The daily Word of God

septiembre 28, 2024

Saturday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time.  Saint Lawrence Ruiz and companions, martyrs.  Saint Wenceslaus, martyr. The Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday

Lk 9:43-45 "The Son of Man will be delivered into human hands."

First Reading

Proverbs 3:27-34

Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim when it is in your power to do it for him. Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once.Plot no evil against your neighbor, against one who lives at peace with you. Quarrel not with a man without cause, with one who has done you no harm. Envy not the lawless man and choose none of his ways: To the LORD the perverse one is an abomination, but with the upright is his friendship. The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but the dwelling of the just he blesses; When dealing with the arrogant, he is stern, but to the humble he shows kindness.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms 15:2-3A, 3BC-4AB, 5

R, The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.

R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.

R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
shall never be disturbed.

R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Gospel

Luke 8:16-18

Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

Dear friends,

Something of great importance is at stake. Jesus makes the announcement for a second time and issues a stark warning to the audience. «Listen up and understand this.» He is once again addressing the subject of his passion and death. The religious leaders will reject him and kill him. But he always points to the resurrection, which, however, was still far from his comprehension. Pain, death, loneliness, and sickness are painful mysteries that are an inherent part of the human experience. It is challenging for us to fully comprehend this reality and, most importantly, to accept it. Let me be clear: accepting the cross of Jesus is nothing whatsoever to do with a spirituality of victimhood or pain.

After moments of glory, such as the transfiguration and the healing of the epileptic boy, Jesus returns to the destiny that awaits him, ready to make the decision to go up to Jerusalem to die and rise again. He faced danger alone, despised and executed by his enemies in Jerusalem. His disciples react with disconcerting confusion. They are unable to comprehend his words, which seem to them like an obscure language. Seized by fear, they dare not ask him anything. They are still clinging to their ideas of political messianism. Jesus is the Messiah of God because he is «a being for death.» He is the Son of Man, not as a judge but as a suffering man. He is power and victory manifested in weakness. Jesus’ life is the ultimate paradox: he is King and he is servant; his victory is fulfilled in the cross of the slaves; his life is to die, to die, and to give his life for those he loves.

If you want to understand Jesus, you have to have faith and abandon yourself to God. Faith alone reveals that the cross is a symbol of triumph. Those disciples who did not understand the language, after Jesus’s death, gave their lives for him, despite persecutions and torments. A follower of Jesus will face the cross with courage and determination. Love is the first commandment. Love always entails pain and sacrifice for others. Today, we have countless persecuted Christians as a clear and undeniable example. Look at the courageous response of Christians in the Near and Middle East when the cross arrives. In the West, we must understand this language. Alongside Christians who respond, like the apostles, «I will follow you wherever you go,» other believers are afraid to follow Christ with all the consequences. We must not be afraid to «be different,» to be something else in the world, to announce the Gospel values, which are not worldly. We can say yes or say no; but to follow Jesus is to follow the Crucified One.

Godgossip

Witnessing to the Lord

Introduction

Proverbs is a wisdom book fictitiously ascribed to Solomon. Wisdom is a set of experiences and traditions taught to the young; it secularizes the prevalent “sacralization” of human thought, showing that God and the human person are not at loggerheads. God does not keep people from thinking and reflecting for themselves.

Christ speaks of the Word of God as a light that cannot remain hidden; it should shine in the lives of those who believe in the Gospel, so that they can bear witness to Christ and his message.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
you want our faith to be
a lamp placed on a lamp-stand,
so that people might see your light
and not stumble in the dark.
Speak your word to us,
give us the life-giving Spirit of your Son,
his Spirit of unity and freedom,
that we may be to the world
the new humanity of Jesus Christ,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Intercessions

– That the light of our love may shine and bear witness to Christ in our friendliness and understanding and our sharing with the needy, we pray:

– That the light of our justice may shine in our efforts to respect the rights of everyone and in our work to bring equity and justice to all, we pray:

– That the light of our joy may shine in our sympathy and affection for one another, in our faithfulness to our friends, in our liturgical celebrations and in our sense of community, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
accept these gifts of bread and wine
and let them become for us
the body and blood of your Son.
May he nourish our faith
and make us capable of bearing witness,
that in him, we can become one
and live for one another,
for he is our Lord for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
in this Eucharistic celebration
you have let us encounter your Son.
Let him stay with us this day,
that people may discover
how much he means to us
and what he can do with us
notwithstanding our limitations.
Not to us, Lord,
but to you and to your Son,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit
be all honor and praise for ever.

Blessing

To bear witness consists in calling attention not to ourselves but to God and what he can do in us, poor instruments. We can only propose what we believe and live, and then, leave the rest to God’s grace. May God give you this attitude and bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.