The Catholic Calendar for Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Vincent de Paul, priest

Readings from the Liturgy of the Word:
Proverbs 30:5-9
Psalm 119:29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163
Luke 9:1-6

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Our Lord certainly knew that the time He had on earth for His ministry would be short, only a couple years. He also knew that He had to rely on His people to continue the work, changing people’s hearts and the world in the process. As we hear today’s gospel, we learn how He started preparing them for their lifelong ministry and this preparation contained much of His teaching rolled up into one nice, neat package.

The Lord gave His disciples wonderful powers to heal and preach the gospel. But then He told them to take nothing with, to teach that their task could only be completed by relying totally on God and not on anything the world could provide. He then taught them the truth that they would sometimes face rejection and that when they did, they should move on and continue their ministry.

We would be wise to examine this in depth and contemplate what the Lord said. He gives wonderful gifts in the Eucharist, but we need to rely solely on Him and not worldly things. We will face rejection, at times, but we are not to get discouraged and continue the work. This was true 2000 years ago and it remains true today.

- Don Claunch, SFO
(dlclaunch at bresnan dot net)