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Message of the Day
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When love has carried us above all things ... we receive
in peace the Incomprehensible Light, enfolding us and penetrating us. What is this Light, if it be not a contemplation of the Infinite, and an intuition of Eternity? We behold that which we are, and we are that which we behold; because our being, without losing anything of its own personality, is united with the Divine Truth.
- John of Rusybroeck
(This relationship always exists for each of us, but it usually lies beyond the grasp of our ordinary awareness. Take time to simply relax into God's embrace of you in each moment.)
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Readings of the Day
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1 Pt 1:18-25a; Ps 147:12-13, 14-15,
19-20
Mk 10:32-45
The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were
afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the
chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after
three days he will rise." Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He
replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him,
"Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not
know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
Jesus said to them, "The
chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you
will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for
many." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“By obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves for a genuine love.” —1 Peter 1:22
Is your love for your spouse, parents, or children genuine? Almost everyone would automatically answer “Yes.” Do you believe that your family members and friends genuinely love you? Early in their lives, most people automatically answer “Yes.”
Over the years, however, we usually are forced to conclude that some people’s “love” for us was not genuine. This makes us wonder if
we will be sadly disappointed in other people's “love” for us. At some point in our lives, we suspect that even we ourselves have not been totally genuine in our love. Others are surprised that we haven’t noticed it earlier. Why not find out about “genuine love” now? Has your love been preceded by being purified through obedience to the truth? (1 Pt 1:22) If not, it may not be genuine. Is your love
based on faith, virtue, discernment, self-control, perseverance, piety, and care for your brothers and sisters? (2 Pt 1:5-7) If not, your love may not be genuine. Genuine love is humanly impossible, always accessible by God’s grace, and the culminating grace of a great series of graces. Love genuinely. Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit of love to teach me to love (see Rm 5:5). Promise: “Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life your fathers handed on to you, not by any diminishable sum of silver or gold, but by Christ’s blood beyond all price.” —1 Pt
1:18-19 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Three, Gift of the Spirit Chapter 5: Charismatic (Ministry)
Gifts - Selected quotes
In his more brief treatment of spiritual gifts in Eph. 4, Paul lists gift-roles: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These seem to be more like ministries in the community, but no doubt they were determined, to some degree, by the evidence of
spiritual gifts. In 1 Cor. 12:27-29, Paul provides a summary and ranking of the importance of the gifts/roles in the life of the community: Now you, together, are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers, after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers,
good leaders, those with many languages. I think the main point here is that the Church needs all these gifts to be exercised for its ongoing growth, but to overemphasize the importance of some (as was happening in the Church in Corinth, for example) leads to a distorted understanding of the role of the gifts in the life of the community. Paul was especially trying to
give a perspective on the relative importance of speaking in tongues, which had become a divisive issue in that community. In Chapter 14, he addresses the place of tongues (glossalalia) in the Christian life—a topic we shall take up more fully later on.
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