Day Seven: Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Theme: Mary shows us ways of strengthening our faith in her Son

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs: Lectionary: 445

Reading 1: 1 Timothy 3:14-16

Beloved:I am writing you,although I hope to visit you soon.But if I should be delayed,you should know how to behave in the household of God,which is the Church of the living God,the pillar and foundation of truth.Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion,Who was manifested in the flesh,vindicated in the spirit,seen by angels,proclaimed to the Gentiles,believed in throughout the world,taken up in glory.

Alleluia: See John 6:63c, 68C R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life, you have the words of everlasting life. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?What are they like?They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

La Salette Scripture Reflection: Wednesday of the Twenty-Fourth Week of the Year    

Luke 7:31-35: “To what then shall I compare this generation, and what are they like?”

We are constantly being evaluated. We evaluate people every day. God in the Scriptures gave us the blueprint to evaluate ourselves with his most basic call to love one another.

Bill Russell, the legendary center for the Boston Celtics basketball team, used to keep his own personal scorecard. He graded himself after every game on a scale of one to one hundred. In his career he felt that he had never achieved more than a score of sixty-five.

Now, given the way most of us are taught to think about goals, we would regard Russell as a failure. He played in over twelve-hundred basketball games and never achieved his standard! Yet it was his striving for that higher standard that made him arguably one of the best basketball players ever.

What a call we have, not to sit around like children whining. We are called to goodness, to perfection. We are called to be saints. Mary says, “Come near, my children; be not afraid.” Her call, like that of God, is extended as a universal invitation. We are invited to hear her message and then make that message known to all her people.

Some Reflection Questions: Do I see my own call to discipleship as a standard always just out of reach, but infinitely worth striving after? What causes me at times to lower my goals in life?