Daily Reading
First Reading
Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
All deeds are right in the sight of the doer,
but the Lord weighs the heart.
To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Haughty eyes and a proud heart—
the lamp of the wicked—are sin.
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.
The souls of the wicked desire evil;
their neighbors find no mercy in their eyes.
When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wiser;
when the wise are instructed, they increase in knowledge.
The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;
he casts the wicked down to ruin.
If you close your ear to the cry of the poor,
you will cry out and not be heard.
Psalm
Psalm 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your ordinances before me.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever.
Gospel Reading
Luke 8:19-21
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Reflection
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies his disciples as his family. I want to say something about our becoming disciples in his family. Once we make the decision to follow Jesus, then every other claimant to supremacy must fall away.
As I’ve argued many times before, every one of us has something or some set of values that we consider greatest. Perhaps it is money, material things, power, or the esteem of others. Perhaps it is your family, your kids, your wife, your husband.
None of this is false, and none of these things are bad. But when you place any of them in the absolute center of gravity, things go awry. When you make any of them your ultimate or final good, your spiritual life goes haywire. When you attach yourself to any of them with an absolute tenacity, you will fall apart.
Only when we make Christ the cornerstone of our lives are we truly ready for mission. Keep in mind that every encounter with God in the Bible conduces to mission, to being sent to do the work of the Lord. If we try to do this work while we are stuck to any number of attachments, we will fail. Period.