The Catholic Calendar for Friday, October 27, 2006
Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Ephesians 4:1-6
Psalm 24:1-6
Luke 12:54-59

A reflection on today's Scripture . . . .

You interpret the appearance of the earth and sky,
why don't you know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:56)

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul describes how those baptized into Christ should live. They, and we, are members of His earthly body, called to abide in His Spirit, united as God's children to practice humility, gentleness and patience toward one another. The one great hope of our call is achieving unity of heart, mind and spirit with that of God in Christ and so live bonded in peace with one another on earth and with Him throughout eternity.

Christ in today's Gospel expresses righteous anger at religious leaders who are better at predicting the weather than reading the signs of the times. They, who have been given the responsibility of guiding His people's souls, have rendered themselves spiritually blind, unable to see that sin. Their hearts turned away from God and the "spirit" of His law, is the cause of their nation's misery. Having wandered from the loving authority of God to follow sterile laws, they have left themselves vulnerable to being occupied by the cruel Roman armies. They are awaiting a Messiah whom they believe will free them militarily, failing to see that it is their hearts and minds that need to be reformed, recreated anew in God's holy life, before they can be truly free. Sin is a merciless master and its effects eternal.

Today's Gospel should be read in the context of His earlier statement in which He says that He has come to bring division into the world, since He recognizes that regardless of all the good He may say and do to His people, many will still reject Him. The "fire" that He brings and desires to share with us is His self-giving love. We need, however, to have our hearts strengthened and enlarged to contain it. Many will reject Christ, for the pain wrought by the fire of His love as it attempts to change them from within proves unbearable as it exposes selfish, loveless souls and asks them to die to self in order to live in Him. Such is the reason Christ and His followers can expect to encounter hatred and persecution.

Almighty God, Source of all goodness, give us courage and light to look into the depths of our hearts and minds to see ourselves as we truly are, and so seek Your healing. Amen.

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