Daily Reading

First Reading

1 Timothy 3:14–16

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.

Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

Psalm

Psalm 111:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.

He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the heritage of the nations.

Gospel Reading

Luke 7:31–35

“To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Reflection

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus observes that the people of his generation criticize him as “a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” 

Jesus came as God’s own self into our dysfunctional world. He came to bring the light of God’s presence and love to the far country of sin and death. Accordingly, he went to the poor, the disabled, the marginalized, the forgotten, those crippled by sin.

He came to bring the ordo of God into a disordered world. He came as the keynote to tune up a cacophonous universe. And thus the proponents of disorder and the producers of the cacophony sought to destroy him. 

The Church is the Mystical Body of Jesus, the living organism that makes present Christ’s mind and will in the world. It is his love made flesh throughout the ages, his hands and feet and eyes and heart. We are all, through baptism, members of that Body. Our purpose is his purpose—to carry the nonviolent and forgiving love of God to a hungry world; to go to the darkest places, to the far country in quest of sinners; to be both judge (sign of contradiction) and bearer of salvation.