Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Intention: For the gifts of integrity, dedication, and hope for all who serve as educators and caretakers of the young.
Today’s Gospel | Luke 10:1-12
Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”
From the Fourth Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
Guard against any human attitude toward your disciples; do not take pride in what you are doing. These two things are capable of spoiling all the good there is in the performance of your duties. What have you in this regard that has not been given to you? If it has been given to you, why are you boasting as if you had it on your own? Keep, then, the goals of your work as completely pure as those of Jesus Christ; by this means you will draw his blessings and graces upon yourselves and all your labors.
Prayer
Eternal Father, we are a people who are born to have faith, but often we think that fulfillment comes from believing only in ourselves and in our interests. Fill us with the zeal to seek your truth, and help us as we strive to be persons of integrity and graciousness. Above all, make of us true disciples who live as ambassadors of your saving presence to one another, especially to those who are most in need. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.