Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
November 20, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112024.cfm
While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.
So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
Luke 19:11-13
This is a tough parable to get real devotional about. It’s the story of a nasty guy who wants to be king. When his campaign is repulsed, he takes it out on his servant whom he deems unproductive.
But think about where Jesus told the story. He is at the threshold of Jerusalem where, through his Passion and Death, he will reign over the universe. But Jesus will do this by the inverse of what we would expect. He will be rejected by this world to open us to the deeper essence of its heart.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Jesus wants his followers to be productive in spreading the Gospel. He wants us to blossom in faith and service to God’s Name. We pray for the courage to exercise those gifts in faith, hope, and charity.
Prose: Prayer of Walter Brueggemann
You are the giver of all good things.
All good things are sent from heaven above,
rain and sun, day and night,
justice and righteousness,
bread to the eater and seed to the sower,
peace to the old, energy to the young,
joy to the babes.
We are takers, who take from you, day by day,
daily bread, taking all we need as you supply,
taking in gratitude and wonder and joy.
And then taking more,
taking more than we need,
taking more than you give us,
taking from our sisters and brothers,
taking from the poor and the weak,
taking because we are frightened, and so greedy,
taking because we are anxious, and so fearful,
taking because we are driven, and so uncaring.
Give us peace beyond our fear, and so end our greed.
Turn our taking into giving, since we are in your giving image:
Make us giving like you,
giving in joy, not taking,
giving as he gave himself up for us all,
giving, never taking.
Amen.
Music: God Turn Me Into a Flower
What would it take to truly “blossom” for God, to be the Love that Jesus hopes for us, to take the coin of grace and enrich it by our service of the Gospel?
As you listen to this rather mysterious song, you might consider those questions.
Lavish Mercy 