Gospel: September 23, 2024
(Monday)
25th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)
St. Pio of Pietrelcina, priest
Ps 15: 2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5
The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
1st Reading: Proverbs 3: 27-34
Do not hold back from those who ask your help, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come another time; tomorrow I will give it to you!” when you can help him now.
Do not plot evil against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you, nor fight a man without cause when he has done you no wrong. Do not envy the man of violence or follow his example.
For Yahweh hates the wicked but guides the honest. He curses the house of the evildoer but blesses the home of the upright. If there are mockers, he mocks them in turn but he shows his favor to the humble. The wise will possess his glory while the foolish will inherit disgrace.
Gospel: Luke 8: 16-18
No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather, he puts it on a lampstand, so that people coming in may see the light. In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret, that shall not be known clearly. Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces, will be given more; but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”
Reflection: “Jesus is the Light.”
As we pray for miraculous healing, we are also called to emulate Padre Pio’s example of a life of holiness that exudes grace even amid pains and sufferings. Today’s Gospel exhorts us to place the lamp that we have lit in the lampstand and not under the bed so that people coming in may see the light. We do not have any other light but Jesus. Our devotion must always point to Jesus, only to Jesus. This is what the great saints, like Santo Padre Pio, discovered. The life of the saints shone not because of their own lights but because of the Light who is Jesus. Jesus is the Light that enlightens every dark corner of our life, providing us the necessary healing. He is the Light that enables us to lead a life of grace even amidst the pains and sufferings brought by sickness. With Jesus, our Light, we might be physically sick but we will always be spiritually healthy. We shall lead a gracious life even amidst sufferings and pains.
