The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, September 15, 2005
The Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Our Lady of Sorrows

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 Timothy 4:12-16
Psalm 111:7-10
John 19:25-27

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom." (Psalm 111:10)

One of the most hazardous occupations is proclaiming God's absolute and unchanging truths to a sinful world. God's truth is based upon His love. He invites us to participate in this love that is His very essence by developing a relationship with Him that leads us to our perceiving His perfect love and as a result recognizing the sanctity, the divine origin, of all human life. Moral relativism, on the other hand, is an invention of those having no knowledge of God and who claim that truth must change with the times and circumstances. This belief places man above God and frees us to selfishly manipulate and trample on one another for our benefit or convenience. The world is presently existing by this scenario.

This latter situation relates to Mary's sorrow at seeing her Son, the Incarnation of God's love and truth being reviled, abused and finally crucified by those ignorant of the God they purportedly worshiped. Simeon's prediction was fulfilled; Mary's heart was repeatedly pierced in a figurative way, while the piercing of Christ's heart was literal. In this, Christ's final sacrifice, the blood and water issuing from His wound baptizes and cleanses from sin all those who lovingly live in His word. "The rise and fall of many" predicted by Simeon applies to us and depends upon our acceptance or rejection of living in God's Holy Word.

Most generous Father, we thank You for the precious gift of new life You have given us in Your son. By Your grace, may we never be seduced by this world's lures and lies. Amen.

- Marie Bocko, OCDS
(mlbocko at earthlink dot net)