JER 18:18-20;    PS 31:5-6, 14, 15-16;    MT 20:17-28

R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.

I hear the whispers of the crowd, that frighten me from every side,
as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life.

But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.





The Lord Jesus asks each of us the same question he asked of James and John - "Can you drink the cup that I am to drink"? The cup he had in mind was a cup of sacrificial service and death to self - even death on a cross. What kind of cup  might the Lord Jesus have in mind for each one of us who have chosen to be his followers? For some disciples such a cup will entail physical suffering and the painful struggle of martyrdom - the readiness to die for one's faith in Christ. But for many followers of Jesus Christ, it entails the long routine of the Christian life, with all its daily sacrifices, disappointments, set-backs, struggles, and temptations. A disciple must be ready to lay down his or her life in martyrdom for Christ and be ready to lay it down each and every day in the little and big sacrifices required as well. An early church father summed up Jesus' teaching with the expression "to serve is to reign with Christ". We share in God's reign by laying down our lives in humble service of one another as Jesus did for our sake. Are you ready to lay down your life and to serve others as Jesus did?

"Lord Jesus, make me a servant of love for your kingdom, that I may seek to serve rather than be served. Inflame my heart with your love that I may give generously and serve others joyfully for your sake."





The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

(Begins to treat of prayer. Addresses souls who cannot reason with the understanding.)

Water which comes down as rain from Heaven will quench the flames even less, for in that case the fire and the water are not contraries, but have the same origin. Do not fear that the one element may harm the other; each helps the other and they produce the same effect. For the water of genuine tears -- that is, tears which come from true prayer -- is a good gift from the King of Heaven; it fans the flames and keeps them alight, while the fire helps to cool the water. God bless me! What a beautiful and wonderful thing it is that fire should cool water! But it does; and it even freezes all worldly affections, when it is combined with the living water which comes from Heaven, the source of the above-mentioned tears, which are given us, and not acquired by our diligence. Certainly, then, nothing worldly has warmth enough left in it to induce us to cling to it unless it is something which increases this fire, the nature of which is not to be easily satisfied, but, if possible, to enkindle the entire world.

- Chapter 19

(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.)