28th Week, Friday, Oct 20
Romans 4:1-8 / Luke 12:1-7
Paul talks about Abraham; Abraham's faith was his glory.
Another important truth follows from this. If Christian faith is, above all, faith in Jesus, then we cannot pick and choose what to believe from what Jesus says. If we did that, it would mean we really don't have complete faith in Jesus.
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How strong is our faith in Jesus? In his Church, which is the extension of himself into space and time? “'If you believe only what you like, and reject what you don't like, then it isn't the Gospel you believe, but yourself.” Augustine of Hippo
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Abraham was saved not by what he did but because, when he was a pagan and a sinner, he discovered a caring God in whom he believed. He knew that he stood before God with empty hands and consented to receive gratuitously from the hands of God.
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If we ever get into heaven, we ought to be surprised, maybe because we should be surprised that we could ever get there in the first place. Indeed, how many of us can say that we truly deserve to be in heaven.
We may be baptised, live religious lives, are good people and maybe even doing service and great things for the Lord. But does that mean that we can claim for ourselves a place in heaven?
The 1st reading says that if a person has work to show, his wages are not considered as favour, but rather his due. But when a person has nothing to show except his faith and trust in God, then that person is truly blessed. Abraham was given as an example of a man who put his faith in God, and hence his faith was a blessing for him. Indeed, faith is truly a gift from God. It is because we see faith as a gift from God, that our deeds are acts of thanksgiving and to glorify God.
Then our deeds would not be for selfish and self-glorifying motives. We would not want to be hypocritical because we know that God sees everything and knows what is deep in our hearts. Finally, when we see God face to face, there is no need to talk about the good we have done. We just want to give thanks to God for our faith and Him and for letting us be with Him forever.
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Christ continues to denounce the Pharisees. In the contradictions of a life that wants to be faithful to the Gospel, Christians have to go God’s ways, not their own. They entrust themselves into the hands of God who cares and to whom we are very precious.
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Prayer
Lord our God, we stand before you with empty hands. Our good intentions, the things we do are powerless to save us. God, help us to accept this truth, for it hurts our pride. Teach us to receive gratuitously your grace, your merciful love and also the help and love of our neighbour. Save us from ourselves and from sin by the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
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Saint Paul of the Cross
Feast day October 20
Paul Francis Danei was born in Italy in 1694, the second of 16 children. Because of his father’s financial difficulties, Paul had to leave school to help support his family. At age 15, he began to realize how much Jesus suffered for him. In response, he prayed and did difficult things such as sleeping on the floor and not eating foods he liked. He wanted to follow Christ more closely and share in his passion and death.
At age 20, Paul joined the Venetian army that was defending the faith. After a year, he went back to a life of prayer and penance. Then God called him to form a group of men dedicated to preaching parish missions. These men, called Passionists, would preach the mystery of Christ crucified—the mystery of the Father’s love—in hopes that Christians would turn from their sins and rededicate their lives to Christ. Paul developed a method for giving parish mission talks that involved laypeople.
Paul received gifts of prophecy and healing from the Holy Spirit. He was so powerful when he preached and so gentle in confession that he brought many sinners back to the Lord. Paul once said, “England is always before my eyes, and if ever again it becomes Catholic, the benefit to the Church will be immeasurable.” Within 65 years, a Passionist named Dominic Barberi went to England to help reconcile John Henry Newman and others to the Catholic Church, aiding the revival of Catholicism there. Paul of the Cross died in 1775.
