28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Blessed Virgin Mary
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green/White)
Ps 8:2-3ab, 4-5, 6-7
You have given your Son to rule over the works of your hands.
1st Reading: Eph 1:15-23
I have been told of your faith and your affection toward all the believers, so I always give thanks to God, remembering you in my prayers.
May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of glory, reveal himself to you, and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you may know him.
May he enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God. May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for his saints; may you understand, with what extraordinary power, he acts in favor of us who believe.
He revealed his almighty power in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and had him sit at his right hand in heaven, far above all rule, power, authority, dominion, or any other supernatural force that could be named, not only in this world, but in the world to come as well.
Thus has God put all things under the feet of Christ and set him above all things, as head of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills all in all.
Gospel: Lk 12:8-12
I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit. When you are brought before the synagogues, and before governors and rulers, don’t worry about how you will defend yourself, or what to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.
Reflections
The boldness which Christ calls for in the faithful proclamation of God‘s truth and love does not come from our own strength and wisdom. Jesus says that the power of our proclamation comes from the Holy Spirit. Let us cease to worry about the consequences of our boldness and focus our attention on the source of it — God‘s Spirit. With great assurance, Jesus says “Do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.“ See how the Holy Spirit did just this in Acts 4:8-10 - “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.“
It is not enough simply to look at truths about the Spirit, if we don‘t connect them to our lives. In the twenty-first century, we have become too self-sufficient and indifferent to the promptings of the Spirit. We need to let the Holy Spirit to instruct and guide us.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
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