21 October Monday TODAYS READINGS: LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God. – Romans 4:20 For more than 30 years, parts of my family life were in darkness, then in semi-darkness. My children and I were in the shadows of violence. During that “walk through the valley of darkness,” I did not fear for I knew God was at our side. His rod and staff gave me courage (Psalm 23) to lead the family towards the light of love, forgiveness and understanding. I clung to the promise of Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called to his purpose.” My eldest is now a lawyer. The second works at the United Nations. The third is a doctor. The fourth is a French major and the youngest is in his last year of Commerce. We are all glorifying God in our divine purposes here on earth. The experience shaped me for the work I do for the Philippine feminized labor migration which is sometimes an escape from domestic violence. Grace Princesa ( grprincesa@yahoo) Reflection: Do you doubt God’s promises when the dark night is too long? Please, Lord, always reassure me that You carry me in the palms of Your hands when life is at its darkest. St. Hilarion, pray for us. 1ST READING It is Abraham’s trust in God that we should focus on, as this is where our lives will have the biggest connection with his. The actual circumstance of Abraham is beyond our experience, but the need for trust and faith is at the heart of our own calling. Abraham believed in God’s promises even when they must have looked ridiculous from a logical point of view. It is in this truth that we learn that God’s love defies human logic — that is, His love is the final arbiter of His commitment to us. Romans 4:20-25 20 Brothers and sisters: Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God 21 and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do. 22 That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 But it was not for him alone that it was written that “it was credited to him”; 24 it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification. P S A L M Luke 1:68-69, 70-72, 73-75 R: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.68 He has come to his people and set them free. 69 He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David. (R) 70Through his holy prophets he promised of old 71 that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us.72 He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. (R) 73 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us 74 free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, 75 holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. (R) GOSPEL Material wealth passes away. Our lives are limited realities from the point of view of our earthly existence. What is the point of having all the wealth in the world if it means that one will be eternally separated from God? Our lives here and now are opportunities to open ourselves to relationships with God, and whatever this means on an individual basis. Thus, we begin the journey that will lead to eternal life. Any attachment to the ways and things of the world will hinder this journey. Material things may be good and pleasurable, but if they take over our lives they will lead us to damnation, not salvation. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Luke 12:13-21 13 Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 14 He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 15 Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 17 He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ 18 And he said, “This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods 19 and I shall say to myself, ‘Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ 21 Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” think: What is the point of having all the wealth in the world if it means that one will be eternally separated from God? MODERN-DAY CAVEMEN A rich man went to a desert monk to seek counsel regarding his unexplained loneliness. “Look, I have money and all these silver but I feel unhappy,” said the man. The monk took a mirror, placed it before the man and asked, “What do you see?” The man replied, “I can see only myself.” The monk then took the mirror and scraped out the silver coating behind it. Once more, he placed it before the man and asked, “Now what do you see?” Surprised, the man said, “Why, I see everything now: the plants, the river, the mountain, people fishing in the river.” The monk then continued, “This is what silver (riches) can do. It can block our vision and make us see only ourselves. Maybe you should try scraping off your silver and then you will see beyond yourself.” When we cannot see beyond ourselves, we are isolated, alone and therefore lonely deep within. In the Gospel parable, Jesus spoke of the danger of riches by speaking about a man who isolated himself from the rest by building a wall to protect himself and his riches. At the end of the parable, he was called a “fool” since he was about to die that same night and he could not bring all his riches with him. The Greek word used for the word fool in the Bible is idiotes— one who is alone. St. Augustine describes a sinner ascurvatus in se, Latin for “caved in on himself.” An idiot is not only one who is alone in not understanding what everybody else understands. An idiot is also one who is alone because he is closed in on himself — unable to see others because he is blinded by fear, insecurity and greed. We can really be fools sometimes. We ennoble the trivial and trivialize the noble. Fr. Joel O. Jason REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you a modern-day caveman? Go out of your cave walls and experience the beauty of people and the world. I thank You, Lord, for Your providence. Allow them not to stand in the way but rather be the way to You and others. Amen. In Christ sincerely,
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 10:09:16 +0000
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