Thursday - October 22, 2020
Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.
~~St. Padre Pio
October 22, 2020
Thursday of the
Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 476
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.
Responsorial Psalm PS 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19
R. (5b) 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.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
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.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
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.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
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.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Alleluia PHIL 3:8-9
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I consider all things
so much rubbish
that I may gain
Christ and be found in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.”Jesus, Light My Fire!
If I were to choose one scripture that represents my prayer for you, it would be today's first reading. If I were to try to explain why -- and why I write these daily Good News Reflections -- it would be with the words of Jesus from the Gospel reading: "I want to light a fire; how I wish it were already blazing!"
Why isn't it blazing? Because none of us fully realize how much God loves us. When we're unloving, it's because we don't understand the depth of God's unconditional, merciful, faithful, never-ending love for us. This love is the fire that burns up sin, sets us on fire with the light of Christ, and energizes us with the fuel of God's own energy.
God's love is the fire that ignites me each morning. Look around. Who else is on fire, burning with desire to serve him? Do you see it in every priest, deacon, religious, church staff and volunteer minister? Do others see it in you? How I wish every Christian had this fire igniting their activities on Earth! The world would be transformed.
God placed this fire within you at your baptism. Are you fanning this flame? Are you letting it light up the world around you?
Look at what Jesus said he had to do to set the world on fire. What baptism was he talking about? Not the water baptism he'd already received in the Jordan River. It was the baptism of painful self-sacrifice. The inner motivation that enabled him to endure the cross and accomplish the goal of providing us with eternal salvation came from a deep yearning to spread the fire of his love. It came from the passionate urgings of love, which filled him with an undying desire to rescue us from death and destruction.
Have you felt this way about anyone? The ones who are most on fire in their ministries are those who have suffered much and discovered God's love in the pain. When we make sacrifices because we feel a passionate love for others, we're spreading the fire of God's love. This is why Saint Paul said we must be "rooted and grounded in love."
By loving others, we come to know "the breadth and length and height and depth" of Christ's love. If we wait to feel loved before we give love, we never understand God's love.
Fire purifies us by separating the waste material from the precious; it destroys whatever does not belong to the kingdom of God. When we blaze with the fire of God's love, our sinful tendencies get burned out of us.
Jesus mentioned that this fire divides households, i.e., it divides us from loved ones who remain self-centered and unloving as they make choices that keep them trapped in their sinfulness. Nevertheless, we must continue to burn with love for them. This heats up the fire within us, which purifies us further. And gradually, the world becomes more heavenly.
Today's Prayer
Lord, fill all of my being with Your Holy Spirit, and give me patience and mercy to love whomever persecutes me, even inside my own family. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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