THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 12 SEPTEMBER 2023

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Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 438

Reading 1

Col 2:6-15

Brothers and sisters:
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,
rooted in him and built upon him
and established in the faith as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy
according to the tradition of men,
according to the elemental powers of the world
and not according to Christ.

For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily,
and you share in this fullness in him,
who is the head of every principality and power.
In him you were also circumcised
with a circumcision not administered by hand,
by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead in transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;
despoiling the principalities and the powers,
he made a public spectacle of them,
leading them away in triumph by it.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 145:1b-2, 8-9, 10-11

R. (9) The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.

Alleluia

See Jn 15:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
that you may go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 6:12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 11 SEPTEMBER 2023

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Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 437

Reading 1

Col1:24–2:3

Brothers and sisters:
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,
to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles;
it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.
It is he whom we proclaim,
admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
For this I labor and struggle,
in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you
and for those in Laodicea
and all who have not seen me face to face,
that their hearts may be encouraged
as they are brought together in love,
to have all the richness of assured understanding,
for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 62:6-7, 9

R. (8) In God is my safety and my glory.
Only in God be at rest, my soul,
for from him comes my hope.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed.
R. In God is my safety and my glory.
Trust in him at all times, O my people!
Pour out your hearts before him;
God is our refuge!
R. In God is my safety and my glory.

Alleluia

Jn 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 6:6-11

On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

A Spiritual Break: Love Rehealed

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I recently revisited a conference held by Father William Menninger, one of the architects of the rebirth of centering prayer in recent decades. Fr. Menninger was talking about a subject close to our hearts. The topic of forgiveness.

While the conference was close to an hour long, it was too much material to try and cover here in these short few minutes of this reflection; one point struck home with me.

We often think of forgiveness as something we’re asking for from God, that is for ourselves of course. And then another form is being forgiven by others for some infraction that has caused consternation or worse. And then finally, of course, you have the third form of forgiveness where we are forgiving someone for something done to us; or it could be, just how they are.

How do you know this in your own life when you ask for God’s forgiveness, given perhaps in reconciliation, and you still haven’t accepted it? I know this has happened in my life, when I’ve asked for forgiveness for someone I’ve wronged, forgiveness was given to me by God, yet I still felt unforgiven in some way. A wise spiritual director once told me you need to get over this, you’re putting yourself above God if you feel like you haven’t been forgiven after you have received God’s forgiveness. That made great sense to me, and I’ve tried to take that advice on board since that discussion with the wise director.

The second form, when someone forgives us for something we have done, seems to work without too much difficulty. Sometimes we must ask that person for forgiveness. Even so, when it is given with a pure heart, we accept it. This seems to be the form of forgiveness with the fastest healing, change, and reconciliation. We sometimes repeat this pattern of course, it’s often not a one-and-done deal, but nevertheless seems to be the least confusing form of forgiveness.

Then there is the third form of forgiveness, the one where we offer it up to someone else where we are the ones doing the forgiving. In many cases, particularly in the third form of forgiveness where we’re offering it up, there seem to be residuals there. And it is here that Father Menninger tells us what forgiveness really is. He does this with a beautiful phrase called love rehealed. Those two words love rehealed say all for me. When we feel forgiven, or forgive someone truly, it does not mean we forget the event or problem that was caused, but we do the healing process associated with it. Menninger sees forgiveness as a by-product of a healed state of love and peace within us. I think this is true. It does not bypass the guilt, bad feelings, identity consequences and other sometimes terrible things that make up the facts surrounding the need for forgiveness. But it does end up returning us to a state of love, as the primary place we want to be. A new disposition, a state of love repaired, of love rehealed from the inflicted wound.

Have you ever thought of forgiveness being just a by-product of love? We often tend to think of this as a discrete process. Something separate, even secular in nature. However, no forgiveness is present unless we (and preferably the other party) return to a state of inner peace. What are your thoughts on the matter? Where are you spiritually when it comes to forgiveness?

Photograph and Refection, Copyright 2023 Michael J. Cunningham OFS