https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092723.cfm
Have No Fear To Hold The Pain Of Another In Your Heart.
How many times have dictators risen and fallen in our world? They use their authority to bully their people into subhuman existence. And should anyone oppose these dictators? They make their authority felt!
Some dictators come to mind even today. We see this happening in the people of Venezuela. We pray for a peaceful solution. The Gospel today tells us that Jesus gave his disciples (and us) power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. He gave us his divine authority over all evil in our hearts and our world.
Jesus expresses his authority through humility. Our Lord shows the way. Chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to the Philippians tells us that even though Jesus was God, He humbled himself and took the form of an enslaved person. It was not enough for Him to become a human being. He even emptied Himself more and allowed what makes us slaves to sin, kill Him on the cross.
Jesus takes every sin and disease that inflicts the hearts and lives of people into his wounded Body and the guys with Him on the cross. We don’t need a staff or bag full of things to love people who are hurt and wounded back to health.
It is so easy to let our comforts get in the way of feeling the people’s pain. They can be such a distraction. They can keep us from seeing another person’s misery.
The comfort of the human heart goes much deeper than the satisfaction we get from stuff. Our comfort is knowing that Jesus in us hungers to take the burdens we bear with others to Himself. Take a moment to listen to someone in pain. Do not be afraid to hold them in your heart.
Gospel Challenge:
Go to the Chapel or go to Mass and place them at the feet of Jesus on his cross. The first letter to St. Peter tells us, “He bore our sins in his Body on a tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Ignite the Fire
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
