Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Intention: That God will continue to bless us the Lasallian Family with opportunities to serve all persons, especially those most in need, and to help build a more compassionate and just world.
Today’s Gospel | Mark 9:41-50
Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
“Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.”
From the Seventh Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
You must, then, regard your work, which has been entrusted to you by pastors and by fathers and mothers, as one of the most important and necessary services in the Church.
This means that you are called to lay the foundation for the building of the Church when you instruct children in the mystery of the most Holy Trinity and the mysteries accomplished by Jesus Christ when he was on earth.
For, according to Saint Paul, without faith it is impossible to please God and consequently be saved and enter the homeland of heaven, because faith is the foundation of the hope that we have. The knowledge, then, that each must have of the faith, the instruction that must be given concerning the faith to those who are ignorant of it, is one of the most important things in our religion.
Prayer
Eternal Father, each day your Son’s word gives us all new life. When we are tempted by selfishness, grant us the humility to serve others. When we are afflicted by anger and pride, make of us your instruments of blessing for others. When we are unsettled by fear and troubled by worries, fill us with your peace. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.