At the start of each day, I find it helpful to pray, “Lord, help me take on only what You want me to take on. Guard me from taking on tasks or concerns that don’t fit into Your greater scheme of things.”

When I encounter delays—due to traffic, people coming late, or changes in appointments—I remind myself of Psalm 31:15, that “my times are in your hands.” Remembering this calms me. It reminds me that Jesus is in control and will not allow anything that will not work out for good.

With this in mind, I can focus on making sense of what goes on around me. As we journey in life, we pick up a lot of nonessentials along the way—oftentimes, placing an unnecessary burden on ourselves. Ecclesiastes directs us to consider what we give ourselves to and how our involvements fit into the bigger scheme of things, and more importantly, into God’s call upon our lives.

As we try to see Jesus in the mundane things, may we avoid vanity and be grounded on what’s essential and important. Omy Romero (omyromero@gmail.com)

reflect

“Out of the worst situations, God is able to bring out the best.” (Unknown)

Father, lead me heaven-bound, not earthbound. Let me take on only the things that draw me closer to You.

Saint Lioba, pray for us.

Let us think about this text referring to vanity. May today’s reading help us keep in perspective many of the worldly desires that threaten to consume our hearts and minds. No one is immune to vanity. We may deny this, but it never takes long for something to arise that refutes our claim.

² Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! ³ What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? ⁴ One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays. ⁵ The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises. ⁶ Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds. ⁷ All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going. ⁸ All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing. ⁹ What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun. ¹⁰ Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. ¹¹ There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

R: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

³ You turn man back to dust, saying, “Return, O children of men.” ⁴ For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night. (R) ⁵ You make an end of them in their sleep; the next morning they are like the changing grass, 6 which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and fades. (R) ¹² Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. ¹³ Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! (R) ¹⁴ Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. ¹⁷ Prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands! (R)

Gospel | Luke 9:7-9

Herod is a curious man. This reminds me of an old saying that my mother often used when I was sticking my nose into places where it should not be: “Curiosity killed the cat!” If we are not willing to deal with the consequences of our curiosity, whatever they are, then we should restrain ourselves. When Herod finally meets Jesus, he does not know what judgment to make, so he bows to the will of the people.

Gospel Acclamation

I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.

⁷ Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead;” ⁸ others were saying, “Elijah has appeared;” still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” ⁹ But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.

Read the Bible in one year! Read BARUCH 1 - 3 today.

A teacher was encouraging her students to avoid vices so she put a worm in a bottle filled with soil, smoke, and vodka. The worm died inside the bottle filled with smoke and vodka, while the worm inside the bottle with soil lived. The teacher asked the class what they learned. A student stood up and said, “I conclude that when you smoke and drink, you will not have worms in your body.” The truth in the teacher’s illustration was plain and simple, but the student ignored it.

In the Gospel today, Herod is portrayed as someone intrigued by the message of John the Baptist. Luke recounts that every time John preached, Herod felt a certain attraction in John’s words. That is the nature of truth. When it is proclaimed, it never fails to strike a sympathetic chord in the heart. But truth can be threatening, for it demands a corresponding action. It either affirms or convicts. Herod was attracted by the message of John but he did not have the courage to give its corresponding demands. What did he do? He put John in prison and beheaded him.

In Herod, we see a man wanting to know the truth but could not handle it. He was attracted to the truth but was afraid of the consequences and the demands it would exact from him. So what did he do? He stopped his pursuit of the truth.

Today, the culture suffers from what I call a “truth decay” and it shows up in different ways. Sometimes, we trivialize the truth by making it irrelevant and treating reality as a matter of personal opinion. Some rationalize a lie and present it as truth. Remember the official who was called out for not delivering on his bold campaign promise and rationalized that it was not a lie but simply campaign “bravado?” Worst of all, we bastardize the truth by distorting and manipulating it to suit personal agenda and ideologies. The existence of salaried social media trolls and peddlers of fake news even at the mainstream news level is the sad testimony to the institutionalization of bastardized truth. Fr. Joel O. Jason

reflection question

The philosopher Peter Kreeft observed: “The fault of the modern culture is not ignorance of the truth but ignoring the truth.”

Lord Jesus, I want to be free. Entice my heart with the beauty of Your truth and allow men to rejoice in it. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ______________________________________________________