30th Week in the Ordinary Time - Monday (Year II)
24th October 2022 (Monday) Readings and Reflection
Dear Brothers and Sisters, we are on the Monday of 30th week in the ordinary time. Today's gospel reflection is on the theme Be straight!
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ephesians 4:32- 5:8
Brethren: Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
Psalm 1:1-2, 3,4, and 6(R. see Ephesians 5:1)
Response: Let us be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Blessed indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the path with sinners,
nor abides in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord,
and who ponders his law day and night. Response
He is like a tree that is planted
beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper. Response
Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they, like winnowed chaff,
shall be driven away by the wind.
For the Lord knows the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked will perish. Response
Gospel : Luke 13: 10-17
At that time: Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disability." And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Be straight!
Indicative: The world of today is truly crippled in many ways. It needs the healing touch of God{alertSuccess}
1. We are familiar with one old famous hymn, “The world stands in need of liberation, Lord.” This is exactly the urgent need of our world. It is bound by various bonds. These comprise immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolishness, deception, disobedience, and emptiness – in the light of the first reading.
2. The gospel denotes these enslaving bonds as disabling spirits, being bent over, and not being able to straighten up. All these are the signs and effects of evil, the influence of Satan. This bounded and unfree situation is clearly indicated in the gospel by a disabled woman for eighteen years.
3. She was bent over and could not walk straight. This is contrary to the followers of Christ. Those who follow him will not walk in darkness, will not stumble but will walk in the light, and walk steadily. It is because Christ is the true light of the world. Those who follow him are the children of light and walk in the light.
4. To walk in the light is to walk in love in imitation of Christ who loved us and gave himself up for us. Concretely this will mean being kind to one another, tender-hearted, and forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave us.
5. Just as the disabled woman gets healing from the Lord, we too need healing. Sin has bent us and we are not able to walk straight and steady. We need to be loosed and freed from our different bonds, enumerated above.
6. Our greatest confidence and consolation is God’s abiding mercy. He himself takes the initiative, sees our plight, calls us over, lays his hands upon us, and says the same words that he uttered to the disabled woman, “My sister, my brother, you are freed from your disability.” All that is needed is to allow the Lord to touch us and heal us.
Imperative: For healing, for freedom from the bonds that bound us, there is no fixed time. Any time is a good and appropriate time. Let us not bind God too with our human bonds. God is beyond all Sabbath and He is the Lord of the Sabbath{alertSuccess}
Video Reflection
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