Tag: divina

A reading from the Gospel according to Luke

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus drives out from the temple area all who were selling things, those who would deceive others in a temple made into a marketplace. The sellers were there for financial gain, not worship. When Jesus drives out of the temple those who made it into a marketplace, he is acting on truth he has spoken. Jesus is just in his judgment. Today, how does Jesus purify sacred spaces by driving out what doesn’t belong? In my own life, how does Jesus drive out from me, a temple of the Holy Spirit, the four substitutes for God, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas—honor, power, pleasure, wealth?

God, help me understand that Jesus made enemies by proclaiming the truth and judging justly. He drove out what didn’t belong in the temple area. Although the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders tried to find a way to put him to death, they couldn’t stop Jesus because people clung to the truths he was teaching them. Help me, Lord, learn wisdom from you to boldly proclaim the truth. As the refrain from today’s Psalm goes, “How sweet to my taste is your promise!”

When I am overwhelmed with tasks today, Lord, drive out self-possessing anxiety and let me remember “your will be done,” not mine. Grant me the grace to remember to return to you, who will drive out of me what doesn’t belong. In the words of Saint Paul: “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

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.

Readings

• YouTube

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. . . . Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

There is a clear line between cause and effect in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus spends the night in prayer to God, and the next day he called the Twelve Apostles to follow him and healed everyone in the crowd of their diseases and unclean spirits. How was this possible except through Jesus’ connection to God through prayer? And what was the result? “Power came forth from him and healed them all.”

As Father Burke Masters says, “If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do we need to pray?” God, help me understand the necessity of prayer, not because of its effect or because through it I will become powerful, but because you are the source of all love and you loved me first. Jesus models how to pray to the Father, and he sets a high standard for having an authentic relationship with him through prayer. In the midst of a busy day, how will I be able to rise to that standard? God, give me the grace to return to you throughout today.

Jesus, teach me to go as you did to the Father, who knows what I need even before I ask. I want to know that I can ask anything of you as I weigh the day’s decisions, however small, and be confident that you hear and answer me.

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.

Readings

And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

Jesus replies to a question from someone in one of the towns he passed through: ”Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Strive to enter through the narrow gate, Jesus tells him. Many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. He then tells the parable of the master of the house who locks the door and doesn’t let in the one standing outside. “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!” says the master of the house. And Jesus then says, “There will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.”

God, help me learn the meaning of strive to enter and wailing and grinding of teeth. It is not enough to slide by to remain in the kingdom of God. On the other hand, I would not want to see myself cast out from the kingdom of God against my desire and will. You are merciful, Lord, and your mercy extends from this life to eternal life. Do I merely eat and drink from your spirit in a passing acquaintance? “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Jesus, help me learn to be humble by asking for your help to continue striving to be in your kingdom and to manifest it.

Today, Lord, as I receive you in the Eucharist, body and blood, soul and divinity, give me the grace to be firm in my desire to seek you. Allow your grace to work through me to bring glory to your Father. Stay with me today, Lord.

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.

Readings

Podcast

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Pharisees question Jesus about which commandment in the law is the greatest. A key word here is law, an area in which the Pharisees and Sadducees often challenged Jesus. Following the law as it had been passed down through tradition, the Pharisees sought to trip up Jesus by questioning him about the greatest law. His response? The whole law and the prophets depend on love of God and love of neighbor.

God, help me understand the greatest commandment, which is nothing but dry bones without spirit if limited only to human endeavor. It takes a relationship with God to bring them to life. In the first reading from Ezekiel, the Lord takes Ezekiel out to walk among a vast plain covered by human bones. Through cooperation with the commands of the Lord, Ezekiel puts sinews, flesh, and skin over the bones. But, although they were covered in skin, there was no spirit in them. And then the Lord says to Ezekiel, “Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.” Ezekiel then says, “I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army.” Here, every step of the way on the plain of dry bones, the Lord instructs Ezekiel to prophesy to bring his commandment to life. Alone, Ezekiel could do nothing to bring the bones to life. In the same way, without God’s love, there is little I can do to carry out his greatest commandment with genuine love.

Lord, you led Ezekiel to the plain to hear your word and see in every direction dry bones, beings dead in spirit that he would bring to life through your saving power. Today, when my spirit starts to fade and wither, feeling the sting of little deaths and disappointment, let me remember Ezekiel’s reply when you asked him if these bones can come to life. He said in reply to you, “I answered, ‘Lord GOD, you alone know that.’ ” Let me have the faith to love and trust you as Ezekiel did.

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.

Readings

Podcast

“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. . . . Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Today’s Gospel reading says that Jesus “again spoke to the chief priests and the elders,” meaning this wasn’t the first parable he had shared with them, most likely within a short time frame. The wedding feast recalls other dinners that Jesus describes in other parables, and the last line of the reading resounds: “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

God, help me understand what you mean by the Kingdom of heaven. Is it here and now or in time to come and always? Or is it both? I think Jesus refers to a little of both. He uses the word invitation six times in the reading and feast five times. For certain, there is almost a direct reference to the prophets who were mistreated and killed. But Jesus also speaks to every person who has ears to hear. I’m not sure what to make of the guest who came without a wedding garment, who was bound and cast into the darkness. Does Jesus mean by this to straighten up, live a good life, and match the self-identification with the occasion—coming to meet God in the Kingdom of heaven?

I know God wants me to recognize him throughout the day. God, give me the grace to know an invitation when I receive one—whether that might be family or a neighbor or a stranger—and respond by bringing the Kingdom of heaven into that moment. As the Gospel acclamation says, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

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.

Readings

Podcast

“ ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the landowner who hires laborers for his vineyard. To the laborers he hired at five o’clock, he gave the same wage as the ones he hired at nine o’clock. The laborers grumble, and the landowner’s reply reveals his generosity. In the same way, God reveals his generosity in saving and shepherding his people. From the first reading through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord says: “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”

God, help me understand that you are generous and loving in caring for your people regardless of whether they deserve it. Just as the landowner invites laborers late in the day to come work in his vineyard, so you invite us throughout life—early, often, and late—to work in your vineyard for the wages of salvation.

Lord, shepherd me today and let me hear your voice as you say to me, “You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.” At the end of the day, I sometimes look back and think, Where was I or what was I doing that I couldn’t know you were present? It’s as if the pressures and anxieties of the day whisked me along without my trying to discern which direction you lead me. But with you as my shepherd, Lord, I have no reason to fear anything, as the psalmist says, neither the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day. Let me trust that you guide me every day to give me courage and peace to move forward.

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.

Readings

Podcast

“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

After saying this, Jesus is questioned by the disciples: “Who then can be saved?” His answer: “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Jesus puts in right order worldly success and wealth, as personified in the first reading in the lifestyle of the prince of Tyre, whose heart, God says through Ezekiel, has grown haughty from riches. Not only riches but intelligence and worldly success made the prince of Tyre believe himself to be a god. It is this same sin that Jesus says is impossible to save oneself from—“it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”— but for God it is possible because for Him all things are possible.

God, how can I begin to understand that the pursuit of riches is a chase after wind? No matter how I might try to limit the place that money and money making holds in my life, it is impossible for me to know when enough is enough. But for you, God, all things are possible. Thank you for the words of your Son, who sets things in right order by serving all in his words and through his life: “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” God, help me learn how to place you before the pursuit of riches and its attendant elusiveness and deception.

Father in heaven, I give you every thought, burden, and worry that passes through my mind today. In them alone, I become entangled and lost in darkness. In you, eternal source of love, is light that penetrates every darkness. I know you want me to be one of “your people” and that you want to be my God. Give me the opportunity today to humble myself to recognize that. Free me of the drive for earthly power and honor; set in my path, through your grace, the people you desire me to lead closer to you in so far as I imitate Christ in my words and through my life. For me, this is impossible; for you, Lord, all things are possible.

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.

Readings

Podcast