20 October, 2023 | Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 Gospel Lk 12:1-7




At that time:

So many people were crowding together

that they were trampling one another underfoot.

Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,

"Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

"There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,

nor secret that will not be known.

Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness

will be heard in the light,

and what you have whispered behind closed doors

will be proclaimed on the housetops.

I tell you, my friends,

do not be afraid of those who kill the body

but after that can do no more.

I shall show you whom to fear.

Be afraid of the one who after killing

has the power to cast into Gehenna;

yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.

Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?

Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.

Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.

Do not be afraid.

You are worth more than many sparrows."

Reflections

 Human fear makes us anxious and upset. It is crucial therefore, that we experience the unchanging and boundless love that God has for us. This love is not abstract. It is personal, intimate, compassionate. Indeed, Jesus reminds us gently, of the  care of the Father for each of us. His care for us, created in his own image is much more than that of his care for the sparrows.
As long as we trust ourselves to the whims of chance or to the world, as long as we are willing to live by our own standards of goodness, we will find ourselves at the mercy of fear. But as we commit our lives to a loving Jesus who constantly beckons us to his embrace, we will come to know his perfect love and that will cast  out  our fear.

Activity: 

 Pray and choose a radical act of service to those who need it.     


Comments

Post a Comment