31 October 2019
Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Halloween! Tonight, is the big night. It is one of the oldest baptized Christian feasts we have. Celebrate it! Let the kids enjoy it: masks, costumes, trick-or-treat. Don’t let modern pagan witches claim it.
Today’s Gospel can put the Halloween event in a realistic light. No danger, no fear, no distraction prevented Jesus from accomplishing his mission: fidelity to his Father. I should adopt the same formula to guide me in freedom on my way, and I should do it with a light heart, seeing children and others enjoying the fun of Halloween.
In progressing each day in the love of The Lord, I can be sure to live in that freedom and joy, having as my model Jesus, the Prophet of prophets, who lived out during his whole life the message he preached, a message of joy in sorrows and peace in opposition.
He reproached the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the hardness of their hearts. He wanted to gather them together, but they refused. I will pray today than none of us will refuse his invitation. The perfect prayer for that intention is found in the complete 1st reading, the glorious conclusion of Chapter 8 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans.