Friday, October 14, 2016



Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ephesians 1:1-10; Luke 11:47-54)

In Elizabethan England Catholic priests were often hunted down and executed.  They were prepared to meet the sacramental needs of the Catholic remnant in France.  Crossing the channel to begin their work, they no doubt took comfort in gospel passages like today’s.

Jesus finishes his criticism of the Pharisees.  He says that they are not the pious people that they pretend to be.  Indeed, they will persecute the disciples when they go forth to preach the gospel.  But the preaching is necessary so that God’s salvation in Christ may be revealed to all.  The Pharisees are not to be feared because God will compensate for any suffering the disciples undergo.  The disciples should rather consider that God has charged them to make known His will.  The consequences of forsaking this command may be considered as truly awful.

We too find it hard to defend our faith.  People will want us to join them in actions that are contrary to God’s will.   At such times it is difficult to say “no” and even harder to tell them that their proposals are evil.  We too should take comfort in God’s love that will never abandon us.