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Jesus knows we must come apart and rest awhile, or else we may just plain come apart.
- Vance Havner
(What is the balance between rest and effort in your life? How can you tell when things are out of balance?) |
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GAL 1:6-12; PS 111:1B-2, 7-8, 9 AND 10C
LK 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this
and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A
priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two
silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"I assure you, brothers, the gospel I
proclaimed to you is no mere human invention. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I schooled in it. It came by revelation from Jesus Christ." —Galatians 1:11-12
We should thank the Lord that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses for Jesus (Heb 12:1). We thank the Lord for all those who have taught us the faith. We thank Him especially for our parents.
Nevertheless, our faith ultimately depends not on our parents, teachers, pastors, or anyone else. Our faith is not so much a matter of schooling but of the divine "revelation from Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:12). The main question from Jesus to us is not: "Who do other people say that I am?" but "Who do you say that I am?" (see Mt 16:13-15) God has no grandchildren. No one enters His
kingdom merely because they are related to His children. It's not good enough to know those who know God. We ourselves must know God (see Jn 17:3).
Put yourself in ideal circumstances for the Lord to keep revealing Himself to you personally. Pray at a certain time each day. Read daily the teachings of the Church in the Bible, Catechism of the Catholic Church,
and from the Pope. Try to pray the Mass and receive Jesus in Communion each day or as often as possible. Order your life to maximize your opportunities to receive Jesus' divine revelation to you.
Prayer: Jesus, may I sit at Your feet and listen to Your words (Lk 10:39).
Promise: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." —Lk 10:27
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence - by Jean-Pierre de Caussade SECTION IX.
Sanctity Made Easy. Conclusion of the first chapter.
How easy sanctity becomes when this doctrine is properly understood.
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I believe that if those souls that tend towards sanctity were instructed as to the conduct they ought to follow, they would be spared a good deal of trouble. I speak as much of people in the world as of others. If they could realise the merit concealed in the actions of each moment of the
day: I mean in each of the daily duties of their state of life, and if they could be persuaded that sanctity is founded on that to which they give no heed as being altogether irrelevant, they would indeed be happy. If, besides, they understood that to attain the utmost height of perfection, the safest and surest way is to accept the crosses sent them by Providence at every moment, that the true philosophers stone is submission to the will of God which changes into divine gold all their
occupations, troubles, and sufferings, what consolation would be theirs! What courage would they not derive from the thought that to acquire the friendship of God, and to arrive at eternal glory, they had but to do what they were doing, but to suffer what they were suffering, and that what they wasted and counted as nothing would suffice to enable them to arrive at eminent sanctity: far more so than extraordinary states and wonderful works. O my God! how much I long to be the missionary of Your
holy will, and to teach all men that there is nothing more easy, more attainable, more within reach, and in the power of everyone, than sanctity. How I wish that I could make them understand that just as the good and the bad thief had the same things to do and to suffer; so also two persons, one of whom is worldly and the other leading an interior and wholly spiritual life have, neither of them, anything different to do or to suffer; but that one is sanctified and attains eternal happiness by
submission to Your holy will in those very things by which the other is damned because he does them to please himself, or endures them with reluctance and rebellion. This proves that it is only the heart that is different. Oh! all you that read this, it will cost you no more than to do what you are doing, to suffer what you are suffering, only act and suffer in a holy manner. It is the heart that must be changed. When I say heart, I mean will. Sanctity, then, consists in willing all that God
wills for us. Yes! sanctity of heart is a simple “fiat,” a conformity of will with the will of God.
What could be more easy, and who could refuse to love a will so kind and so good? Let us love it then, and this love alone will make everything in us divine.
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