November 15, 2010
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
“I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and discovered that they are impostors. Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” Revelation 2:2-5
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” Luke 18:40-42
Piety
Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.
Study
Have you lost the love you had at first? Remember that glow you had on the final day of your Cursillo weekend? Recall that spirit of community you had with the team and the other new Cursillistas. When you left that special place, you were a new you.
Remember the feeling you had at the closing? Look back on your notebook. Recall the words of your testimony to the community at large. When you stood up to speak, you were a new you.
What has happened since then? How many weeks, months or years has it been since your Fourth Day started?
We are beginning to wind up another liturgical year. Advent lies just days away. In these final weeks, the readings remind us of the same message we heard at the beginning of this year and throughout. God asks us to change. He asks us to follow the commandments. He asks us to have the faith and persistence of the people we have met all year on this journey.
In the readings today, we meet the blind man with faith to move mountains and regain sight. “Lord, please let me see.” His prayer is not unlike that of the persistent widow, the prodigal father, the bridegroom, the Roman centurion and the ten lepers. They turned to God with the faith the size of a mustard seed and God responded in love. “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”
Action
Who have you encountered this year in the Gospel of Living and Dying? What real brides and bridegrooms, parents, and soldiers have you touched? Have they reached out to you for support? Have you reached out to them? Who have you encountered who was a stranger, who was ill, or who was elderly or infirm? How have you put the love of your Fourth Day into action?
There is no need to wait until New Year’s Day to change something in your life that needs changing. Do you want to unburden yourself from the binding technology that controls your life so there is more room for God and others? Do you want to let your possessions drift away so you have more room in your life for Jesus?
If so, don’t try to make drastic changes. Just try to make one minor change this month to get prepared for Advent. Keep that change going every day for the next month and see how you will succeed.
Change is just the first step. Then, we must tackle the works.
