October 21, 2013

Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 473
Reading 1 ROM 4:20-25

Brothers and sisters:
Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief;
rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what God had promised
he was also able to do.

Abraham was completely sure that God would deliver on His promise.

That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.

That is why judged him a just man.

But it was not for him alone that it was written
that it was credited to him;

But this justification was done for him in order that we might know

it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,

that it is also for us, who will be credited righteousness in the Sacraments

who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

Because we believe in God the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead

who was handed over for our transgressions
and was raised for our justification.

Who died for our sins and was raised in order that we might live unto God and do the works of righteousness which God intended for us.

Responsorial Psalm LK 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75

R. (see 68) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
He has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

This Responsorial comes from the Song of Zechariah which is in the Gospel of Luke 1:67-79.  It is a very famous prayer which many people pray every morning.  It is about St. John the Baptist, who is the Precursor, who came to pave the way for Jesus Christ.  And it is about Jesus Christ, who came to save us.  And it is about the faithfulness of God, who did these things in fulfillment of His promises.

Gospel LK 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”

Jesus was usually being followed by crowds.  And usually, people were asking for healing of some sort, either physical or spiritual.  Today, someone in the crowd asked Jesus to intervene on his behalf against his brother.

He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”

But Jesus replied, "why should I do that?  I didn't come to intervene in financial matters." And it is true.  Nowhere in the bible do we see Jesus meddling in financial matters.  The closest He came to it was when He chased the money lenders out of the Temple (John 2:15). 

Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then He explained the reason for this to the crowd.  He said, "Be on your guard against greed. Because life is not about owning things."

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”

This man, put his faith upon his earthly treasures.  And he neglected to ask the will of God and he neglected to be upright before God.  And so, hoping that he would have a long and luxurious life, he died, caught off guard and an accounting of his life and his wealth and what he had done with them was demanded of him.  Don't be caught off guard.  Because our life is not our own and it can be demanded of us at any time.  We are not promised even one more second.