In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 14, we see another instance of Jesus healing someone on the sabbath. He then asks the scholars of the law and the Pharisees, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” They never answered His question. Jesus lets them know that there are greater goods, and priority must always be given to the greatest good.
For the first reading today, we begin in St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. This reading contains one of my favorite lines in the New Testament. “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Oh, God is faithful! And St. Paul is telling us that God has begun a good work in us.
We are all on a journey. Speaking in biblical language, the seeds of this marvelous work have been planted in us. If we allow God to work in our lives, the seeds will sprout up, and continue to grow and blossom every day. But we will never reach full maturity “until the day of Christ Jesus.” The watering, the fertilizing, the painful pruning…these are all part of the process. But if we persevere, on the day of Christ Jesus, we will become all that God has been working on. Keep growing, my friend!
Father, thank you for starting a good work in us. Keep us faithful and allow you to work on us, so that that work may be completed on the day of Christ Jesus. Amen.
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