From the responsorial psalm: “Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 12:54-59)
Jesus said to the crowds, “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
Jesus points out to the crowds that people can predict the weather but fail to recognize who is present before them and the urgent message he bears. The spiritual realities that people don’t see, Jesus brings to light so they can see them as clearly as they know that a storm is coming from an approaching storm cloud. What is necessary, Jesus says, is repentance and reconciliation. Doing anything else is self-enslavement to some human power. To reconcile with one another in facing disputes is to open our hearts to the Father of mercies and live in relationship with others through him.
God, you know me well; my shortcomings and hesitations and fears you know. Yet you remain faithful to me, though I fail to do the same. Give me discernment to know your will and courage to follow it with confidence. I look up at the night sky and marvel at how it all came to be; yet it is. Help me be steadfast in seeking you, who are being itself, as I strive through Christ your Son to do what pleases you, as Saint Paul said, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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