November 23, 2017 – Build Your Life on the Rock That Is Christ

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, many times I have overlooked your love in the circumstances of my life. I know you are always present, even if I don’t feel your love. This time of prayer is an opportunity to show you my love, and I truly desire to bring you consolation as you so often bring consolation to me.

Petition: Heavenly Father, help me to stand firm amidst the vicissitudes of life.

1. “As for Me and My Household, We Will Serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
The beauty of this life is that it offers us so many options. We have all been given the grace of free will, and we can choose to do many things. We can choose where we would like to work, where we want to vacation, who our friends are, what we are going to do this very moment. But the most important choice we make in life is to decide whether to love and serve God or to deny him. God’s greatest, natural gift to us is free will, and with it we direct our own destiny. What a truly beautiful soul who chooses to spend his life serving God! Clearly opting for God and his ways gives direction to a person’s life and provides clarity in moments of darkness and trial.

2. The Time to Prepare for a Storm Is Now: The worst time to clean out the gutters is in the middle of a thunder storm. And that roof would have worked a lot better had it been fixed before a week of rain. The concept of being prepared is so hard for us human beings. Christ told his disciples, “Watch and pray, that you may not undergo the test” (Matthew 26:41). He was saying, “Be prepared. You never know when temptations or tough times are going to strike.”

3. Holding the Fort: The spiritual life is a lot like a castle. A castle has its strong points and its not-so-strong points. It has a moat, high stone walls and turrets, but it also has a gate made only of wood. Each of us has one or two things that can be likened to that wooden gate. We all have our weaknesses, but do we know what those weaknesses are? One of the keys to being able to resist sin is self-knowledge. If we know ourselves, we can avoid putting ourselves in compromising situations. We can use our strong points to fight the enemy and fortify those areas that are the weakest. In the end, the strongest weapon we have both to resist and to fight is our dependence on the Lord – our prayer and fidelity to his will!

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, I don’t want to base my life just on feelings and on what makes me happy. I want to live for you, to take a risk for you.

Resolution: I will start a constant prayer life by praying the Rosary every day this week.

Homily of the Day

November 23, 2017

In the first reading we see the fidelity of Mattathias and his family to Yahweh their God and to their people’s covenant with Yahweh, despite the order of King Antiochus that they abandon their religion or suffer death.

In the Gospel reading Jesus weeps over Jerusalem: he wept not only because Jerusalem rejected his teaching and salvation but also because the city itself would be destroyed and annihilated, “they will dash you to the ground and your children with you, and leave not a stone within you, for you did not recognize the time and visitation of your God.”

Jesus loved Jerusalem: it was the city of David, it was the seat of the temple of Solomon, it was the seat of the Holy of Holies. It was the city of Yahweh, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

Yet Jerusalem did not recognize and welcome the Messiah when he same. Instead Jerusalem crucified the Messiah on Calvary, just outside its walls.

We pray that we may “recognize the time and visitation of our God” in our lives. We pray that our eyes may see and recognize him, that our ears may hear and listen to him and that our hearts may embrace and love him.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.