This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, August 7th is from Luke 12:32-48.
“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. . .You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.’”
“We spend much of our lives waiting: waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting for a loved one to arrive. Each of these examples of waiting has a focus, a reason to justify our patience. The faithful servants in today’s Gospel have a focus as well: the master’s return. This gives the wait meaning, a purpose. Jesus arrives for us every day of our lives. Jesus often comes in the person of someone in need. He also arrives in moments of grace. Here and now, Jesus arrives in the Eucharist.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Autumn 2022
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28c; Matthew 17:22-27
Saint Dominic, Priest (Memorial) – “Born in Spain, Dominic de Guzman began his priestly life as a cathedral canon. He adopted an austere lifestyle of begging and preaching and laid the foundations for the new Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) for both women and men.”
Tuesday Ezekiel 2:8—3:4; Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
Wednesday 2 Corinthians 9:6-10; John 12:24-26
Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Feast) – “According to tradition, when asked to surrender the Church’s riches, Lawrence gathered the poor and said they were the Church’s real treasure. For this affront, he was put to death. He was the most venerated Roman martyr of the early Church and is a patron of Rome.”
Thursday Ezekiel 12:1-12; Matthew 18:21—19:1
Saint Clare, Virgin (Memorial) – “Born in Assisi, at age eighteen she heard Francis of Assisi preach and was inspired by his message. The Poor Clares practiced radical poverty and she was greatly respected as a ‘new leader of women.’”
Friday Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63; Matthew 19:3-12
Saturday Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32; Matthew 19:13-15
SOURCE: Living With Christ, August 2022