GOSPEL - Lk 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.”
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, who did instruct the hearts ofthe faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of that same Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Wednesday is dedicated to St. Joseph
STUDY - An excerpt from Link to Liturgy Lesson Pleasing God
Why would we want to please God? Some might please God so they do not get in trouble, so they don’t get on God’s bad side. Some might please God so they can get something, a reward from the One that has everything. Some might want to please God for the sole reason of pleasing the one they love.
Why do we please others? Many times we please others to get something, or so the person does not get mad at us. If we really think about it, it is rare that we would do something for someone just to please them, and to expect nothing in return. To please solely for loves sake is difficult, because we seem to always ask the question, “What is in it for me?”
Our vocation, our calling, to bring pleasure to God is seen at the beginning and end of our life. When we are baptized, our heavenly Father says to us, the same words He said to Jesus, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. If we are faithful children, God will say to us at the end of our lives, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” [1] The parable of the talents in Matthew’s Gospel compares the faithful to servants and God to a master. Like Mary we are a slave, a handmaid of the Lord. “The slave, one can say, did not have a will of his own, nor could he have any desire independent of his master’s. Our Lady agrees with the greatest joy and with all her heart to have no other wish than that of her Master and Lord. She gives herself to him unreservedly, without condition.” [2] We can be both slave and son. We have the dignity of a son, yet the humility of a slave. “So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then and heir.” [3]
Why do we please others? Many times we please others to get something, or so the person does not get mad at us. If we really think about it, it is rare that we would do something for someone just to please them, and to expect nothing in return. To please solely for loves sake is difficult, because we seem to always ask the question, “What is in it for me?”
Our vocation, our calling, to bring pleasure to God is seen at the beginning and end of our life. When we are baptized, our heavenly Father says to us, the same words He said to Jesus, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. If we are faithful children, God will say to us at the end of our lives, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” [1] The parable of the talents in Matthew’s Gospel compares the faithful to servants and God to a master. Like Mary we are a slave, a handmaid of the Lord. “The slave, one can say, did not have a will of his own, nor could he have any desire independent of his master’s. Our Lady agrees with the greatest joy and with all her heart to have no other wish than that of her Master and Lord. She gives herself to him unreservedly, without condition.” [2] We can be both slave and son. We have the dignity of a son, yet the humility of a slave. “So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then and heir.” [3]
[1] Matthew 25:21
[2] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God; Vol. 1; 25.3
[3] Galatians 4:4-7
[2] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God; Vol. 1; 25.3
[3] Galatians 4:4-7
