29 October, 2012
Monday of Week 30; St. Narcissus
FIRST READING
Ephesians 4:32–5:8
Brothers and sisters:
Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (see Eph. 5:1) Behave like God as his very dear children.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
ALLELUIA
John 17:17b, 17a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Luke 13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
REFLECTIONS:
Is there anything that keeps you bound up or oppressed?
Infirmity, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, can befall us for
a variety of reasons and God can use it for some purpose that we do not
understand. When Jesus encountered an elderly woman who was spent of her
strength and unable to stand upright, he gave her words of faith and freedom
and he restored her to health. She must have suffered much, both physically
and spiritually for eighteen years, since Jesus remarked that Satan had
bound her. How can Satan do this? The scriptures indicate that Satan can
act in the world with malice and can cause injuries of a spiritual nature,
and indirectly even of a physical nature. Satan's power, however, is not
infinite. He cannot prevent the building up of God's kingdom or reign in
our lives. Jesus demonstrates the power and authority of God's kingdom
in releasing people who are oppressed by physical and emotional sickness,
by personal weakness and sin, and by the harrassment of the evil one in
their lives. It took only one word from Jesus to release this woman instantly
of her infirmity. Do you believe in the power of Jesus to release you from
affliction and oppression?
The Jewish leaders were indignant that Jesus would perform such a miraculous
work on the Sabbath, the holy day of rest. They were so caught up in their
ritual observance of the Sabbath that they lost sight of God's mercy and
goodness. Jesus healed on the Sabbath because God does not rest from showing
his mercy and love, ever. God's word has power to change us, spiritually,
physically, and emotionally. Is there anything that keeps you bound up
or that weighs you down? Let the Lord speak his word to you and give you
freedom.
"Lord Jesus, you grant freedom to those who seek you. Give me freedom
to walk in your way of love and to praise and worship you always. Show
me how I can bring your mercy and healing love to those in need around
me."
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