Friday - October 29, 2021
“The devotions we practice in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, however trifling they may be, are very pleasing to Her Divine Son, and He rewards them with eternal glory.”
~~St. Teresa of Avila
Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 483
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie;
my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness
that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my own people,
my kindred according to the flesh.
They are children of Israel;
theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
theirs the patriarchs, and from them,
according to the flesh, is the Christ,
who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully.
In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking,
“Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?”
But they kept silent; so he took the man and,
after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them
“Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern,
would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”
But they were unable to answer his question.
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The Sorrowful Soul of an Effective Evangelizer
Does anyone cause you "great sorrow and constant anguish" because of their lack of faith in Jesus Christ? We, like Saint Paul in today's first reading, should care about the eternal souls of others so much that when they make bad decisions that reject Jesus, instead of feeling condemnation for them, we feel great inner pain.
When we know what others are missing in their refusal to turn to the healing love of Christ, it hurts to see them continue to turn away from it. When we know that their sins are destroying them and hurting others as well, if we truly care, we feel tremendous sorrow.
Before we can do much good in evangelizing these people, we have to get in touch with this pain. If their sins are making us angry, our efforts to help them come across as judgmental or harsh. We must first go through a process of forgiveness and letting go of the anger. Only then can we reach the spiritual state where we actually feel sorrow for them.
If their unhealthy behaviors are triggering our own unhealthy reactions, our love for them gets warped and twisted into a sick counterfeit that enables them to continue in their erring ways. We must first turn to God and let him strengthen our holy, healthy understanding of the issues.
This leads to a deep, inner anguish over the sorrowful condition of their souls. This kind of pain is not something to avoid! It gives us a pure, holy motivation to pray for them and evangelize them.
If you've forgiven them but don't yet feel such anguish, meditate on God's love for them and then let that love become your love for them. Yes it hurts when we love them that much. The tears of love for those who reject the love of God are indications that we are experiencing an advanced degree of holiness.
This is the same depth of caring that Jesus felt for the man with dropsy in our Gospel reading today. In this case, it was someone's physical suffering that triggered an outpouring of love. But how did he feel about the scholars of the law and the Pharisees who condemned him for breaking a religious law? We can be sure that Jesus suffered deeply in his soul over their legalism and lack of Godly compassion. It's what motivated him to die for them.
Often when we read about Jesus dealing with the Pharisees and scribes, we see his condemnation of their sins but neglect to read between the lines to get in touch with the utter anguish he felt over the emptiness in their souls. When we're aware of sins being committed, we are called to speak up as much as possible to condemn the sins and help the sinner find the redemption of Christ. But we won't succeed if we don't first reach the depth of love where we feel anguish over the damage that the sinners are doing to themselves.
Today's Prayer
Lord, I thank You and praise You, because you take my life beyond my own limitations. I want to follow Your loving paths till the end. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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