The Catholic Calendar for Monday, November 14, 2005
The Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63
Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158
Luke 18:35-43

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

The First Reading and Gospel for today have such powerful messages, and it seemed impossible at first, to speak about both of them in just a few short paragraphs. It then occurred to me that in Her Wisdom, Holy Mother Church provides us with selections from Holy Scripture that are connected and work together.

With that thought in mind the frightening reading from Maccabees, which seems too familiar, like a commentary on our own times and the Gospel healing of the blind beggar became intimately connected. Like the the early Israelites and the beggar, we know we're in need and each of us searches for what will give us peace and happiness.

The question becomes, are we going to be like the people in the times of Maccabees who sought self-gratification for the answer, forgetting altogether the laws and commands of the one true God? Or, are we going to be like the blind beggar who knows enough to call out, "Jesus Son of David, have pity on me ...I want to see!"

Only with our permission can God work in our lives to satisfy us and give us what we really desire. The choice is really quite simple: do we "go it on our own" and suffer the consequences? Or, do we fall at the feet of our loving and merciful God, who you remember, first asked the beggar. "What do you want me to do for you?" And then after receiving an answer from the beggar, He did it!

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