Children of Light

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102416.cfm) reminds me that being children of light should be all the time - there are no breaks. 

Sabbath is a holy day for the people. It commemorates the day that God rested from all the work he was doing. It was supposed to be a day away from worldly work, and totally dedicated not just for resting, but for serving and worshipping God. However, somewhere along the way, the essence was overshadowed by a lot of their rules - what are prohibited to do on a Sabbath. Good thing Jesus does not always follow worldly rules!

The first reading and responsorial psalm are both telling us what to do and how to live. We should live like children of the light - which is God. And in the gospel, Jesus tells us how. We should always do good. We should always serve God. We should always help others. Always. No exceptions. That is how we should live. That is how we should act. 

Sometimes we choose when to do good. When we feel like doing good. When we feel good about something. When we just want to do good. However, God reminds us that there should be no break in doing good. There should be no break in acting and living like God's children. 

May we be conscious to always do good, and always act as God's children - no breaks, no excuses, no dependencies. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another week. Thank you for another chance to love and serve you. Thank you for another reminder. Lord, sorry for the times I become choosy when to do good. Sorry for the times My mood dictates how I act. Sorry for making excuses. Lord, help me live right. Help me live in a way pleasing to you. Help me always do good. Help me always act right. May my life please and glorify you. Amen. 

Blessed week!

In Christ,

-g-

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October 24, 2016
Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 479

Reading 1 Eph 4:32–5:8

Brothers and sisters:
Be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you,
as is fitting among holy ones,
no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place,
but instead, thanksgiving.
Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person,
that is, an idolater,
has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments,
for because of these things
the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
So do not be associated with them.
For you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R. (see Eph. 5:1) Behave like God as his very dear children.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.

Alleluia Jn 17:17b, 17a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 13:10-17

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.