24th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

The mention of holy women in today’s Gospel underscores their importance not only to the first generations of believers, but to us as well. Some of these same women on the day of the Resurrection were the first witnesses of the Risen Lord, because as they followed him and served him today, so they sought to do him one last service when he was laid in the tomb, and ended up giving the news to the Apostles. Their example teaches us the good traits of every disciple: gratitude, generosity, and service.

They’ve been blessed by healing in their life, and they show their appreciation with gratitude. Maybe the blessings we’ve received haven’t been as dramatic as someone like Mary Magdalene, but they are a cause for gratitude. These blessings prompt them to respond with generosity: the holy women helped Jesus and the other disciples out of their own resources. It’s likely that their names are mentioned here alongside the Twelve not only to be remembered, but also for the first hearers of Luke’s Gospel to know how they came to know and follow Our Lord after meeting them or hearing about them. Lastly, this gratitude and generosity are translated into service: they don’t just stay home and send care packages. They follow Our Lord and serve him and the Twelve in their work of proclaiming the Gospel. Everyone has a role in the work of evangelization.

Let’s ask Our Lord to grow in gratitude, generosity, and service, inspired by the example of these holy women.

Readings: 1 Timothy 6:2c–12; Psalm 49:6–10, 17–20; Gospel Luke 8:1–3.

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

Conversion in the spiritual life is when life takes a turn for the better. The Christian life is a life of conversion, whether we have turned away from a life far from God and full or sin, or have been lifelong believers who received deeper understanding of who God is and all he’s done for us. A life of conversion means life will constantly be taking turns for the better, not necessarily in the area of material things, health, etc., but in a holy life with God in Christ that blooms, little by little, into eternal life.

In today’s Gospel we see a contrast between a converted sinner–the sinful woman–and someone who is observant, but is not living much of a spirit of conversion–Simon the Pharisee, as is reflected in how coldly he treats people, as if he is doing them a favor of tolerating their flawed existence. Conversion leads to charity: love for God and love for others. The “sinful” woman is abounding in it after a life of things she thought were loving, but were simply sin. She is experiencing a strong moment of conversion and Our Lord is the means through which she shows her appreciation to God. It’s not just because Our Lord was nice to her when everyone else was not; in his own words, it is her faith that has led to her conversion and the gift of forgiveness.

Conversion is a journey; we never forget where we’ve been, and, God-willing, we never forget where we’re headed. Let’s examine all the turns for the better Our Lord has granted us in our life, turns for the better in the true sense of the word: turns toward God and away from sin. If we’ve been blessed with a good life, let’s thank him. If we’ve been freed from a life of sin, let’s thank him even more. Wherever our starting point, he has been with us every step of the way and deserves our love and thanks.

Readings: 1 Timothy 4:12–16; Psalm 111:7–10; Luke 7:36–50.

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord laments that the public square in his time had been reduced to two polarized parties whining at each other: the ascetic, traditional types, who saw life as an extended funeral, and the hedonistic, progressive types, who saw life as a party. Each party had some valid points, but each also sought simply to absorb the other into its own way of thinking and feeling and to ignore any merits it may have had. When John the Baptist and Our Lord enter the public square, the parties try to do the same thing to them. Our Lord reminds them that the true goal is to seek wisdom: they are receiving John and him as if they were other children on the same level who should just get with one program or another.

The world today works very similarly: people want us to think, to feel, to act in a certain way, to either spend all our time making waves and partying, or to stay quiet and just suffer through life like everyone else trying to make a living. Wisdom, as Our Lord describes today, is recognized by all as something not worthy of criticism: it goes beyond opinion to the question of a truly fulfilling way of life. There is wisdom in moments of joy and moments of duty, but neither can be excluded. Wisdom keeps the bigger picture always in mind, and based on it we know that there are moments of feast and of famine in life. Jesus is the Wisdom of God, and he seeks to help us to break out of lifestyle stalemates and to embrace life, with its lights and shadows, in all its fullness and truth.

Let’s pray today for the Wisdom that breaks us out of any ruts or stalemates in which our lives are stuck.

Readings: 1 Timothy 3:14–16; Psalm 111:1–6; Luke 7:31–35.

23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

In today’s Gospel Our Lord warns us that being a “bad boy,” despite how culture today paints it, is never a good thing. If someone recognizes something to be evil, they avoid it; that is Ethics 101. That is why evil often tries to masquerade as good, to appear glamorous. God has created everything good, but if we use his creation for the purposes for which it was not intended, we can do evil, and it will surface sooner or later. Our Lord teaches us not to judge people, but he does teach us to judge actions: evil people do evil things, just as good people do good things. Even when someone does evil we recognize it as something good that has been corrupted or turned into something corrupting.

Our Lord teaches us what to do in the second part of today’s Gospel in order to determine what’s truly good and unmask what’s truly evil when it is hard to tell. First, if someone pays lip service to Our Lord and doesn’t truly do his will and seek to follow him, that is hypocrisy, and that is evil. We have to pray for people to know Our Lord and follow him with all their heart. Second, evil people may seem to build their lives on solid ground, but the path of evil is a path to destruction: it is building on a shaky foundation that will not stand the test of time, and is actually abandoning the one path that matters. Our Lord’s victory on the cross showed how solid a foundation his life was based upon. He will show us the  sure path and a solid foundation for our lives if we let him.

Let’s pray today for the conversion of sinners and for the insight to build our lives on Our Lord as a solid foundation.

Readings: 1 Timothy 1:15–17; Psalm 113:1b–7; Luke 6:43–49.

23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

If a blind man were to offer to help you cross the street you would either charitably decline, think he was crazy, or maybe convince yourself he had super powers. We live in a society where people seek the virtuous thing to do, the logical thing to do, or the craziest thing to do, and are willing to get advice from or give advice to anyone. People can supposedly all follow a truth that doesn’t need to agree with the truth of others, and, as a result, a lot of people with partial views stumble around in the dark when they should all be seeking profounder truths.

Our Lord in today’s Gospel reminds us that we must try to see and live clearly before helping others, or it will be a case of the blind leading the blind. We have to invest time, prayer, and reflection to determine the solid foundation on which to live and to be guided. We can’t just invent this on our own: we need help from Our Lord, and we need help from solid people and solid traditions. As St. Paul recalls in the First Reading, out of his ignorance and disbelief he became a persecutor and lead others to join him in his quest. Our Lord dramatically intervened in his case to help him see how blind he really was.

Let’s pray today for everyone to receive the grace to see clearly and live clearly in order to find the best role models and be the best role models for others.

Readings: 1 Timothy 1:1–2, 12–14; Psalm 16:1b–2a, 5, 7–8, 11; Luke 6:39–42.