Feast of Saint Lawrence

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 57 The Artisans of the Monastery
Mass: 2 Cor 9:6-10; Resp Ps 112; Jn 12:24-26

Blessed the one who is gracious and lends to those in need.

HEART OF JESUS, OBEDIENT TO DEATH,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

A line from today's first reading always stands out: "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7). St Benedict uses the same in his chapter on obedience. We will always have people over us, a leader or someone we are responsible to, be it a boss, parent, or a religious superior, so we might as well not grumble about it, aloud or in our heart. It's part of life. So as St Benedict writes, we should give our obedience gladly, for God loves a cheerful giver (RB 5:16-17). Not to worry as St Paul writes, "God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work (2 Cor 9:8). So we turn to St Benedict again who tells us that every time we begin a good work, we should pray to God most earnestly to bring it to perfection (RB Prologue 4). Call on the Name of the Lord who made heaven and earth so that in all things God may be glorified (1 Pet 4:11/RB 57:9).

We are born with a seed of dissatisfaction in search of fulfillment. Our heart, even without knowing it, thirsts for the encounter with God and seeks it, many times taking the wrong road. When our dissatisfaction encounters Jesus, the life of grace begins.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, August 10, 2020)

SAINT LAWRENCE,

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2020