Daily Reading
First Reading
Wisdom 7:22b–8:1
For wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.
There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
mobile, clear, unpolluted,
distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,
irresistible, beneficent, humane,
steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,
all-powerful, overseeing all,
and penetrating through all spirits
that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle.
For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
For she is a breath of the power of God,
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.
Psalm
Psalm 119:89, 90, 91, 130, 135, 175
The Lord exists forever;
your word is firmly fixed in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand today,
for all things are your servants.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
Let me live that I may praise you,
and let your ordinances help me.
Gospel Reading
Luke 17:20-25
Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.
Reflection
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says that before his kingdom will come, he must suffer greatly and be rejected. Even a cursory reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus’s death is the center and goal of the narrative, that which animates and gives verve to the story.
It has often been remarked that the Gospels are not so much biographies of Jesus as “passion narratives with long introductions.” Jesus speaks frequently of his “hour,” the culmination of his preaching and action, and this hour coincides with his coming to the cross. After his relatively peaceful Galilean ministry, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, steeling himself for the encounter with the powers of darkness that would take place there and moving with resolution to battle.
And in what is perhaps the most disturbing mystery of the New Testament, this culminating event of Jesus’s life, this macabre glorification through crucifixion, is not simply the result of evil human choices; it is also willed by the one whom Jesus called “Abba, Father.” Somehow it is the deepest purpose of the incarnation; somehow it is why he was sent.