Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Luke 12:35-38
Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding. As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open the door to him. Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes. Truly, I tell you, he will put on an apron, and have them sit at table, and he will wait on them. Happy are those servants, if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!

Reflections
“Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes.”
There will be an end of time. An ordinary understanding of this is that it points to the end of the world. However, some would maintain that this may also mean the end of one’s life (death) if one will not survive to witness the world’s end. But let’s face it, many are scared of the end of time. Probably because of its accompanying catastrophic and cataclysmic occurrences. There will be horrifying scenes of loss and destruction. Fortunately, Sacred Scriptures gives us a better picture. The end of time is not just about disasters, it is also about the return of the Lord, something we should not be sacred of but look forward to.
The Lord’s return is certain (cf. Acts 1:11; Rev. 22:12). But the certainty of this return is not certain, meaning we do not know exactly when. But this is not of concern to us. What is important is that when this happens, the Lord will find us actively prepared: doing service in his household (the Church), faith- ful to him, watching, and waiting. Great shall be the reward of the servant found not lazy but eagerly anticipating for the Master’s re- turn. There will be a great reversal. Instead of the Master enjoying the feast, the servant will be blessed with it which is no other than the participation in the great banquet of heaven.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus, “Master, tell my brother to share with me the family inheritance.” He replied, “My friend, who has appointed me as your judge or your attorney?” Then Jesus said to the people, “Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life.”
And Jesus continued, “There was a rich man, and his land had produced a good harvest. He thought, ‘What shall I do, for I am short of room to store my harvest? Alright, I know what I shall do: I will pull down my barns and I will build bigger ones, to store all this grain, which is my wealth. Then I will say to myself: My friend, you have a lot of good things put by for many years. Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be taken from you. Tell me, who shall get all you have put aside?’ This is the lot of the one who stores up riches for himself and is not wealthy in the eyes of God.”

Reflections
“For even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life.”
In November 2015, a rumored reflection of Apple’s Steve Jobs about his life, who passed away in 2011, circulated. Although found to be not Jobs’, the words it contains are amazingly thought- provoking: “I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to. At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death. …Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.”
It is a fact of life that man desires security in life. We pursue things to give that sense of guarantee that we have positioned a better future for ourselves. But things can go awry when our attention gains momentum in focusing only on material possessions. This can make us blind, twisted according to the essay, oblivious of things that truly matter. Yes, we can be rich in this life but let us not lose sight of the after-life.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 18:1-8
Jesus told them a parable, to show them that they should pray continually, and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain town there was a judge, who neither feared God nor people. In the same town there was a widow, who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Defend my rights against my adversary!’ For a time he refused, but finally he thought, ‘Even though I neither fear God nor care about people, this widow bothers me so much, I will see that she gets justice; then she will stop coming and wearing me out.”
And Jesus said, “Listen to what the evil judge says. Will God not do justice for his chosen ones, who cry to him day and night, even if he delays in answering them? I tell you, he will speedily do them justice. But, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Lectio Divina
READ: The perseverance of Moses in the first reading in raising his hands holding God’s staff, a gesture of prayer, led to the victory of Joshua and his companions. The same lesson on perseverance is contained in the gospel reading; it will lead to answered prayers. These stories from Sacred Scriptures should instruct and teach our life of faith.
REFLECT: Prayer is central to our Christian life. St. Paul tells us (1 Thes.5:17) “pray without ceasing” which is another way of saying persevere in prayer. But we must understand this nuance: perseverance in prayer is not demanding in prayer. While we pray to God for help, we leave to God’s will to send to us the kind of help that he deems best. Many have been blessed with the realization of this insight. God does not always give what we ask for, but not one who approaches him in prayer left empty handed.
PRAY: Lord, help me surrender to your will in my prayers.
ACT: Help someone in need today. Be God’s instrument. Be the answer to his/her prayer.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 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
“There will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.”
In the film “Francesco,” an episode showed the Holy Father Francis, then Archbishop of Argentina fondly called Padre Jorge, eating a meal with a family after celebrating mass in a slum area. In the course of the meal, he commented, “You’re sharing your food with us. That means you’re sharing your heart as well.”After he said this, the lady of the house started crying and left the table. The husband said she had been crying every night for two weeks already. Padre Jorge followed her, talked to her, and discovered that she aborted her baby. The words of Padre Jorge to her were heartwarming: “God is mercy. He knows you regret it from the bottom of your heart. I’m sure he’s forgiving you right now.”
God is mercy. God forgives. But why are sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven? Remember that the work of the Holy Spirit is to inspire, to open up the heart, and to dispose the person to God and to the values of God. It is possible for a person to refuse the Holy Spirit and his work. When this happens grace and enlightenment cannot penetrate. Unlike the lady in the story, this person will have no sense of regret, no sense of morals, and no sense of sin. It is not that God will not forgive; people like this will feel no need for it and thus, by their own will, they have brought condemnation upon themselves.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019