.: 11/14/24

Thursday, November 14, 2024

† " The Days Will Come When You.... "

†

Saint of the Day for November 14
(January 6, 1256 – November 17, 1302)

Saint Gertrude the Great's Story

Gertrude, a Benedictine nun in Helfta, Saxony, was one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Saint Mechtild, she practiced a spirituality called "nuptial mysticism," that is, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ. Her spiritual life was a deeply personal union with Jesus and his Sacred Heart, leading her into the very life of the Trinity.

But this was no individualistic piety. Gertrude lived the rhythm of the liturgy, where she found Christ. In the liturgy and in Scripture she found the themes and images to enrich and express her piety. There was no clash between her personal prayer life and the liturgy. The Liturgical Feast of Saint Gertrude the Great is November 16.

Reflection

Saint Gertrude's life is another reminder that the heart of the Christian life is prayer: private and liturgical, ordinary or mystical, but always personal.

Thursday
of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 494
Reading 1

PHMN 7-20

Beloved:
I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother.
Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ
to order you to do what is proper,
I rather urge you out of love,
being as I am, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.
I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment,
who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
I should have liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the Gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
And if he has done you any injustice
or owes you anything, charge it to me.
I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay.
May I not tell you that you owe me your very self.
Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 146:7, 8-9A, 9BC-10

R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia

JN 15:5

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord:
whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
"The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.'
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you."

Then he said to his disciples,
"The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
'Look, there he is,' or 'Look, here he is.'
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation."

Daily Meditation: Luke 17:20-25

The Kingdom of God is among you. (Luke 17:21)

Jesus makes a stunning claim in today's Gospel: he says that he has brought God's heavenly kingdom to earth. This was hard to believe—even scandalous! For generations, God's people had waited for the Messiah. They longed for the day when he would overthrow their enemies and establish his reign. Many expected his kingdom to arrive through power and force; others expected it to come through political manipulation. Very few imagined it would come through the meekness and humility that Jesus preached. And so, disappointed and hardened by their unmet expectations, many doubted him.

Our own experience may be similar. We believe that Jesus has conquered sin and death, yet we still see suffering and darkness in the world. We believe that the Church is "the seed and beginning of [Christ's] kingdom" (CCC 567), and we assume that it ought to be a perfect oasis from pain and suffering. Instead, even within the Church people fall short, which only adds to our disappointment. Like the Jewish people, we doubt that Jesus' kingdom is truly "among" us when it doesn't look like what we think it should.

So just how does a meek and humble rabbi overcome the powers of darkness and bring a kingdom of goodness and light? This is the paradox of the gospel. God's kingdom enters the world in smallness, as a helpless infant. He brings victory through sacrifice and exaltation through humiliation.

Part of our problem, as it was in Jesus' day, is that our timing is off. We want to see the kingdom in all its fullness—now. If we aren't careful, these expectations can lead us to become embittered. Our hearts can grow hard, and we can miss the signs of the kingdom right before our eyes.

It's not easy to let go of our own expectations. But it is possible. Begin today! Don't let your heart get hardened by frustration or disappointment. As you live in the "in-between," keep your eyes open to how Jesus is working. Rather than growing disenchanted by what God's kingdom isn't, you can embrace the beauty of what it already is.

Ask Jesus to help you believe: behold, the kingdom of God is among you!

"Jesus, I trust that your kingdom is here, right now. Give me eyes to see it!"

Philemon 7-20
Psalm 146:7-10

Reflections with Brother Adrian:

Click to hear Audio

In the Holy Scripture we hear today:
""The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.'
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you."
Then he said to his disciples,
"The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
'Look, there he is,' or 'Look, here he is.'
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation."......." end Gospel quote, word of the Lord.

We pray in the Lord's prayer: "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven."
Are we asking for His Kingdom to come?

In Spanish, the prayer says "let it be your will on earth as in Heaven".

This calls more clearly on His Kingship.

And what of all this talk about a "King" anyhow?

This time of year, theologians call this liturgical time of year, the time of the eschatological readings.
We are leading up to celebrate Jesus the Christ as King.
A quick look up with artificial intelligence brings it up this way: "The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, is a Catholic feast day celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In 2023, this feast day will be celebrated on November 26.
Pope Pius XI established the feast in 1925 to publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ's supremacy over all nations and men. The feast was originally celebrated on the last Sunday of October, but in 1969, Pope Paul VI moved it to its current date. The feast is a reminder that Christ's reign is eternal, while governments come and go. "
Governing is important, like your local governors in town, or state, or country. But the King my friend? The King is over all governors, even the dark governors as well. We have something then to celebrate with honor. It is in church, and our in our daily lives, amen?

This is the proper way to celebrate, with the King, for the King, who lives and dies for us, as we are called to live and die for Him. Perhaps not in a bloody martyrdom, but to live our lives completely for Him, as have done the majority of the saints that help pave the way to heaven.
And so you are too, you are also to pave the way for the King.
Pave with alms. Pave with arms in praise. Pave the way with the very way you live your life for Him.
He loves it and why? Because, in a willing soul, He comes inside, and lives and moves and loves through you and me.
This is a bond that makes a fire of light that is unseen, much like He says His Kingdom is, not seen by human eyes, but through the eyes of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.