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OUR SURE HOPE FOR SALVATION

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FRIDAY, TWENTY EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Eph 1:11-14; Ps 33:1-2,4-5,12-13; Lk 12:1-7 Worth more than Many Sparrows God’s appreciation of us is not in the present, but in what we will become when we reach perfection in Jesus Christ. We look at the present with all our shortfalls, shortcomings, and imperfections; we do not see beyond them to the future, to what we will become as we cooperate with God’s grace. As Saint Paul revealed in the opening hymn of his letter to the Ephesians. He praises God for his wonderful heavenly blessings he predestined for us in his Son, Jesus Christ. In this great opening hymn, he praises God for giving us every one of his wonderful and heavenly gifts in Jesus Christ, even before the world came into existence. So, God, who never fails in his plan, already sees what he will make of us if we cooperate with his grace, which is abundant in Jesus Christ. His infinite goodness and perfection treat us as if we are already perfect in Jesus Christ. Our fall...
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LIVING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

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SAINT TERESA OF AVILA, VIRGIN, DOCTOR Eph 1:1-10; Ps 98:1-6; Lk 11:47-54 The Healing Unction of Grace of Jesus Christ The Law is performative; as Saint Paul noted to the Galatians, anyone who wants to live and grow perfect through the Law must live by and observe the whole Law, not just parts of it. Because this is practically impossible for our corrupted nature, we cannot find a single person who is perfect through the Law and can stand before God to speak for himself and for us. As we stated in our reflection yesterday, God’s revelation of the Law through Moses was not to bring us to perfection through its observance, but to awaken our desire for grace, and make us humble to receive the gift of grace. Since we understand grace concisely as divine presence for the accomplishment of his holy will, the role of Law as the forerunner of grace is to turn our awareness from ourselves as nothing to God, who is all and is in all. This implies we cease to be the origin of our actions, an...
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WE NEED THE HEAVENLY PHYSICIAN

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WEDNESDAY, TWENTY EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEE Gal 5:18-25; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 11:42-46 Wounded Nature cannot bear the Law According to Saint Paul, the Law is spiritual, but our nature has lost its spiritual vitality. This makes it practically impossible for us to obey God's Law with our natural abilities or endowments. God, who knows all things and is infinitely wise, gave us the Law despite our disability. This means that he never intended us to keep the Law in our current state. Paul explains that the Law shows us the evil nature of sin, the corrupt state of our souls, and finally leads us to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and the gift of a new spiritual life. The sick who is unaware of his sickness will cause more harm to himself and would not want to see a physician. The absence of interior peace and fulfilment, necessary for true happiness in life, reveals how impotent the Law is at bringing us peace. Its true worth is pointing us to the Law-Giver, who alone is immortal and ...
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THE LAW TO LEAD US TO CHRIST

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TUESDAY, TWENTY EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEE Gal 5:1-6; Ps 119:41,43-45,47-48; Lk 11:37-41 The Law as the Forerunner of Grace Saint Paul's letter to the Galatians addresses the relationship between the Law and the grace of Jesus Christ. As we have noted, the evil one used the Judaizers, those whose allegiance was more to the Law than to Christian grace, to corrupt the faith of many Galatians. The snare remains, for we all started by focusing on the Commandments. We put every effort into curbing our sinful tendencies and obeying the commandments. This is the usual practice for Christian neophytes. Our Lord advised the young man to keep the Commandments to possess eternal life. When he revealed his familiarity with the Commandments from his early years, the Lord directed him on the way of perfection. We therefore understand the Law as the forerunner of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Son of Man and was happy to give way wh...
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THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN

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MONDAY, TWENTY EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEE Gal 4:22-24,26-27,31-5:1; Ps 113:1-7; Lk 11:29-32 Entering Our Freedom in Jesus Christ In his letter to the Galatians, Paul tried to clarify the difference between a Law-driven devotion and worship of God and a grace- or Christ-centred devotion and worship. The difference lies in what our minds and hearts focus on. When we focus on obeying the Law, interest is on ourselves; we want to satisfy our desire to appear righteous and to sound so when we talk. We compare ourselves to others, and we approve our religion or devotion because we judge ourselves as making more effort, it would seem, than others. For these, concern about the Law bespeaks self and does not show a desire to serve God. Such focus on the Law and obedience to its maxims blinds us to the presence of Jesus Christ, the divine mercy he makes abundant for us, and the overflowing grace of redemption he puts in our possession. If we keep the Law of God by our efforts, then what...
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INVITATION TO THE WEDDING FEAST

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SUNDAY, TWENTY EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEE Isa 25:6-10; Ps 23; Phil 4:12-14,19-20; Mt 22:1-10 The Wedding Feast of the Lamb of God The divine will is God, for it manifests his presence at all times. We can never have enough of the subject of divine will, for it is the mystery of our salvation; ignorance of it causes us to sin and wander in darkness. God wills everything into existence. Each has existence according to God’s will. This is what each thing’s nature expresses to us. Everything, by virtue of its existence, manifests God’s will and presence to us, though limited by the thing’s nature. In this sense, the whole visible creation is a feast of God’s will. Visible creation is a feast because it reveals God’s will. God’s revelation of his divine will gives us life and light. The angelic beings rejoiced at the creation of the earth as they contemplated what God brought to be by his word and glorified him. According to Saint Augustine, the alternation of evening and morning m...
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BLESSED THE WOMB THAT BORE THE WORD

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SATURDAY, TWENTY SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Gal 3:22-29; Ps 105:2-7; Lk 11:27-28 The Blessed Womb and Breast We usually call the earth our mother. We say this because everything material about us comes from the earth and belongs to it. The earth is our mother because it provides the raw material for our being. It sustains us in this mortal life through its provisions; our nourishment from the earth is likened to a mother breastfeeding her children. The earth cannot bring forth the human person on its own, only through the command of the Word of God. Thus, our lives belong primarily to the Word of God that called us into existence. The Word summons us into life, and by that fact, makes us participate in his life according to our human nature. God therefore prepares the earth to be the womb that receives his divine Word, and our nursing mother, nourishing us with her ever-flowing milk. Because of this God-given and important task, Scripture and the Fathers of the Church call us ...
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