The Catholic Calendar for Monday, August 29, 2005
The Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Psalm 96:1 and 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13
Mark 6:17-29

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Today's First Reading reminds us of how the virtue of hope assists us on our spiritual way. Hope, one of the theological virtues is a supernatural gift from God that helps us develop a habitual way of thinking and acting. Hope, like all virtues, is something that must be "lived" in order to be effective. It's like having the potential of an electrical light switch - it only works if we we active it.

What then does hope do for us? St. Paul made it clear that hope helps us not succumb to grief, as if death were the end of us. It also helps us in the daily struggle that we face in a world where everything seems upside down, wrong or decadent. If it were not for hope we might think that the Evil One has won and God and goodness have been overpowered.

If we we don't nurture hope in ourselves and others we might give up the good fight, get lazy and listless as if a negative outcome was inevitable. What we might fail to understand is that the outcome is inevitable, but that it is God and those who remain steadfast in His love who are the ultimate victors.

O Lord, grant us ever-increasing hope so that we might be buoyed up and not drowned in the world's sorrows and woes. Keep before the eyes of my soul the vision of everlasting life with You in heaven. Amen.

- Donna Raye Nelson, OCDS
(drn3rd at hotmail dot com)

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