September 11, 2026 Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Luke 6:39-42
Today is Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time. The passage taken from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke presents us with a parable spoken by Jesus to His disciples. Let us endeavor to reflect upon it.
Jesus told His disciples this parable: “Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to his teacher; but when he is fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” (cf. Luke 6:39-40)
If we were to take the words of Jesus merely according to their literal meaning, we might think that Jesus is saying a person who is physically blind cannot lead another who is likewise physically blind. But what Jesus wishes to tell us is this: one who cannot clearly see the path that God has set before him is unable to guide those who likewise cannot see the way ahead.
In fact, we too were once blind. At that time, we did not know Jesus, and we had not yet received the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ nor the anointing of the Holy Spirit. By reason of original sin, the eyes of our faith were veiled by the devil and by sin, so that we could not see the beautiful world created by God. In those days we were easily led astray, because we always assumed that what others preached was correct. But when our hearts were at last awakened by the Holy Spirit—who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is consubstantial with the Father and the Son in the unity of the same Godhead—out of a spiritual instinct we grew ever more eager to know Jesus, ever more eager to become children of God by receiving the Baptism of Christ and the oil of gladness poured out by the Holy Spirit. Gradually our eyes came to see Jesus; and it was then that He invited us to come to the parish, so that we might experience His love for us and come to know the world of God that He sets before us. It is precisely through this experience that we slowly came to know Jesus, received His Baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and became children of God.
In today’s Gospel passage there is yet another point worthy of deep reflection: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the wooden beam from your own eye; then you will see clearly remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” (cf. Luke 6:41-42)
As I write this reflection, I am often reminded of those brothers and sisters in the Church who are quick to accuse others. They constantly think: “Everyone else is wrong; only I am right.” We think this way because we cannot accept ourselves, and because we imagine ourselves to be perfect. Sometimes, when we offer our prayers to God and feel that God has not answered us, we say that God is not perfect, because He does not grant us every grace for which we ask.
Today, Jesus invites us no longer to criticize others, but rather to recognize in others our own shortcomings, and to help and support one another in a spirit of brotherhood. For we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven alone; we need the help of angels. Who are our angels? Aside from the guardian angels that God sends to each of us, those brothers and sisters who genuinely help us are the very angels that God has sent to us. If we cherish this precious bond of brotherhood, we will experience in it the love that God has for us. Then we will become ever more conformed to Jesus, for our hearts will no longer beat in time with the devil, but in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Then the hatred between us will disappear, and only love will remain.
O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
September 10, 2026 Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
Today is Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke presents to us the way of Christ’s forgiveness. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
Jesus said to His disciples: “Listen to me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other to him as well; and if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if someone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (cf. Luke 6:27-31)
As I reflect on this passage, I often sense a certain resistance within me. For us, face is important, status is important, position is important, reputation is important. If we were to allow others to strike us unconditionally, it would seem no different from demanding that we show weakness. Yet this is precisely the attitude that Jesus asks of all who follow Him. He asks all who follow Him to imitate Him, to pray for those who persecute them, ever following His example on the Cross, who prayed to the Father: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (cf. Luke 23:34)
Jesus said to His disciples: “For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend it to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to receive as much in return. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (cf. Luke 6:32-36)
From this teaching, we can see that Jesus asks us who follow Him no longer to conduct our relationships after the manner of the children of this world, but to be like Him, loving this world unconditionally. For when we truly love this world, we become like Him, and the merciful Father will, according to what we have done, bestow upon us every grace we need.
O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
September 9, 2026 Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time or Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Claver Gospel: Lk 6:20-26
Today is Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time. Today the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest. The recently published Roman Missal tells us: “Saint Peter Claver (1580–1654) was born at Verdú in Catalonia, Spain, and entered the Society of Jesus. In 1610 he was sent to Colombia and began his life’s work among the slaves. During his thirty-three years of tireless ministry, he cared for them and baptized more than 300,000.”
Today, the passage taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke presents to us the four Beatitudes that Jesus spoke to his disciples, together with the end that awaits those who follow the outlook and values of this passing world. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some further reflections.
We often regard poverty, hunger, weeping, being hated, excluded, and insulted, and being spoken against as a series of negative things. For it seems to us that, in order to survive in this world, we must accumulate more wealth, so that we may not go hungry, so that we may not weep for lack of material things, and so that the world may pursue us on account of our material abundance and the social status built up for us by the goods we have stored away. Whenever such thoughts arise in our hearts, we have not yet entered the world of God; our thinking still remains in this passing world.
What does Jesus mean by poverty, hunger, weeping, being hated, excluded, insulted, and even having our name spoken of as something hateful on account of him? Jesus does not desire that we should suffer poverty, endure hunger, weep continually, be hated, excluded, or insulted, or be condemned on his account. Rather, he desires that each of us should establish anew a right set of values and a right outlook on the world.
What are the values and the outlook that Jesus wishes to teach us?
First: Jesus wishes to tell us that everything we now possess was created by God. We were made in the image of God — that is, according to the image of God. We were created not merely to enjoy all that God has made, but rather “to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Cf. Gn 1:27-28). This is the outlook on the world that Jesus wishes to teach us.
Second: Jesus wishes to tell us that if we place the center and focus of our lives upon this passing world, then we have not stored up treasure for ourselves in heaven. Even if we were to possess the whole world, yet when we come to the end of this life, all that we now possess cannot help us to enter the world of God; on the contrary, it becomes a burden that hinders us from entering the world of God of which Jesus speaks. This is the value system that Jesus wishes to teach us.
Third: Jesus wishes to tell us that if we follow the outlook and values he teaches us, we are inevitably destined to embark upon an extraordinary path. Those who follow the logic of this passing world will inevitably insult us, hate us, exclude us, and even condemn us, regarding our name as something hateful. If we look upon all this as a heavy burden, that only shows that we have not fully understood the teaching of Jesus. But if we regard all this as a sign that we are with Jesus, then we belong to the world of which Jesus speaks, for our thoughts, our words, and our deeds are in harmony with Jesus and the world in which he dwells.
O God, who made Saint Peter Claver a slave of slaves and strenghtened him with wonderful charity and patience as he came to their help, grant, through his intercession, that, seeking the things of Jesus Christ, we may love our neighbor in deeds and in truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
您必须登录才能发表评论。