Friday, October 24 2014; Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 477

Reading 1
eph 4:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace; 
one Body and one Spirit, 
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

Responsorial Psalm
ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Gospel
lk 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”

REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: MANY-SPLENDORED UNITY

"Make every effort to preserve the unity which has the Spirit as its origin." –Ephesians 4:3

To live lives worthy of our calling as Christians, we must become one as Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are One (see Jn 17:21). We are called to live in divine, Trinitarian, multi-faceted unity. There are seven major facets to our unity with God. "There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there is but one hope given all of you by your call. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all" (Eph 4:4-6).

These many facets themselves are multi-faceted. There is one bread and one body when we receive the body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion (1 Cor 10:17). In Christian community, we are "of one heart and one mind" (Acts 4:32). In marriage, the husband and wife "are no longer two but one flesh" (Mt 19:6) as they grow to be more deeply of one heart and one mind.

Unity is like a diamond of divinity and Trinity. Unity from God's perspective is pure simplicity. From our human perspective, unity is a rich complexity. Unity is a mystery and a "great gift of the Holy Spirit" (Lay Members of Christ's Faithful People, Pope John Paul II, 20).

Let us live lives worthy of our call to be one through, with, and in Him. We were created and redeemed to be one. Let us "make every effort to preserve" and deepen our love in the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:3).

PRAYER: Father, "how good it is, and how pleasant, where brethren dwell at one!" (Ps 133:1) Give me a heart for Trinitarian unity.

PROMISE: "Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain." –Ps 24:3-4

PRAISE: St. Anthony continued to preach Christ in the face of several assassination attempts.

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