October 23, 2013

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 475
Reading 1 ROM 6:12-18

Brothers and sisters:
Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies
so that you obey their desires.
And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin
as weapons for wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life
and the parts of your bodies to God
as weapons for righteousness.
For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace.

Those who have been washed in the Sacrament of Baptism have been cleansed of sin.  Therefore they should no longer dwell in sin.  But should turn to God and do righteousness by keeping the Commandments.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves
to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Who is your master? If God is your master than you must be like God, holy.

But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart
to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

Therefore, become God's servant and do the right thing, keep the Commandments and you will eat of the Tree of Eternal life.

Responsorial Psalm PS 124:1B-3, 4-6, 7-8

R. (8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us,
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive;
When their fury was inflamed against us.

R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.

R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers’ snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

But for the grace of God, there go I.  If God had not been with me, I would be lost.  I'm speaking not just about myself, but all of us. Mea culpa.  Mea culpa.  Mea culpa.  We are all guilty of sin.  And everyday we must strive to do the will of God and beseech Him to give us the grace to overcome temptation.

Gospel LK 12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Do not let Satan break into your house and sow discord.  Have your house ready and prepared to receive Our Lord.  Because if you love Him, He will love you and He and His Son will come to your house and sit and dine with you (John 14:21).  Therefore, keep your house tidy, be strong, fight temptation and do not let Satan disrupt your household that you will not be prepared when God calls on you.

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.

The parable is meant for everyone, but mores, for those who are appointed leaders of God's flock.

Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.

And if that leader does his duty and does the will of God, God will give him greater blessings in the world to come.

But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

But if that leader, disobeys God, he will be punished more severely than those who had no responsibility.

That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Therefore, if you pretend to teach anyone about God's will, make sure that you practice what you preach.  For God is not pleased with the double minded, who preach, but do not practice.