TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR

MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:6-11)Never stand in the way of letting someone do something good. This means that we must be open to receiving what people would like to do for us. It is very difficult, much more difficult than giving. There may be something in their heart which will find at least a little healing by doing something for someone. The favor which we consider small may take a weight off their hearts. Even when the motivations may not be the highest we have an obligation to let people do the good they can do.

TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR(Luke 6:12-19) We can be tugged and pulled in some many different directions. The demands of the day can be suffocating. The noise of life is unending. A time set apart is necessary if we are not to lose the inner person. A time focused on God in whom we are reminded of who we are. A space set aside where we meet the Lord in a very personal way. The space in which we truly find that He is our friend. The mountain, so close to God, the mountain which we must climb and in climbing see things through the prism of God.

WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR(Luke 6:20-26) To search for and to acknowledge our poverty is what the Lord is asking. How counter culture this is. Everything is geared for wealth. Those who have it want more, those who do not have it would like to have it. It seems that wealth is the primary motivator. What does this search for poverty mean?
The center is God. Complete dependence on God and an awareness that everything we have is gift. The simple acknowledgment that the only thing we can claim for our own is our sins. He stands there telling us that in being poor we come to know how rich we are. In becoming poor we are in solidarity with the millions of people throughout the world who are materially poor. In acknowledging this poverty we stand with open hands before God and our fellow people ready both to give and to receive.

THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:27-38) We are not called to be passive in the face of evil, but active. When we look at this, perhaps the most difficult of all passages in the Scripture, we keep coming up with the word “love” Love is the secret that frees us from the ordinary way of acting. To love someone when everything they do says: do not love me.To love when we are faced with non-love, to let this love conquer the evil which is the absence of love. Forgiveness, compassion are more than slogans, they are the way of life of the follower of the Lord. They have no boundries.

FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:39-42) Riches can blind us. They enter the heart and close eyes to the world outside. Riches become the possessor rather than the possessed. It is seeing that riches are meant to be shared. It is in accepting the fact that the things of this world are meant for all and not for just the privileged few that eyes are open. In the world today there are many people who have been blinded by riches and unfortunately they lead the rest in the same darkness. It is for those whose eyes have been opened by faith to lead others into the sunshine of freedom.

SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK OF THE YEAR (Luke 6:43-49) There are at any time many conversations going on within us. Which one are we going to listen to is the question. Often times we do listen to the wrong voice. A voice which leads us in wrong ways. It is important for us to ferret out of all the voices which are clanging in our hearts the One Voice. We most listen very carefully, we must spend time in silence if we are to hear this voice. The other voices are loud, easily understood,