DAILY GOSPEL Friday, 08 November 2013 Friday of the Thirty-first week in Ordinary Time Saint(s) of the day : St. Godfrey, Bishop (1066-1115), Bl. John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. (c.1266-1308) See commentary below Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus : The bank of love Letter to the Romans 15:14-21. I myself am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another. But I have written to you rather boldly in some respects to remind you, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in performing the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast in what pertains to God. For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to lead the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit (of God), so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum I have finished preaching the gospel of Christ. Thus I aspire to proclaim the gospel not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on anothers foundation, but as it is written: Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand. Psalms 98(97):1.2-3ab.3cd-4. Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 16:1-8. Jesus said to his disciples, A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward. The steward said to himself, What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes. He called in his masters debtors one by one. To the first he said, How much do you owe my master? He replied, One hundred measures of olive oil. He said to him, Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty. Then to another he said, And you, how much do you owe? He replied, One hundred kors of wheat. He said to him, Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty. And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church Letter 142 (trans. ©Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites) The bank of love “My thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord” (Is 55,8). Merit does not consist in doing or giving much, but rather in receiving, in loving much. It is said, it is much sweeter to give than to receive,(Acts 20,35) and it is true. But when Jesus wills to take for Himself the sweetness of giving, it would not be gracious to refuse. Let us allow Him to take and give all He wills. Perfection consists in doing His will, and the soul that surrenders itself totally to Him is called by Jesus Himself His mother, His sister, and His whole family (Mt 12,50). And elsewhere: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word (that is, he will do my will) and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him (Jn 14,23). Oh, how easy it is to please Jesus, to delight His Heart, one has only to love Him, without looking at ones self, without examining ones faults too much. Your Therese is not in the heights at this moment, but Jesus is teaching her to learn to draw profit from everything, from the good and the bad she finds in herself. He is teaching her to play at the bank of love, or rather He plays for her and does not tell her how He goes about it, for that is His affair and not Thereses. What she must do is abandon herself, surrender herself, without keeping anything, not even the joy of knowing how much the bank is returning to her... In fact, [spiritual] directors have others advance in perfection by having them perform a great number of acts of virtue, and they are right; but my director, Jesus, teaches me not to count my acts. He teaches me to do all through love, to refuse him nothing, to be content when he gives me a chance of proving to him that I love him. But this is done in peace, in abandonment; it is Jesus who is doing all in me, and I am doing nothing.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 21:32:21 +0000
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