Thursday 9 November
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica First reading - Ezekiel 47:1-2,8-9,12 “Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live.” Today is the feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica. This is about the feast of Church where the grace flows. Church is where the sacrifice of Christ is continued. Where the grace of the Cross is being continued in the sacraments. This grace from the Cross is that gives the divine life to everyone. And along the bank of this river of grace, every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither will grow. The grace from the Cross gives life for all kinds of fruits. And this grace is for always. “…fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.” Not only that there will be always fruits, but the fruits are also good and leaves are medicinal. Be on the riverside of the grace and we are supplied with abundant grace. Let’s reflect: Am I in the flow of grace to be always fruitful?
Wednesday 8 November
Wednesday of week 31 in Ordinary Time First reading - Romans 13:8-10 “All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself”. This is the single command that we should follow. St. Paul explains this command of loving by an interesting concept. The concept of being in debt. He says, “Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love”. Get into the debt of mutual love means you love each other always more than the other. So that both are always in debt to each other. And how do you pay off your debts. Again the word of God says, “If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations”. You clear off your debts by loving. So, loving each other becomes an unending cycle of acts of love. And this is always good. St. Paul says, “Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour”. Therefore, keep loving. Let’s reflect: Am I loving enough to be in the debt of mutual love?
Tuesday 7 November
Tuesday of week 31 in Ordinary Time First reading - Romans 12:5-16 “Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor”. This is a beautiful piece of advice St. Paul is giving to Romans. In the first part of this passage, he is speaking about the foundation of this thought. The last paragraph is a piece of advice which comes from the former paragraphs. St. Paul is speaking about the unity between the different elements in the church. Church is the body of Christ, and we all belong to each other as parts of this one body. Whenever we forget this, we run into different difficulties. In order not to forget this we must be loving one another. “Love each other as much as brothers should and have a profound respect for each other.” In mutual love and respect we can be part of this body of Christ. And in this body every negative sentiment becomes positive. “Bless those who persecute you: never curse them, bless them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow”. Let’s reflect: Do I recognize my primary challenge to make unity by loving everyone with equal kindness?