ABC’s of a Faith Journey

Greetings on this the Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Wis 2:23–3:9; Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19; Lk 17:7-10
Notes: Looking for a few good men.

Summary
We are given to prepare the Kingdom of Heaven. Invite the guests. Prepare the meal. Attend to all and most of all the holy Lord of Hosts. It is the attitude of the servant. The same attitude Jesus had at the Last Supper and in the Washing of the Feet.

So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger* greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it (Jn 13:12-17).

Reflection
We are not the possessors of grace. We are possessed by grace. We are not the store of grace. We are a funnel for grace. We are not the source of grace. We, by the will of God, can become grace in participation with the Lord.

Jesus made clear he is the servant of servants even as he is LORD and Master. This then is the principle attribute of the actions of the saints. To Serve.

Personal Reflection
Serving the LORD means to share the very grace given to us. Nothing we do should be separated from that divine impulse. Serving with a cheerful heart is the hard part! Not always easy, true? I walked past the laundry cart at the hospital full of the soiled and dirty linen. Man o man, the smell! Then I remined myself that when you serve constantly there is no smell. If I can smell the cart, I am not fully engaged.

Go

Go and serve until you can’t smell the soiled linen.

First Reading
(a) God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made them.
(b) But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.
(c) But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.

Responsorial
I will bless the Lord at all times.

(a) Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
(b) The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
(c) The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.

Gospel Acclamation
Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him.

Gospel
Attitude of a Servant.

(a) Prepare something for me to eat.
(b) Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
(c) Say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.

NABRE commentary: These sayings of Jesus, peculiar to Luke, which continue his response to the apostles’ request to increase their faith (Lk 17:5–6), remind them that Christian disciples can make no claim on God’s graciousness; in fulfilling the exacting demands of discipleship, they are only doing their duty.

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry