Daily Mass Reflections - 9/13
“With what’s going on in the world these days, Heaven could end up a ghost town”
These were the provocative words that appeared atop a Prayer Chain Request that landed in my Inbox early this morning, sent to me by a woman who I don’t really know. I saw a prayer request that she posted in a Catholic Facebook Prayer Group about a week ago and promised her I would spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration for her intention after Daily Mass the next morning.
It would appear as though she might’ve been channeling her inner Saint Paul upon sending that email because it was in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in this morning’s 1st Reading (Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13) that he warns the people of Corinth about the dangers of idolatry, not to mention the grave error of valuing misplaced and prideful intelligence over love. It’s hard to fathom the notion that we are always quick to carve out time for our favorite entertainers, athletes and musicians while oftentimes barely finding a few moments to crank out a half-hearted “Our Father” to a God who is so immeasurably generous and loving towards us, but in our celebrity-obsessed culture, I imagine we all have pled guilty to this at one point or another.
In today’s Gospel (Luke 6:27-28), Jesus dishes out a tough lesson on forgiveness, charity, generosity, love and our seemingly incessant need to judge others. With regard to the latter he tells us “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven” closing out today’s passage by saying “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
That’s a sobering thought.
Cultivating and fostering all of these divine graces can take a lifetime and some days are far easier than others when it comes to putting them on display. Some days on the other hand seem impossible. But it is on days like this that I am grateful that Church tradition calls for a large crucifix to be displayed prominently above the altar, because the man on that crucifix proves that it is not impossible.
....and the fact is, it is only through him that for us it is possible.
