9/11/08

A reading from the holy gospel...


Image by ScripturePics

This year 9/11 falls on the church calendar as "Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time." A weekday in Ordinary Time is about as plain and simple as a day on the liturgical calendar can be. At weekday Masses, readings from the gospel are relatively continuous and so the gospel for 9/11/08 is the passage below from Luke.

While these words are not easy to live by on any day of the year, they make great demands on us today in light of the tragedy we commemorate...

A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke

Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

Luke 6:27-38


-ConcordPastor

1 comment:

  1. This is great... I do attend daily mass, but we do not have liturgy on Thursday.

    I usually go to the readings for the day in any event, but had an early out of town meeting yesterday, so did not do so.

    Thankfully Rocco linked to your post... and I am so grateful.

    As someone who was in NYC (although not directly at Ground Zero) on 9/11, it is a day that has significance, although clearly it does for us all.

    My experiences of 9/11 and other life challenges as seen through the lens of my faith give me the heart to want to live this Gospel.

    This is of course, easier said than done. It is an ever-present and persistent invitation from a loving and compassionate God however.

    Your blog will be added you to our blogroll... This is a great site.

    Pax to you-
    Fran

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