“This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” (Luke 13:16)
Piety
Dear God, Good Morning, it’s so good to see you! I lift up my arms, like your very dear child, desiring your presence and delighting in your embrace. Help me, today Lord, to be your inquisitive, full of life child, eager to please, delighted with the wonders of the world. Help me to refrain from becoming a truculent, stubborn 2 year old, drumming my heels to get my way and bellowing loudly in my spirit “No, No, No!” With the freedom from iniquity that you won for me Lord, may I “stand up straight” and glorify you by touching with love those who need your love the most. Amen, Amen and Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/103006.shtml
Is the woman in this Gospel a symbol of Israel? The chosen people bowed under the weight of their inability to see God among them? Is she merely an individual caught in the fragility of being human? Could she be a symbol of today’s world, crippled under humankind’s cruelty? Or is she each one of us, stooped and in pain, burdened by poor choices, sin, fear, indecision, apathy?
And who do we see in the crowd – Israel called to accept the new covenant? Us today, called to accept Christ’s gift of freedom? Can we refrain from behaviors which separate us from our Savior? Can we “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” (Eph 4:32)
Paul reminds the Ephesians that Christ’s sacrifice made them – made us - holy. And a life of holiness, a life in the Light of the Lord, is what Paul would like the Ephesians and us to choose. Jesus freed the crippled woman in body and spirit without a request, without a concern for the “correctness” of the deed. His gift to her, His sacrifice for us is not earned. In return, He asks that we treat each other just like each of us is “His Very Dear Children.”
Action
Take a moment and say a prayer for Cursillistas who strive to walk upright, joyful in the promise “you are free of iniquity.” This coming weekend are Cursillos across the country and world. 123rd Women’s Cursillo of the Arlington Diocese. A Men’s Cursillo in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico ; Women’s 59th in New Brunswick, Canada; A Women’s Weekend in Guanajuato, GTO, MEXICO; Women’s Weekend in Constitucion, CHILE; A men’s weekend in Frenchville, ME (www.cursillo.org ) Also: A Michigan Presbyterian Pilgrimage (www.cursillo.com ) and Kairos-22 at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women at Goochland, VA.
DeColores
Beth DeCristofaro
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