the kingdom of God a reality.

October 29th, 2018

Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
479

FIRST READING
EPH 4:32–5:8

Brothers and sisters:
Be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you,
as is fitting among holy ones,
no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place,
but instead, thanksgiving.
Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person,
that is, an idolater,
has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments,
for because of these things
the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
So do not be associated with them.
For you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light.

PSALM
PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6

Response: Behave like God as his very dear children.

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.

GOSPEL
LK 13:10-17

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

Daily Reflection

29th October 2018

Jesus demonstrated not just the power and authority, but also the liberating love of God each time He reached out to people who were shackled by physical and emotional sickness, personal weakness and sin, or those possessed by some evil power. It took but a word from Jesus to instantly release the woman from her infirmity, in today’s narrative. The Jewish leaders were indignant that Jesus was carrying out the ‘work of healing’ on the Sabbath, the holy day of rest. They were so caught up in their ritual observance of the Sabbath that they lost sight of God’s mercy and goodness. The Sabbath Law did not stop Jesus; He was the merciful face of God, who does not restrict His mercy and love to six days of the week!

We are - each one of us - God’s children and St. Paul exhorts us to imitate God; this is best done by being loving and forgiving like He is.

Am I the visible loving presence of God to people around me?

October 28th, 2018

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
149

FIRST READING
JER 31:7-9

Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back
from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears,
but I will console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
Ephraim is my first-born.

PSALM
PS 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

Response: The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.

Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.

Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.

SECOND READING
HEB 5:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.

GOSPEL
MK 10:46-52

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

Daily Reflection

28th October 2018

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the first reading the prophet Jeremiah carries a message of hope for the exiles in Babylon. There will be a new exodus, as marvellous as the old, and even the most helpless will see the salvation of God.

The second reading from Hebrews tells us that Jesus, our high priest and mediator, opens our eyes to see the marvels that God works for us.

The blind man Bartimaeus, in the Gospel, represents our collective human situation that is constantly yearning for healing and liberation from all sorts of limitations. The blindness in question might not necessarily be the physical loss of vision, but spiritual ignorance that limits our relationship with others, and with God. The healing of Bartimaeus illustrates the 3-step journey to faith:

First: acknowledging our drawbacks and limitations.
Second: seeking Christ’s help, in humility.
Third: demonstrating our readiness to leave the past behind (the discarding of the cloak) and starting anew.

Like Bartimaeus, then, when we see clearly, we joyfully follow Jesus along the road.

October 27th, 2018

Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
478

FIRST READING
EPH 4:7-16

Brothers and sisters:
Grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore, it says:

He ascended on high and took prisoners captive;
he gave gifts to men.

What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended
into the lower regions of the earth?
The one who descended is also the one who ascended
far above all the heavens,
that he might fill all things.

And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood
to the extent of the full stature of Christ,
so that we may no longer be infants,
tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching
arising from human trickery,
from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
Rather, living the truth in love,
we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
from whom the whole Body,
joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
with the proper functioning of each part,
brings about the Body’s growth and builds itself up in love.

PSALM
PS 122:1-2, 3-4AB, 4CD-5

Response: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.

According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.

GOSPEL
LK 13:1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them–
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”

And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”

Daily Reflection

27th October 2018

Some Jews often spoke of calamities and disasters as being the consequence of sin. In the Gospel, Jesus uses two occasions – one a political massacre of Galileans by Pilate, and the other a natural disaster causing the death of 18 people, with the collapse of a tower in Jerusalem – to address the issue of sin and judgment, with his Jewish audience. Jesus points out that the real danger and calamity in the case of an unexpected disaster or a sudden death, is the fact that it does not give us time to repent for our sins, and to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord. The warning is clear - take responsibility now for your actions and moral choices, and put sin to death today before it can destroy your heart, mind, soul and body as well. If it is not eliminated through repentance – i.e. asking God for forgiveness and for his healing grace – it leads to a spiritual death, which is far worse than physical destruction. St Paul reminds us that we must live by the truth and in love, so that we can reflect Christ in everything we do.

Growth in maturity of faith is the need of the hour!

October 26th, 2018

Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
477

FIRST READING
EPH 4:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace;
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

PSALM
PS 24:1-2, 3-4AB, 5-6

Response: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

GOSPEL
LK 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”

Daily Reflection

26th October 2018

Paul pleads with the Ephesians to lead a life worthy of their vocation, which among other things, consists in “preserving the unity of the Spirit”. This unity must be fostered by “bearing with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience”. Although this may seem difficult, Paul highlights that this is made possible when we realign our focus to our calling through our Baptism. He mentions the word “one” seven times in a sentence to lay stress on the unifying effect of Baptism – one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism and one God and Father!

Jesus points out that just as we anticipate the change in season by recognising the signs in nature and make adjustments accordingly, so too, must we deal with others, by recognising the unifying Spirit of our Baptism within us.

October 25th, 2018

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
476

FIRST READING
EPH 3:14-21

Brothers and sisters:
I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

PSALM
PS 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19

Response: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.

For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.

GOSPEL
LK 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Daily Reflection

25th October 2018

The Old Testament often uses the symbol of fire to identify God or His presence e.g. the Burning Bush, The Pillar of Fire, the fire that descends upon Elijah’s offering, etc. Among its many qualities, its action of purifying is most highlighted in the Bible. Jesus, in the Gospel speaks of his mission using the symbolism of fire:

a) To set fire to the earth: The judgement of God seen in the purifying action of the Holy Spirit.
b) Baptism : His immersion into his salvific death.
c) Sword : Choosing Jesus and following him will be a cause for opposition.

St. Paul, who has been given great insight into this mystery of Christ, prays for the Ephesians that in making a choice for Christ and striving to follow Him, they may experience the “breadth, length, depth & height” of God’s love revealed in Christ.

May this also be our very own prayer!

October 24th, 2018

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
475

FIRST READING
EPH 3:2-12

Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation,
as I have written briefly earlier.
When you read this
you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to human beings in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit,
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same Body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

Of this I became a minister by the gift of God’s grace
that was granted me in accord with the exercise of his power.
To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given,
to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light for all what is the plan of the mystery
hidden from ages past in God who created all things,
so that the manifold wisdom of God
might now be made known through the Church
to the principalities and authorities in the heavens.
This was according to the eternal purpose
that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have boldness of speech
and confidence of access through faith in him.

PSALM
Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

Response: You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation

God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.

Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.

Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!

GOSPEL
LK 12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Daily Reflection

24th October 2018

Paul testifies to his calling as an apostle to the Gentiles and places his call within God’s plan of salvation for all people in Christ. God’s plan was initially revealed only to the Jews but now in Christ, God’s secret is laid open for the world. This calling is not just restricted to Paul but to each Christian who is called “to bring to light for all” the mystery of Christ.

The Gospel urges us to “be prepared for (we) do not know the hour” when the Son of Man will come. Jesus’ path intersects ours many times throughout the day and inviting us to bear witness to Him. As we await the Second Coming of Christ, each day is a progression to bearing greater witness to Jesus. Because we “have been given much”, “much more will be expected of us.”

We, who are stewards - who “know the master’s will” - are charged to “make proper preparations” and be ready for His Second coming.

October 23rd, 2018

Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
474

FIRST READING
EPH 2:12-22

Brothers and sisters:
You were at that time without Christ,
alienated from the community of Israel
and strangers to the covenants of promise,
without hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have become near by the Blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, he made both one
and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,
that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,
thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God,
in one Body, through the cross,
putting that enmity to death by it.
He came and preached peace to you who were far off
and peace to those who were near,
for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

PSALM
PS 85:9AB-10, 11-12, 13-14

Response: The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

GOSPEL
LK 12:35-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.”

Daily Reflections

23rd October 2018

Paul, writing to the Ephesians, reflects on God’s plan using the concept of covenants. Through covenants, God adopts first the Jews and then through Jesus, He adopts all people thereby breaking walls of division between Jew and Gentile. Building on this foundational element, Paul focuses on conveying to the Ephesians how each one of them make up a ‘living stone’ in the new “Temple of God” of which Christ is the “cornerstone”.

Jesus expects every member of this Temple to be in a constant state of readiness with “loins girded” and “lamps lit”. “Girded loins”, a term borrowed from the Exodus imagery of the Passover, symbolises readiness for action at God’s command. To have ones “lamps lit” is symbolic of being watchful and vigilant.

Jesus’ followers are thus called to be ‘Contemplatives in action’ – always reflective and always active.

October 22nd, 2018

Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
473

FIRST READING
EPH 2:1-10

You were dead in your transgressions and sins
in which you once lived following the age of this world,
following the ruler of the power of the air,
the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.
All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh,
following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses,
and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.
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 (by grace you have been saved),
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

PSALM
PS 100:1B-2, 3, 4AB, 4C-5

Response: The Lord made us, we belong to him.

Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.

Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him; bless his name, for he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

GOSPEL
LK 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he 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.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Daily Reflection

22nd October 2018

John Paul II

Paul, writing to the Ephesians, points out how God, through Jesus, has saved us from death. Left to our human nature, we spiral into death. But with God’s grace, we rise to life. Human nature, when it follows its innate inclinations, tends to look at itself and ends up being selfish, self-centred and fails to look up to the Creator. Christ’s salvific death re-aligns this inclination. Through Him, God “brought us to life” enabling us to be “seated with Him in the heavens”.

Today’s Gospel begins with a man asking Jesus to arbitrate and ask his brother to share the inheritance with him. While Jesus rejects the role of judge, he points to the deeper reality of life and wealth as gifts from God by using a parable. While the man has the capacity to safeguard his grain for years to come, his life and death remain in God’s hands.

Do you possess life or does life possess you?

October 21st, 2018

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
219

FIRST READING
IS 60:1-6

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.

Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

PSALM
PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

Response: Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.

SECOND READING
ROM 10:9-18

Brothers and sisters:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
The Scripture says,
No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone to preach?
And how can people preach unless they are sent?
As it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!
But not everyone has heeded the good news;
for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?
Thus faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
But I ask, did they not hear?
Certainly they did; for

Their voice has gone forth to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.

GOSPEL
MK 28:16-20

The Eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with yon always, until the end of the age."

Daily Reflection

21st October 2018

Mission Sunday

Everyone loves to win but very few are willing to work hard and prepare for the race.

Today’s Gospel speaks of something similar. The Sons of Zebedee want seats at the right and left of Jesus when He comes in glory. What’s odd about this request is that Jesus has just finished predicting his Passion and death for a THIRD time. Jesus then goes on to summarise his authority structure, “Whoever among you wishes to be first must be the slave of all.” Jesus’ idea of authority is a personification of a concept found in Isaiah, “Because of his suffering, he shall see the light of day” and “through his suffering my servant shall justify many.”

What Jesus asks of would be followers like you and me is indeed difficult but never impossible. For the letter to the Hebrews states unequivocally that Jesus is able to “empathise” with us since, like us, he “has been tested in every way” and is “yet without sin”.

The Responsorial Psalm prays aloud what Jesus expects of us, “May your love be upon us O Lord, as we place all our trust in you”

October 20th, 2018

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

LECTIONARY
472

FIRST READING
EPH 1:15-23

Brothers and sisters:
Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and of your love for all the holy ones,
I do not cease giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory
in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the Church,
which is his Body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

PSALM
PS 8:2-3AB, 4-5, 6-7

Response: You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.

O LORD, our LORD, how glorious is your name over all the earth!
You have exalted your majesty above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
you have fashioned praise because of your foes.

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place—
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?

You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.

GOSPEL
LK 12:8-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.

“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
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.”

Daily Reflection

20th October 2018

Paul exudes Christian character when he prays and gives thanks for the Ephesians each time he thinks of them and their faith. He prays even more for the gifts of “wisdom & revelation” so that they “grow in knowledge of (Jesus)” whom God has “raised above” every name.

The Gospel has Jesus speaking in the context of fearlessness in the face of persecution and telescoping this into the background of the Last Judgement. To accept Jesus is to accept the power of the Holy Spirit at work in Him. Thus, the sin against the Holy Spirit that Jesus mentions is not just a denial of Jesus but, rather, a stubborn rejection of the Holy Spirit working in the person of Jesus and the Spirit’s capacity to lead, guide and transform the disciple. This is made aptly clear when Jesus tells the disciples “not to prepare” their defence when brought before authorities but to trust in the Spirit’s guidance.

Are you a disciple? Have you entrusted yourself to the power of the Holy Spirit?

October 19th, 2018

Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

LECTIONARY
471

FIRST READING
EPH 1:11-14

Brothers and sisters: In Christ we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.

PSALM
PS 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13

Response: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.

For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.

GOSPEL
LK 12:1-7

At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Daily Reflection

Jesus warns His disciples about the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. They deliberately deceive others by pretending to be righteous when they are the opposite. Hypocrisy is futile because the truth will come out sooner or later. Some tele-evangelists also mislead people for selfish ends. But the danger is that the disciples might try to appear unrighteous to avoid persecution. This is also hypocrisy. Fear of death is strong and we are all afraid to die. Jesus cautions them not to deny Him to save their lives; spiritual death is far worse than physical death. Instead of fearing humans Jesus advises His disciples to fear God, who has the power to cast them into hell. The fact that many of Jesus’ disciples become martyrs bears out the fact that they fear God more than people. They believe that God will not forget them, as He remembers even every sparrow.

GOD WILL NOT FORGET YOU

Missionary work has never been easy, and yet the joyful rewards cannot be equalled by any other experience – Gordon B. Hinckley.

October 18th, 2018

St Luke, Evangelist

St Peter of Alcantara

Psalm 144/145 : 10-11, 12-13, 17-18

Your friends, O Lord, shall make known the glorious splendour of Your reign.

1st Reading – 2 Timothy 4 : 10-17b

Demas has deserted me for love of this life and gone to Thessalonika, Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia; only Luke is with me. Get Mark to come and bring him with you; I find him a useful helper in my work. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpus in Troas, and the scrolls, especially the parchment ones. Alexander the coppersmith has done me a lot of harm; the Lord will repay him for what he has done. Be on your guard against him yourself, because he has been bitterly contesting everything that we say. The first time I had to present my defence, there was not a single witness to support me. Every one of them deserted me – may they not be held accountable for it. But the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear.

Gospel – Luke 10 : 1-9

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’

Reflection

The harvest is rich but the labourers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers... These words are crucial because we will be judged on how we respond. Many do not yet know Christ; do we care? We must pray for the harvest. We always pray for what is important to us; does the harvest matter enough that we pray often for it? We need more vocations. But how can we pray for others to do what we are not willing to do? The 72 disciples are us, laypersons, sent out by the Lord to use our time and talents for the Kingdom. Do we contribute to missionary work? Do we interact with those of other faiths and witness Christ? While going about our mission we must not get distracted by worldly things but ‘travel light’. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray for God’s Kingdom even before our own needs.

‘START OFF NOW!’

Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe – John of Patmos, Revelation 14:14.

October 17th, 2018

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

LECTIONARY
469

FIRST READING
GAL 5:18-25

Brothers and sisters:
If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,
drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh
with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

PSALM
PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6

Response: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.

GOSPEL
LK 11:42-46

The Lord said:
“Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,
but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Daily Reflection

17th October 2018

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Paul contrasts the life led by the flesh – those enslaved by the Law- with a life led by the Spirit. He gives us two lists: notice that the “works of the flesh” are haphazard and an incomplete list as opposed to the list of the “Fruit of the Spirit” which are systematic. Paul also uses the singular “Fruit” of the Spirit to emphasise that a life led by the Spirit is not fragmented but an integrated whole. The Spirit liberates us and produces different facets of the same holiness in us.

Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus rebukes them for their hypocrisy. They follow the smallest detail of the Law and in the bargain overlook the basic premise on which the Law is based – Justice & Love of God.

We celebrate today the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch who bore great witness for Christ. On being arrested and being taken to be thrown to be devoured by the Lions, he is famously quoted as saying “We are the wheat of Christ. If we be ground in the mill of suffering; may we be found pure bread.”

October 16th, 2018

Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
468

FIRST READING
GAL 5:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

It is I, Paul, who am telling you
that if you have yourselves circumcised,
Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcised
that he is bound to observe the entire law.
You are separated from Christ,
you who are trying to be justified by law;
you have fallen from grace.
For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness.
For in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,
but only faith working through love.

PSALM
PS 119:41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48

Response: Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.

Let your mercy come to me, O LORD,
your salvation according to your promise.

Take not the word of truth from my mouth,
for in your ordinances is my hope.

And I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever.

And I will walk at liberty,
because I seek your precepts.

And I will delight in your commands,
which I love.

And I will lift up my hands to your commands
and meditate on your statutes.

GOSPEL
LK 11:37-41

After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
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.”

Daily Reflection

16th October 2018

Paul, in rejecting circumcision, denounces the power of the Law to save. In fact he emphasises that the Law enslaves rather than frees us. In a scathing attack on the Judaisers –those who insist that Christian converts have to first become Jews and observe Jewish customs – Paul charges them as having “fallen from grace”. He insists that circumcision – an external sign - “counts for nothing”. What matters is God’s free grace which produces “faith working in love”.

Jesus, in the Gospel, reiterates the same theme of an internal transformation. Calling out the Pharisees as purely ritualistic people who “wash the outside of the cup and dish but are internally full of plunder and evil”, Jesus points out to a simple remedy - almsgiving – a giving of “what is within” the cup and dish. This is an antidote to selfishness and constitutes love in action.

Have I imprisoned myself in empty rituals, or do I give meaning to the rituals by allowing God to transform me from within?

October 15th, 2018

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

LECTIONARY
467

FIRST READING
GAL 4:22-24, 26-27, 31–5:1

Brothers and sisters:
It is written that Abraham had two sons,
one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman.
The son of the slave woman was born naturally,
the son of the freeborn through a promise.
Now this is an allegory.
These women represent two covenants.
One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery;
this is Hagar.
But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother.
For it is written:
Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children;
break forth and shout, you who were not in labor;
for more numerous are the children of the deserted one
than of her who has a husband.
Therefore, brothers and sisters,
we are children not of the slave woman
but of the freeborn woman.

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm
and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

PSALM
PS 113:1B-2, 3-4, 5A AND 6-7

Response:

Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.

From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.

Who is like the LORD, our God,
who looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.

GOSPEL
LK 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Daily Reflection

15th October 2018

St. Teresa of Avila (St. Teresa of Jesus)

Paul, using the symbolic meaning of the Abraham story speaks of two sons; Ishmael – born of the flesh- and Isaac – born through the promise of God as an allegory for the old and new covenants – Mt. Sinai that led to slavery and the heavenly Jerusalem which brings us freedom. The Mosaic Law was bondage, in that one tried to be justified through one’s own effort; whereas, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Father offers us sonship and daughterhood, thus truly setting us free.

Jesus, refers to the crowd as “wicked” and “evil” because although they have heard him and seen his works, they still ask for a “sign” that he is from God. Jesus offers them only the “Sign of Jonah”. Jesus, like Jonah, walked through Palestine proclaiming a message of repentance and conversion. It is in listening and acting upon Jesus’ message that they will truly recognise him.

St. Teresa of Avila, a great mystic and doctor of the Church summarises the readings – “God alone is enough! Whoever finds God longs for nothing at all.”

October 14th, 2018

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
143

FIRST READING
Wis 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.

PSALM
Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

Response: Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.

Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!

SECOND READING
Heb 4:12-13

Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

GOSPEL
Mk 10:17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother."
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
"How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then who can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God."
Peter began to say to him,
"We have given up everything and followed you."
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

Daily Reflection

14th October 2018

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Each of us is born with an innate desire to live a moral, ethical and honest life, which will bring us complete joy. However, somewhere down the line we get distracted and hooked onto things that are apparently more appealing but, eventually, we realise that they are precisely the things that prevent us from experiencing that completeness.

Material wealth and good health, according to the Jews, were signs of God’s blessings, while poverty and sickness were believed to be a sign of God’s displeasure; but not for Jesus! In fact, Jesus asked the rich young man to give it all up and follow him, as those were the very things that would prevent him from expressing his dependency on God.

In the first reading from Wisdom, we see how Solomon also goes beyond human desire for material possessions and asks God for wisdom over all else!

Be wise. God’s love is all the wealth you will ever need.

October 13th, 2018

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
466

FIRST READING
GAL 3:22-29

Brothers and sisters:
Scripture confined all things under the power of sin,
that through faith in Jesus Christ
the promise might be given to those who believe.

Before faith came, we were held in custody under law,
confined for the faith that was to be revealed.
Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.
For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free person,
there is not male and female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants,
heirs according to the promise.

PSALM
PS 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Response:

Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!

Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

GOSPEL
LK 11:27-28

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.”

October 12th, 2018

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
465

FIRST READING
GAL 3:7-14

Brothers and sisters:
Realize that it is those who have faith
who are children of Abraham.
Scripture, which saw in advance that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith,
foretold the good news to Abraham, saying,
Through you shall all the nations be blessed.
Consequently, those who have faith are blessed
along with Abraham who had faith.
For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse;
for it is written, Cursed be everyone
who does not persevere in doing all the things
written in the book of the law.
And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear,
for the one who is righteous by faith will live.
But the law does not depend on faith;
rather, the one who does these things will live by them.
Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written, Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,
that the blessing of Abraham might be extended
to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,
so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

PSALM
PS 111:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6

Response: The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.

Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.

He has given food to those who fear him;
he will forever be mindful of his covenant.
He has made known to his people the power of his works,
giving them the inheritance of the nations.

GOSPEL
LK 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and 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?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”

Daily Reflection

12th October 2018

St Paul’s argument shatters the theory of those who kept insisting that one was saved by the Law alone. According to Paul, Abraham was told by God that in him all nations would be blessed! Hence those who show faith are saved and receive the same blessings as Abraham, the father of faith; even though they may have lived years before the law was given by Moses. The gift of the Spirit cannot be restricted to those who live solely by the Law.

In the Gospel, Jesus’ exorcisms testify that those who possess the Spirit of God are capable of great feats. In claiming that it is through the finger of God that He casts out demons, Jesus is speaking of the almighty power of God of which only a finger is required to combat evil.

Jesus also advises those who have been liberated from their evil ways to necessarily replace them with some positive activity or else in moments of temptation they could regress into their old ways, and being further discouraged, would end up worse than before.

October 11th, 2018

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
464

FIRST READING
GAL 3:1-5

O stupid Galatians!
Who has bewitched you,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
I want to learn only this from you:
did you receive the Spirit from works of the law,
or from faith in what you heard?
Are you so stupid?
After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now ending with the flesh?
Did you experience so many things in vain?–
if indeed it was in vain.
Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you
and works mighty deeds among you
do so from works of the law
or from faith in what you heard?

PSALM
LK 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75

Response: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

GOSPEL
LK 11:5-13

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.

“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.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”

Daily Reflection

11th October 2018

John XXIII

‘For the one who asks receives… and to him who knocks the door will be opened.’ Jesus’ words have been a source of great consolation, for many thousands, over the centuries. They instill hope and remind us that we should be persistent in prayer, stay connected with God and seek His help.

Yet, at times, it seems that God does not to listen to us. We have difficulty in accepting that God gives what is best for us and God alone knows what this is. To see more clearly, perhaps it would help to look at our lives as beautiful tapestries that God weaves with our talents and gifts. We fail to see the beauty because we view the tapestry from the reverse – our side of the picture - while God sees it in all its glory. So, too, with the responses we receive to our prayer – we fail to see their goodness because we look with mortal eyes.

And this is why we must stay steadfast in prayer, not for our material needs but for hearts that remain attuned to God.

October 10th, 2018

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
463

FIRST READING
GAL 2:1-2, 7-14

Brothers and sisters:
After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
taking Titus along also.
I went up in accord with a revelation,
and I presented to them the Gospel that I preach to the Gentiles–
but privately to those of repute–
so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.
On the contrary,
when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised,
just as Peter to the circumcised,
for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised
worked also in me for the Gentiles,
and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me,
James and Cephas and John,
who were reputed to be pillars,
gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership,
that we should go to the Gentiles
and they to the circumcised.
Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,
which is the very thing I was eager to do.

And when Cephas came to Antioch,
I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.
For, until some people came from James,
he used to eat with the Gentiles;
but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself,
because he was afraid of the circumcised.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him,
with the result that even Barnabas
was carried away by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that they were not on the right road
in line with the truth of the Gospel,
I said to Cephas in front of all,
“If you, though a Jew,
are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew,
how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

PSALM
PS 117:1BC, 2

Response: Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

Praise the LORD, all you nations,
glorify him, all you peoples!

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

GOSPEL
LK 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”

Daily Reflection

10th October 2018

In today’s Gospel, we are introduced to the Lord’s Prayer recorded by Luke. This prayer is more than just a formula to address God; it also points to an attitude and our disposition while we pray.

This prayer encourages us to talk to God as both parent and friend. It is grounded in our very ordinary daily needs: the need to earn a living and the need to get along with other people. And God is an integral part of these essential, mundane aspects of life.

Through the ‘Our Father’, we are reminded that our prayer should link us to community; we cannot separate our relationship with God from our relationships with other people. Listen as you pray:

‘You cannot pray the Lord’s prayer, and even once say ‘I’
You cannot pray the Lord’s prayer, and even once say ‘my’!
Nor can you pray the Lord’s prayer and not pray for another,
For when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother.
For others are included in each and every plea:
From the beginning to the very end, it does not once say ‘me’.

October 9th, 2018

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
462

FIRST READING
GAL 1:13-24

Brothers and sisters:
You heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it,
and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas
and remained with him for fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
(As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.)
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
So they glorified God because of me.

PSALM
PS 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15

Response: Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.

My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.

GOSPEL
LK 10:38-42

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

Daily Reflection

9th October 2018

In today's Gospel, one may wonder at what most people see as a rebuke to Martha.

But Jesus’ gentle reproach was an act of love — to Martha and to us. To everyone else present, Martha’s serving probably appeared to flow from a generous servant heart. And it irked her that she had to bear the burden alone. But Jesus saw through to Martha’s anxiety that her hospitality might reflect poorly on her and her family (the culture of the time required high hospitality for honoured guests like Jesus and his followers who would have numbered at least a hundred!). This was an anxiety that made many unnecessary tasks feel compulsively urgent, and blinded her to the “one thing necessary” — listening to Jesus.

Through this correction, Jesus is challenging us to ask ourselves if we feel compelled to ‘serve’ out of a self-conscious anxiety for what others will think. If so, we are serving our own glory and not Jesus.

Jesus seeks to free us from all that distracts and disturbs us, by inviting us to stop working, rest at his feet, and listen to him.

October 8th, 2018

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
461

FIRST READING
GAL 1:6-12

Brothers and sisters:
I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking
the one who called you by the grace of Christ
for a different gospel (not that there is another).
But there are some who are disturbing you
and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel
other than the one that we preached to you,
let that one be accursed!
As we have said before, and now I say again,
if anyone preaches to you a gospel
other than the one that you received,
let that one be accursed!

Am I now currying favor with human beings or God?
Or am I seeking to please people?
If I were still trying to please people,
I would not be a slave of Christ.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

PSALM
PS 111:1B-2, 7-8, 9 AND 10C

Response: The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.

He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.

GOSPEL
LK 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Daily Reflection

8th October 2018

The Gospel story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ has become a universal example to express going above and beyond, to lend a helping hand no matter the circumstances or who the person may be.

So what particular message does the story hold for us?

First, one would need to understand why Jesus uses the example of a ‘Samaritan’. Samaritans were despised by the Jews for being a mixed race: half Jewish and half Gentile, because of intermarriage with their Assyrian captors of the Northern Kingdom of Judea. They were also considered pagans because of their worship of idols. There was tremendous mutual distrust and dislike between the Jews and the Samaritans. Jesus mentions the Samaritan in this parable because, in the circumstances, he would be the least likely to help a Jew.

The priest allowed his position to override his sense of humanity. The Levite, an expert in God’s Law, sadly ignored the meaning and fulfilment of that law. But the Samaritan went out of his way, at his own risk and expense, to help this man.

The Gospel message, then, is a reminder that as disciples, we are called to fulfil God’s plan, not just in word but in concrete action.

October 7th, 2018

Thanksgiving Sunday

LECTIONARY
140

FIRST READING
Gn 2:18-24

The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep,
he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib
that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman,'
for out of 'her man’ this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.

PSALM
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Response: May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

May you see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel!

SECOND READING
Heb 2:9-11

Brothers and sisters:
He "for a little while" was made "lower than the angels, "
that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting that he,
for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many children to glory,
should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.
He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated
all have one origin.
Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers.”

GOSPEL
Mk 10:2-16

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,
"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"
They were testing him.
He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"
They replied,
"Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her."
But Jesus told them,
"Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate."
In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
He said to them,
"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her;
and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery."

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
"Let the children come to me;
do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to
such as these.
Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it."
Then he embraced them and blessed them,
placing his hands on them.

Daily Reflection

7th October 2018

Thanksgiving Sunday

Each year, at harvest time, the Church invites us to celebrate ‘Thanksgiving Day’, in gratitude to God for the blessing of a good harvest - for life-giving food.

Today’s liturgy opens our eyes to several other blessings for which we need to be grateful to God, and mindful of our part in our covenant with Him: In the reading from Genesis, and in the Gospel, we are reminded of the beautiful bond of love that unites couples in the Sacrament of Matrimony. It is a bond that God intended to be permanent and thus, through marriage, man and woman are no longer two but one. Christ’s explicit teaching on the divine origin of marriage emphasises the sacredness of family life and the equal partnership of husband and wife.

In the letter to the Hebrews, we are reminded that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, bonded with Him and through Him to God. When we claim a share in Christ’s glory, we must also be prepared to share in the Cross.

Today is also the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Let us thank Our Blessed Mother for this powerful spiritual weapon against forces that try to destroy our unity as one family in Christ.