Tag: freeing

“For this purpose I have been sent.” | Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield, For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:38-44)

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke describes a day in the life of Jesus as he heals and preaches, curing people who are sick with various diseases and proclaiming the message of the kingdom of God. Simon’s mother-in-law suffers from a severe fever. Jesus rebukes the fever, and she rises to serve Jesus and the disciples. Demonstrating authority over illness, Jesus shows compassion for those in need closest to him. Following this, as the sun sets, people bring to Jesus all who are sick or possessed by demons, and he lays hands on them, bringing immediate healing. The gathering of people shows the growing recognition Jesus received for his ability to heal people. The passage concludes as Jesus leaves at daybreak, telling the people that he must go to other towns to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

Father in heaven, thank you for sending your Son to heal and to teach. In the Gospel, he reveals the relationship he has with you. It is one of obedience to your will and dedication to the mission for which you sent him. People approached him constantly, from dawn to dusk. In the midst of the day, help me remember to pause and reflect on the times I have seen him pass by in the many opportunities you present to me. Help me also hear and do your will, bringing glad tidings to those who most need that and to proclaim liberty to captives through the saving work of your Son.

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.

Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. The Lord is just in all his ways.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:31-37)

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.

While teaching in the synagogue, Jesus encounters a man possessed by a demon who recognizes immediately the authority of Jesus as the “Holy One of God.” The scribes and Pharisees, and even people in Jesus’ hometown, did not recognize his divinity. The demon, or many demons, identifying itself as “we,” asks Jesus what he has do with them and knows also that Jesus comes to destroy sin and death. Jesus expels the demons and frees the man oppressed by them. In today’s Gospel, Luke describes Jesus’ divine authority through his teaching and exorcism, further establishing his identity as the Messiah and his power over evil, sin, and death. Unlike the demons who possessed the man, how many among us in our daily lives fail to immediately see Jesus as the Son of God? God, help us in the spiritual warfare we face every day.

God, help me see and understand the spiritual realities that pertain to everyday, ordinary experiences. Saint Paul speaks of this, saying, we are “taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.” To have the mind of Christ means to be able to see reality as you see it. Free me, Lord, from anything that would prevent me from seeing Christ in the faces of others so that I can love them as you love them. Show me how to be Christ to others so I can be a means of your love. Strengthen my conviction that the reality of evil and its oppression have been overcome through the liberating triumph of it in the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son. Saint Gregory, pray for us!

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.