Thursday - November 12, 2020
My little children, your hearts, are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.
--Saint John Vianney
November 12, 2020
Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
Lectionary: 494
Reading 1 PHMN 7-20
Beloved:
I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother.
Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ
to order you to do what is proper,
I rather urge you out of love,
being as I am, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.
I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment,
who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
I should have liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the Gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
And if he has done you any injustice
or owes you anything, charge it to me.
I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay.
May I not tell you that you owe me your very self.
Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ.
Responsorial Psalm PS 146:7, 8-9A, 9BC-10
R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
Alleluia JN 15:5
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the vine, you
are the branches, says the Lord:
whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 17:20-25
Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”
Then he said to his disciples,
“The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”
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Today, Jesus is telling us the same thing he told the Pharisees in the Gospel reading: God's reign is already here!
The Catholic Church teaches that the "end times" were initiated in the resurrection of Jesus and began when the Holy Spirit descended upon the earth and came to live in all believers. It's an era of mercy, forgiveness and love, an era in which we continue the mission of Christ, overcoming evil by letting Christ work through us with our own holiness. We are the Body of Christ on Earth and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what Jesus wants to do, extending his hands and voice and activity through our own.
So why are we waiting for Jesus to show up? He's already here! We need to live as if his Second Coming is going to happen tomorrow, but instead of standing at the window watching for signs that Jesus is going to soon rescue the world from evil, we are supposed to go out and do the rescuing - in the name of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit of Jesus.
Instead of watching for Jesus' return to Earth, we're supposed to be finding him right now in the people of our Christian community wherever we can find them, and we're supposed to be Jesus with them, serving as a united Body of Christ to stand up against evil and minister to others whenever they are afflicted by evil.
This is the point God makes in today's first reading. This short letter from Saint Paul was written to a believer named Philemon whose slave, Onesimus, had cheated him and run away. The name "Onesimus" means "useful", and Paul took advantage of that to tell Philemon that the formerly useless slave was to be respected and compassionately reinstated in his job.
How many Onesimuses do we know? These are the persons who seem worthless to us and the people who have cheated us. We are to treat everyone as if we are meeting Jesus himself. Saint Francis of Assisi knew this, so he genuflected at the feet of each person he encountered. Does that seem too drastic? Well, we could at least smile.
The reign of God comes to us every day through every person we meet. If we bring Jesus into the encounter, the occasion becomes sanctified, holy. And isn't it interesting that God likes to speak to us through those who seem useless and ignorant! (He enjoys irony.)
"Welcome him as you would me" is Paul's invitation to Philemon. He is speaking the words of Christ himself, who says in Matthew 25 that what we do to the least - the very least liked of all people - we do to him. We must train ourselves to recognize the reign of God where we least expect to find it!
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, teach me with Your mercy how to discover Your kingdom around me every day, and how to reply as You wish: With an alert, trustful and generous heart. Amen
God Bless You.....
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