READINGS for 2008-09-16
A CORPORATE VISITATION
“… and God has visited his people.” – Luke 7:16c
When we adopted New Wineskins Ventures as our company name, we meant it to be a business composed of people with renewed minds in the spiritual sense. Since the previous operation of the same business went bankrupt, we wanted the name to signify the changed attitudes and ways of our employees. We had to do something different or we may suffer the same fate.
That x-factor was putting Jesus at the heart of our company operations. In our second year of operation, management together with all the laborers had Bible studies on company time. Our employees then took on a new outlook and started appreciating management’s Christian business policies. Management opted to pay extra overtime premium on 12-hour shifts even though it would be cheaper to hire casuals for a new shift. This resulted in industrial peace — a company operating without a labor union. Management paid taxes correctly and tried to live out Christian principles in the business environment. The reward was an average sales growth of 70 percent in five years! We realized that God visited us during those Bible studies.Rolly España
REFLECTION:
Let your business raise up God and He will raise up your business.
Lord, let our ways be Your ways and Your mind be our mind!
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1st READING
Paul wants us to realize that we are not on our own as Christians but are part of agreater reality called the Body of Christ. It is as part of this community that we will find our true identity and place in the work of God’s Kingdom. We will always be lost out there on our own in the world but if we stand with other believers as one in Christ, our true identity will be revealed to the world – the Body of Christ, the Church, the means
by which God has chosen to bring His salvation to the world.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31a
12 Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. 14 Now the body is not a single part, but many. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. 28 Some people God has designated in the church to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then, gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mighty deeds? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
P S A L M
Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
R: We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; 2 serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. (R) 3 Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. (R) 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; give thanks to him; bless his name. (R) 5 For he is good, the LORD, whose kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations. (R)
G O S P E L
Jesus raises the widow of Nain’s son from the dead. What does this tell us about Jesus? I think it reminds us that Jesus’ concern for the poor and powerless is integral to His Gospel proclamation. More often than not, it seems that the most spectacular miracles He makes are those for the poorest of the poor. Rarely does Jesus seem to work such miracles for the rich and powerful. Perhaps this also tells us that faith is strongest with the poor. Why would this be? Maybe because they have little else in which to place their trust.
Luke 7:11-17
11 Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” 17 This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
my reflections
think:We are not on our own as Christians but are part of a greater reality called the Body of Christ.
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God’s special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________
T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Psalm 131-135
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On thE sidE OF JEsUs, thE lOrd OF liFE
It should be quite easy for us to picture in our minds the Gospel scene today: at the town of Naim, two crowds were marching towards each other in a fateful confrontation. Even just the sight of a crowd on the march is already so powerful — there is indeed something commanding and fascinating about it. You have the impression that nothing can indeed stop it (except perhaps bullets and tanks or truncheons and shields).
With two crowds marching in the Gospel scene, there is indeed a double fascination. On one hand, there is the considerable crowd of the dead young man, the only son of a widowed mother (that even makes it again doubly powerful, in terms of its heartrending poignancy). On the other hand, there is the crowd accompanying Jesus, the Lord of Life.
In such a dramatic encounter between life and death, we might ask, “Who will be the winner?” We all know the answer of course, hands-down. Here we have no other than the certain victory of life over death, the rousing defeat of death and sorrow, trampled afoot under the banner and battle cry of Jesus Christ.
We see now what it means to join the march, to take part in the glorious movement — on the side of Jesus and of life, of course. To be on this side means to spread life, consolation, joy, and peace around us — not just “through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region,” but wherever we are. May Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, two friends at the service of the Church and both martyrs, strengthen and encourage us in this battle. Fr. Martin Macasaet
Reflection Question:
What kind of march have you joined based on the life that you live now?
Enable me, Jesus, to join the march for life. Let me be on the winning side: Your side.
St. Cornelius, pope, pray for us.
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