Oct 15, 2022 | DAILY BREAD
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Luke 18:1-8
“Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.”. There is an intimate relationship between God and man. This intimate relationship is nurtured and expressed in prayer. And an essential element of relationship is its continuity. God continuously communicates with us because He loves us as His sons and daughters. In prayer this presence of God grows as we imbibe more and more His life and His love. Presence of God through prayer is like either filling in or emptying out. While praying the presence increases and when I stop praying, it starts emptying out. Moreover, we change in prayer. In the parable, the unjust judge changes and decides to do justice due to the constant presence of a just widow. The same thing happens in prayer. In prayer we feel the continuous presence of the love of God and this love of God changes us. The more you let the presence of God fill your life in prayer, better your life becomes. If there is no betterment in our life means, we are not praying enough. We grow in faith when we keep this loving presence of God in our life through incessant prayer. Therefore, the Gospel puts before us the question: Are you praying continuously enough to keep an uninterrupted presence of God in your life?
Oct 14, 2022 | DAILY BREAD
Saint Teresa of Ávila, Virgin, Doctor
Saturday of week 28 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Luke 12:8-12
“Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven”. This is very important because one who is speaking against the Holy Spirit is speaking against the same Spirit who is giving the grace of forgiveness. It is like denying the source and channel of grace. Therefore, it’s vital to recognize the action of the Holy Spirit in our life and in the life of others. When we fail to recognize that, when we close our hearts and eyes to the action of the Holy Spirit, we are shutting ourselves out of the Light. Let’s be vigilant to see and acknowledge the action of the Holy Spirit in others. Every good thing the other person does, let’s appreciate it. It is admitting the action of the Holy Spirit in him or her. Let’s see each small, good thing that happens in our life, it is understanding the action of the Holy Spirit in our life. Therefore, the Gospel puts before us the question: Are you recognizing each action of the Holy Spirit in your life and in the life of others?
Oct 13, 2022 | DAILY BREAD
Friday of week 28 in Ordinary Time
Saint Callistus, Pope, Martyr
Gospel – Luke 12:1-7
“Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows”. Are we conscious about this great mystery of ourselves? There is nothing casual in ourselves. Everything belongs to the design and plan of God. Everything in me is precious to God. The love of God embraces every aspect of my being. We have fears, anxieties, and worries. Because we forget this truth of ourselves. This truth is essential to understand the mystery of incarnation also. Because incarnation is the realization of this true love of God. This truth is essential also to understand the truth of the other person who is beside me. That person is also loved in the same way by God who loves me. So, I must treat that person also with love as God also knows every hair on his or her head. Therefore, the Gospel puts before us the question: Am I aware about the truth of God’s love in me and in others?
Oct 12, 2022 | DAILY BREAD
Thursday of week 28 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Luke 11:47-54
Jesus is referring to all the prophets who were silenced in the history of Israel. That reference also touches each of us who read the Word of God and not act accordingly. The inspirations and the call for conversion which the Word of God puts before us are to be taken seriously. Our indifference to the Word of God is our way of silencing the Word of God. We appreciate the message of Gospel, we love to read it, we love to listen to it, but we are not ready to act accordingly. This is where the prophetic voice is silenced. This is when we are not using the key of knowledge to enter the Kingdom of God and even we prevent others from entering it by our life. Let’s think, am I acting accordingly to the Word of God or am I indifferent to the Word of God?
Oct 11, 2022 | DAILY BREAD
Wednesday of week 28 in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Luke 11:42-46
Jesus is rewriting the rules of the society, recreating the hierarchy of values. It is not any more your external observation of the norms that makes you part of the Kingdom of God which Jesus brought. It’s the justice which the love of God dictates. The justice which the love of God prompts is the justice of love. It is not about paying the tax of the small things, but it is about loving the poor and the marginalized. It is not occupying the seats of honor and being greeted with reverence. It is about taking care of each person without distinctions or discriminations. It is about being love inspired by the love of God. It is not about making the life of people hard by our structures and system but it’s about making the life of people simple and easy with our love. The question which the Gospel puts before us: am I being a love in whatever situation I find myself?
