Psychology of religion can not teach us prayer, and ethics cannot teach us love. Only Christ can do that, and He teaches by the direct method, in and among the circumstances of life. He does not mind about our being comfortable. He wants us to be strong, able to tackle life and be Christians, be apostles in life, so we must be trained by the ups and downs, the rough and tumble of life.
- Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Light of Christ
("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13)
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MAL 3:13-20B; PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6
LK 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?"
Reflection on the Scriptures |
The early church was subject to strife regarding its direction and what defined someone as a true believer in God. The initial Christians were composed mainly of two distinct groups. There were the Jewish converts that Peter lead, and there were the Gentile converts that Paul lead. Many of the Peter-lead Jewish converts were still holding fast to their cultural customs, traditions,
and racial identity, and this was a source of friction between Paul and Peter that plays out in today’s first reading.
The strife detailed in today’s reading is still with us today. There are constant tugs on what the position of the Church or our country should be on many of the polarizing issues that are deeply aligned with our faith. So, let’s look a little more closely at the thought-provoking question Paul presents Peter when he asks, "If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a
Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
If Paul’s confrontational question was presented to us at Mass today, how would it be phrased to address our current world? Would Paul’s question be, "If you, though a Catholic, are living like a non-believer and not like a Catholic, how can you compel the non-believers to live like Catholics?" More importantly, how would we, today, respond to Paul’s question?
by Steve Scholer
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fifteenth Revelation, Chapter 64
Thou shalt come up above
And in this time I saw a body lying on the earth, which body shewed heavy and horrible, without shape and form, as it were a swollen quag of stinking mire. And suddenly out of this body sprang a full fair creature, a little Child, fully shapen and formed, nimble and lively, whiter than lily; which swiftly glided up into heaven. And the swollenness of the body betokeneth great wretchedness of our deadly flesh,
and the littleness of the Child betokeneth the cleanness of purity in the soul. And methought: With this body abideth no fairness of this Child, and on this Child dwelleth no foulness of this body.
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