Year: 2024

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Gospel: Luke 4:38-44

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.

At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, “To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Tying yesterday and today’s Gospel passages together, we discover a full day in the life of Jesus.

The Lord began his day in the synagogue, where he cast out an unclean spirit from a man, revealing Christ’s power of evil.

“After lunch,” Jesus enters Simon Peter’s home, where he heals Simon’s mother-in-law who is deathly ill. 

Then he continues his ministry into the evening. As we hear in today’s Gospel, “At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.”

I’d imagine by night, the Lord was exhausted.

But early the next morning – before dawn – Jesus is up and out, finding a quiet place to pray.

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Prayer is what sustained him. It’s also what should sustain us. 

Think of prayer as another word for relationship. Everything that you do to enrich your relationship with God – from studying his Word, to serving him in your neighbor is prayer.

But the most important form of prayer is that one-on-one, heart-to-heart time with God, which the Lord shows us today is best found, “very early before dawn,” before other obligations or demands of the day take over.

I’ve been fortunate to pray at least an hour a day before dawn for the last fifteen years. It’s transformed my life.

But, over time, God can do wonderous, mysterious things in your heart with just a few simple minutes.

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Give Jesus time “before dawn,” and slowly, you’ll find you’ve become more and more like him, “who first loved us and gave himself for us.”

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Image credits: (1) Vecteezy (2) Pantocrator, Sinai (3) 123 RF

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Gospel: Luke 4:31-37

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
“What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out.”
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When I think of a sacred space, I think of this church. This altar. This pulpit. The Saints and the Stations of the Cross that line our walls.

Sacred spaces are filled with holy things that point us to God.

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In today’s Gospel, there’s a man with an unclean spirit present in the synagogue. But the synagogue was a holy place – a sacred space, so why is he there?

Surely, he doesn’t belong.  

Or does he?

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Perhaps he was a conflicted man, both a believer and a sinner – a man who knew he was under the power of something stronger than himself.

Maybe he went to the synagogue that day praying to be set free.

And he was.

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At times, how many of us feel the same way?

We need Jesus to set us free from something: fear, laziness, jealousy, judgmental thoughts, anger, impatience, anxiety, whatever it may be.

We approach the Lord in confidence, praying that he will say those same words to us: “Come out of him! … Come out of her!”

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Jesus can do it. He will do it. Sometimes the healing work of the Spirit is instant, as it is in the Gospel.

Most often it takes time.

We need patience with ourselves – and with others – while the Lord heals us, trusting in the words of Saint Paul: “God, who has begun this good work within you, will bring it to fulfillment.”

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Image credits: (1) QuoteFancy (2) Catholic Daily Reflections (3) JustBreatheMag.com

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Gospel: Luke 4: 16-30

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll,
he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel passage comes at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and he’s already starting to experience both rejection and wonder from the crowds. 

For these three precious and final years of his life, Jesus will go public: he’ll cure the sick, give sight to the blind, forgive sins, and even raise a few people from the dead – all things the prophet Isaiah foretold.

We might summarize his works in three words: 

Jesus lifted burdens.

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It’s what every Christian is called to do.

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On this Labor Day Monday, here’s something to ponder: How does our own work or ministry reflect the life of our Lord, who lifted burdens?

I think of all who cook in our parish soup kitchen, preparing fresh pasta for the hungry in Newark. And the Missionaries of Charity who feed, clothe, and shelter them.

Those who visit our sick and homebound parishioners; who drive them to chemo and doctor’s appointments; who tidy their homes; who bring them communion; who sit and have a conversation, lifting their burden of loneliness. 

Those who organize parish outings and events; who teach our children; who work on staff; who intercede on our behalf.

Here we lift burdens.

It’s what the Catholic Church does around the world – and has done since the time of our Lord.

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Following Christ’s example, how might I lift someone else’s burden today?

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Image credits: (1) KTSM 9 News (2) Christian Publishing House Blog (3) TheConsecratedWoman.com