Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Intention: That our Lasallian schools will continue to be places where the sinfulness of exclusion and marginalization is dispelled by the light of acceptance and respect.
Today’s Gospel | Mark 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
From the Fifteenth Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
God is so good that he does not leave unrewarded the good work that is done for him and the service that is rendered to him, especially for the salvation of souls. If it is true that God rewards so generously even in this world those who have left all things for him, that they receive a hundredfold in this life, with how much more reason will God reward even in this present time those who have devoted themselves with zeal to spread his kingdom!
Prayer
Eternal Father, so often in life we choose to pursue things that we want even if they take us away from you. Help us to see and to accept each day the wisdom of your truth. Lead us away from arrogance and self-centeredness and lead us to a deeper knowledge of you. Teach us that your creation holds many gifts and that if our eyes and hearts are open to your presence in life, then we can find all that we need in your grace. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.