Monday 6 November
Monday of week 31 in Ordinary Time First reading - Romans 11:29-36 “God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice”. This is about the love of God for us. God loves us with all our disobedience by showing mercy. And his mercy is rich and deep. All that exists comes from Him. All is by Him and for Him. And He still loves us with all our defects and weakness. And what we must do is to give Him the Glory forever. So, when we recognize our disobedience toward the Lord, we must accept His merciful love. In accepting the mercy from the Lord, we acknowledge that all that exists comes from Him. We surrender our life to Him and be part of His mercy and His love. Let’s reflect: Do I recognize the love of God which shows mercy at my disobediences?
Sunday 5 November
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time First reading - Malachi 1:14-2:2,8-10 “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why, then, do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?” The words of the Prophet Malachi must be awaking in us the sense of being sons and daughters of God and treating each other as sons and daughters of the same God. Whenever we thing of excluding a person, the first thought that should come to our mind is this: This person is also a son or daughter of the same Father. Often we forget that and we make differences and exclude others because of various reasons. Whatever the differences are, he or she is the son or daughter of the same Father. We have no reason to exclude that person for a reason. The main truth remains. We are all sons and daughters of the same Father. We all have the same creator. Whether it’s a thought or it’s an act, against this truth, we must avoid. Let’s reflect: Am I excluding anyone for any reason ignoring the truth that we are all sons and daughters of the same Father?
Saturday 4 November
Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop Saturday of week 30 in Ordinary Time First reading - Romans 12:3-13 “Our gifts differ according to the grace given us”. In the reading today St. Paul is giving some very important advises for the life in the Church. One of those is a fundamental teaching about grace and gifts. We have different gifts because of the grace given to us. And the grace is always gratuitous. So all the gifts we have is because of the grace given to us by the Lord out of His love. St. Paul is explaining that these gifts are to be used for the unity between us, “we belong to each other”. We cannot use our gifts forgetting the other. And St. Paul continues, “Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other”. So, our gifts are loving each other. Again, it is for working for the Lord with untiring effort, it’s for being cheerful. Let’s reflect: Am I using my gifts received from grace for loving the other?