Friday - October 23, 2020
"Him whom the heavens cannot contain, the womb of one woman bore."
--St. Augustine
October
23 2019
Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 477
Reading 1 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.
Responsorial Psalm 24:1-2,
3-4ab, 5-6
R.
(see 6) 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.
R.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
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.
R.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
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.
R.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Alleluia See
Mt 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed
to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.”
*****************************************
Are you surprised that you have this ability? If you're a person of prayer, constantly dialoging with God about everything that happens, the Holy Spirit is explaining to you what you need to know, when you need to know it. Trust this process! Even when you're not sure it's his voice guiding you, Jesus will make sure that you don't misinterpret him very long.
Are you worried about the future? We don't need to go to fortune tellers (which is a sin; see Deut. 18:10-12), and we don't need to seek out holy visionaries, because if we pay attention, God makes his will clear -- not every detail of his plan, but certainly his will for today, one step at a time as we move forward in the fulfillment of that plan.
However, we get confused if we listen to the desires of our own will when it contradicts God's, or if we listen to the voices of logic when God doesn't make sense, or if we trust the half-truths and lies that are spoken by Fear.
The portents are plainly evident. We can eliminate a lot of aggravation and misdirected decisions and mistake-laden frustrations, not to mention sins and self-inflicted sufferings, if we pay attention to the multiple ways that God is delivering his guidance to us.
If we take note of the signs of the times, through the Holy Spirit we can discern the good changes that are approaching. When hardships are hardest and the dark night is darkest, a new dawn is going to arise, and probably soon. When evil attacks us with greater vengeance, it's because the devil knows his time is short, praise Jesus! But if we focus on the problems and not on Jesus, we continue to feel frustrated and dissatisfied and frightened. We create our own misery!
The most important observation to make is the condition of our own soul. Jesus says, "Why not judge for yourselves what is right?" The answer is already within us, because the Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of Truth -- has been living in us since our baptism.
If you don't already have one, find a spiritual director, i.e., a priest or religious or qualified lay person who can help you read the signs of your life. Your local parish or diocesan center probably has a list of available spiritual directors. But first, pray for discernment about which person the wind of the Spirit is blowing you toward!
God doesn't want us to be confused. He certainly won't ignore our need for the truth. He always answers our questions - and we hear him if we but pay attention.
Today's Prayer
Lord, give me a clear and right conscience to act according to Your love in every situation of my life. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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