Readings for Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Rom 14:7-12
St. Paul makes it clear that Jesus died and rose that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. All are one in the Lord. Based upon this unity, the Evangelist chastises those who judge others (in the context of this section, this chastisement is directed at those who follow Mosaic Law scrupulously condemning those who do not). He reminds the community that on the last day we will all stand before the same God to be judged.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 27:1bcde, 4, 13-14
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27 is an individual lament. Here the signer expresses faith in God who is the refuge of the faithful, longing to find the ultimate safety and bounty of God’s heavenly kingdom.
Gospel Lk 15:1-10
The two parables (the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin) show clearly the Lord’s love for all people and special joy in those who repent. These two are followed immediately by the parable of the Prodigal Son which emphasizes this point further.
Reflection:
Those who are walking this journey with me may have noticed that for the past several days I have been concluding the posts with “Pray for Dave.” David Hankins is one of my very best friends. He, his wife Phoebe and their children have been close to us since we both became members of the same CFM (Christian Family Movement) group over ten years ago.
Dave, I have discovered over the years, had much in common with St. Augustan (although not to the same extent). His early life had some pretty wild episodes but he found Christ (or Christ found him wandering) and hooked him to Phoebe and started him on a path that led him to a life that I can only call enviable. Dave is, at lease as far as I can tell, an example of lived faith. Because of his humility, Dave’s service to others makes him one to follow (although he would never claim to be a leader). Much like St. Francis, Dave is a doer not a talker. He is one of the hardest working people I know, working days at the University of Michigan Hospital as a Maintenance Mechanic (he can fix just about anything) and evenings will almost always find him working on his home or the home of a friend. Dave has more energy than any fifty year old I have ever met.
Dave has the innocent faith that the Lord cherishes. Always seeking more knowledge his intellectual depths are frequently underestimated. (It’s that humility thing again.) It is because of this faith that what follows is only tragic to those of us who know and love him. Saturday of last week Dave, without any warning, went into cardiac arrest (not a heart attack – this problem was electrical – Dave’s weakest skill). In spite of heroic efforts by his wife Phoebe who immediately started CPR, and then by Paramedics who had to use the paddles to start his heart back up, the damage was apparently done. Yesterday we were told that the damage to Dave’s brain was too severe. Dave will not be coming back to us. His body lives (for a while) but Dave is flying toward our Heavenly Father.
It seems ironic that today St. Paul punctuates our grief reminding us the Lord died and rose so that all who believe, the living and the dead, might be one in him. The story of the lost sheep and coins remind us how intensely the Lord loves those who were lost and are found. David was certainly found.
These words comfort us in our grief and remind us that, to the Lord, death is only a horizon over which we, the living, cannot see and that God’s love binds us to those whom we love for all eternity. Those bonds are not broken by death but unite us across the gulf between those of us who remain behind and those who have gone ahead.
We miss David intensely and shall continue to close our posts with the words “Pray for Dave” until his body follows his soul. We pray today that his passing, and the passing of all those who die in the friendship of Christ may be an easy one and that if we are found worthy, we may join them one day.
Pax
Pray for Dave!
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is Parable of the Lost Drachma by Domenico Feti, 1618-22
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Rom 14:7-12
St. Paul makes it clear that Jesus died and rose that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. All are one in the Lord. Based upon this unity, the Evangelist chastises those who judge others (in the context of this section, this chastisement is directed at those who follow Mosaic Law scrupulously condemning those who do not). He reminds the community that on the last day we will all stand before the same God to be judged.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 27:1bcde, 4, 13-14
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27 is an individual lament. Here the signer expresses faith in God who is the refuge of the faithful, longing to find the ultimate safety and bounty of God’s heavenly kingdom.
Gospel Lk 15:1-10
The two parables (the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin) show clearly the Lord’s love for all people and special joy in those who repent. These two are followed immediately by the parable of the Prodigal Son which emphasizes this point further.
Reflection:
Those who are walking this journey with me may have noticed that for the past several days I have been concluding the posts with “Pray for Dave.” David Hankins is one of my very best friends. He, his wife Phoebe and their children have been close to us since we both became members of the same CFM (Christian Family Movement) group over ten years ago.
Dave, I have discovered over the years, had much in common with St. Augustan (although not to the same extent). His early life had some pretty wild episodes but he found Christ (or Christ found him wandering) and hooked him to Phoebe and started him on a path that led him to a life that I can only call enviable. Dave is, at lease as far as I can tell, an example of lived faith. Because of his humility, Dave’s service to others makes him one to follow (although he would never claim to be a leader). Much like St. Francis, Dave is a doer not a talker. He is one of the hardest working people I know, working days at the University of Michigan Hospital as a Maintenance Mechanic (he can fix just about anything) and evenings will almost always find him working on his home or the home of a friend. Dave has more energy than any fifty year old I have ever met.
Dave has the innocent faith that the Lord cherishes. Always seeking more knowledge his intellectual depths are frequently underestimated. (It’s that humility thing again.) It is because of this faith that what follows is only tragic to those of us who know and love him. Saturday of last week Dave, without any warning, went into cardiac arrest (not a heart attack – this problem was electrical – Dave’s weakest skill). In spite of heroic efforts by his wife Phoebe who immediately started CPR, and then by Paramedics who had to use the paddles to start his heart back up, the damage was apparently done. Yesterday we were told that the damage to Dave’s brain was too severe. Dave will not be coming back to us. His body lives (for a while) but Dave is flying toward our Heavenly Father.
It seems ironic that today St. Paul punctuates our grief reminding us the Lord died and rose so that all who believe, the living and the dead, might be one in him. The story of the lost sheep and coins remind us how intensely the Lord loves those who were lost and are found. David was certainly found.
These words comfort us in our grief and remind us that, to the Lord, death is only a horizon over which we, the living, cannot see and that God’s love binds us to those whom we love for all eternity. Those bonds are not broken by death but unite us across the gulf between those of us who remain behind and those who have gone ahead.
We miss David intensely and shall continue to close our posts with the words “Pray for Dave” until his body follows his soul. We pray today that his passing, and the passing of all those who die in the friendship of Christ may be an easy one and that if we are found worthy, we may join them one day.
Pax
Pray for Dave!
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is Parable of the Lost Drachma by Domenico Feti, 1618-22
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