The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Jerome, doctor of the Church

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Zechariah 8:20-23
Psalm 87:1-7
Luke 9:51-56

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord
in Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51-56)

The focus of today's readings is God's loving omnipresence. He is not, as some believe, watching to catch us in sin. In reality He is a Love that is ever near so that we may reach out to Him once we realize that there is a void in our lives that no other person nor thing in this world can ever fill. The flesh is not our enemy in our struggles to live a life pleasing to God. The enemy is our not realizing or refusing to accept that this physical body is actually a sacred vessel created by Him, as St. Paul tells us, to be the "temple of the Holy Spirit." We are called and can manifest to the love and truth of God, and so participate in His very virtues.

Today's Gospel reveals that as yet Christ's Apostles did not fully apprehend these truths and so thought to destroy the Samaritan town that had rejected Christ. Always God comes to us offering everlasting life, never death; His providence provides us every opportunity to accept this gift. But He requires faithful prayer, our earnest seeking for Him and receiving a knowledge of God in the depths of our souls; coming to know Him, we can then surrender our wills to the One we now see as desiring only our good. God never forces Himself upon us; we always retain our freedom of choice.

Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Jerusalem is not limited by geography but refers to a body of people who are living as visible examples of God's presence on this earth. This should be a "wake up call" to a Church that purports to be the body of Christ; though today she deems herself rich in "good works," she has suffered many lapses in her faithfulness to God's truth and love. Healing can take place if we humbly come before God to pray that His Sanctifying Spirit will reveal the true state of our souls to us and if we sincerely repent and yield our wills totally to Him.

Holy Spirit of God,
make the fire of love and truth cleanse our hearts
of every impurity,
that we may reflect only Your goodness and holiness.
Amen.

- Marie Bocko, ocds (mlbocko at borg dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:48 AM