“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” (EPH 1: 3-6)
In love chosen “before the foundation of the world” (!), destined “for adoption to Himself,” and blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heaven”— everything “through Jesus Christ,” our Lord. And all of this happened to us just “to be holy and without blemish before Him.” How much we are loved, how important we are to Him.
“I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (GAL 5: 22-23)
Loved by God, we receive everything from Him; He takes care of every element of our lives. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our hearts, He comes with “the fruit of the Spirit”: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.” Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit (not “works”) of the Spirit. Not law, nor our work, but the Holy Spirit leads us to such traits.
“My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat.” (LK 11: 37)
Our Lord accepted all invitations to come and dine at home. Home is a natural place where the Gospel should arrive. The Gospel is the Good News about us and God’s love, about how much we are loved and what we can do to share with others the love we received. Our Lord is never tired of accepting invitations and never discouraged when rejected.
“The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” (GAL 5: 1)
Our freedom is a result of Christ’s work for us—“Christ set us free.” Everything good in our lives is a result of His love for us: our achievements, our successes or our accomplishments. His love and His grace are always behind any of our actions. “So stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!’ And when he saw them, he said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, ‘Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?’” (LK 17: 14-18)
When Our Lord was asked “to have pity on them,” He sent them to the priests: “Go show yourselves to the priests.” How many times He touched people, prayed on them, or just ordered the sickness to disappear, but in this particular situation, He sent them to the priests, and “as they were going they were cleansed.” Our Lord asked them to trust the word. When we follow the word, we can expect miracles. When we ask, He answers, but we shouldn’t forget “returned to give thanks to God.” “This is the will of God” and a sign of our maturity.
“In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (Gospel
“‘Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.’ He replied, ‘Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.’” (LK 11: 27-28)
Perfect integrity: body and soul. We are bodies and we are souls. St. John Paul II reminds us in Familiaris Consortio: “As an incarnate spirit, that is a soul which expresses itself in a body and a body informed by an immortal spirit, man is called to love in his unified totality. Love includes the human body, and the body is made a sharer in spiritual love.” (FC, 11). To serve properly we need to remember about all our dimensions: we need to take care of our bodies and our emotions, of our minds and our souls. We can’t give just one, like only “hear the word of God” and not to “observe it.”
“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.” (LK 1: 38)
Mary freely and actively embraced God’s invitation to bear the Messiah. Many commentators highlight that the Greek expression denotes more than mere passive acceptance, indicating that she wishes or desires to fulfill God’s will in her life—“may it be done to me.” Unlike Zechariah, she welcomes the angel’s words uninhibited by doubt.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (LK 11: 13)
Luke presents three episodes concerned with prayer. The first, which we read yesterday, recounted Jesus teaching his disciples the Christian communal prayer, the “Our Father”; today we hear the second—about the importance of persistence in prayer and the third—about the effectiveness of prayer. Whatever we receive from Him is always much, much more, than we can expect because His love is total and unconditional.
“Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come…’” (LK 11: 2)
This is the most beautiful prayer because it was received from Our Lord, Who was praying this way. When we pray saying “Our Father,” we are placing ourselves close to Him and even next to Him, and we are never alone. This prayer always makes us united with Him like when we say: “Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, O God, Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever. Amen.”
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons through which we cry: Abba! Father!” (Gospel Acclamation)
“But when he, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.” (GAL 1: 15-17)
We are called from the beginning of our lives—“from my mother’s womb (He) had set me apart and called me through his grace,” and we are sent to different places. Like St. Francis, to whom God said: “Go and repair my church, which, as you can see, is in ruin.” Probably God could say to us something similar—go and repair my domestic church, which, as you can see, is in danger or even in ruin.” This is our mission today—to bring people hope, show them solutions, and encourage them to “hear the word of God and observe it.”
“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Gospel Acclamation)
