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| On this page you can read Brother Luke's Daily Reflections. A new one will be added every day and at the end of each month they will be moved to their own page. If you'd like to be added to Br Luke's Daily Reflection e-mail list please click here to send him a request. Please respect Br Luke's work, and ask for permission before copying these mediations. August 2009 Revised Common Lectionary : Liturgical Year "B" Friday 14th Scripture: Matthew 19:3-12 Reflection: There would be very few (if any) of us who have not been personally affected by the breakdown of a life partnership. The ripple effect on the people who are around the couple breaking apart is immense. Sadly people are expected to take sides - to agree with one person at the exclusion of the other. Sometimes life long friendships end. Reflect for a moment on this sad event, and then ask yourself “how can I be a witness of Christ’s love to all those affected by the separation? What is your reply?
Saturday 15th Scripture: Matthew 19:13-15 Reflection: Today there are those who would chase people away from Jesus. Sometimes we do that by our inaction, or by our prejudices, or simply by our not realising what we are/were saying or doing. Jesus corrected his disciples and invited the children to be brought to him. Which are you doing: inviting people in or chasing them away? What would Jesus say to you?
Sunday 16th Scripture: John 6:51-58 Reflection: Look at verses 56 & 57, " If, or perhaps when, we partake of the Eucharist, we are saying yes we believe; yes we want God to dwell within; yes we want to live an eternal life. And we are also saying: yes we understand that this means we have to live a certain way. We have to love God, with all our bodies, our hearts, our minds and our souls. And just as importantly that we will love our neighbours as ourselves. I suspect we don’t think that way when we partake of the Eucharist. Do we?
Monday 17th Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22 Reflection: Verse 22: After hearing the law, and being confident he had done it all, the young man received a shock. All he had done was not enough. But he could not take that final step. After all who was he without his possessions? What would become of him without these prized items? What made him walk away, the thought of losing his material possessions, or the fact he would be possession-less. In his grief he missed the key phrase – “treasures in heaven”. Where are your possessions kept?
Tuesday 18th Scripture: Matthew 19:23-30 Reflection: In today’s secularised, highly commercialised world we are expected to obtain wealth, and the more money the better. But earthly wealth is not important in the kingdom of God. In God's realm, earthly wealth is not an advantage, it is a distinct disadvantage. Why? Perhaps because when we focus on acquiring wealth, we miss the old homeless lady lying drunk in the doorway of the store and we ignore the opportunity to help her……….
Wednesday 19th Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16 Reflection: The owner went out 5 times, and when faced with complaints about the wages received, he asked those who were complaining if they were envious because he was generous. Could it be that their egos had been bruised? They thought they deserved more than they had agreed to work for. How about us, when faced with a similar situation how do we react?
Thursday 20th Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14 Reflection: The guest did not take the invitation seriously, did not take the time to dress appropriately and so was cast out. How seriously do we consider our call and vocations? Do we spend the time and effort needed to live that calling? Or would we be called, not chosen and cast out?
Friday 21st Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40 Reflection: When our minds work like the lawyers we try to fit God into our way of thinking. We vainly try to justify why God accepts our methods of classifying, justifying and rationalising our thoughts or actions - but this process is not one of loving God with our whole heart, soul and mind. Likewise, if, as Christ's asks us to, we are to love our neighbours as ourselves, we will find that we cannot force anyone to accept our methods, processes or thinking. Just as God’s love accepts us as we are, so God’s love requires us to accept them as they are. This is a hard lesson, and one that we often take a long time to learn.
Saturday 22nd Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12 Reflection: Have a look at verse 3. When we look at the world today, we don’t have to look very far to find examples of the type of people Jesus was referring to. There seem to be so many people for whom the words "do as I say, not as I do" are a proud badge. What phrase best describes you: do as I say or do as I do?
Sunday 23rd Scripture: John 6: 56-69 Reflection: It seems that in increasing numbers, people today are finding the message of the gospel is too difficult to deal with. They find they are unable to accept that the message preached by Jesus is that of love. And so they will leave the church, and perhaps even the faith. Their departure may cause us immense pain, anguish, even sorrow. We can't stop them going, we can pray for them, we can pray God's blessing on them as they go - and then leave them to God's enfolding love.
Monday 24th Scripture: Matthew 23:13-22 Reflection: It probably wasn’t just the rules that Jesus was objecting to, but the narrowness of their interpretation that gave rise to such complexity, that most people could only obey, rather than understand them. What do you do about complex church rules that you don’t understand?
Tuesday 25th Scripture: Matthew 23:23-26 Reflection: The scribes and Pharisees were focused on the intricate details of complying with what they saw as requirements of the law. They had lost sight of what Matthew says Jesus called the "weightier matters". How about you? Is there some little detail that you have focused on, and in the process lost sight of the more important item or task? What will you do about it?
Wednesday 26th Scripture: Matthew 23:27-32 Reflection: In seeking to appear "holy" or "righteous", the scribes and Pharisees had focused on appearances, on how they appeared to others. Sadly we can see this same approach happening today. I'm sure we can all think of, if not have recent examples, of something being done (or not done) simply because it how it may appear to others. Be careful, for our lives are witnesses to what we believe.
Wednesday 27th Scripture: Matthew 24:42-51 Reflection: "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." (verse 44) There are some of us (possibly more than we realise - or perhaps more than we like to admit) who do not like surprises. They always prefer to know what is happening, when and if possible why. Yet we all seem able to accept this uncertainty! Ever wondered why
Thursday 28th Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13 Reflection: All the bridesmaids knew they needed oil to keep the lamps alight. We also need spiritual, and physical, fuel, to keep our lives and our faith journey alive and going. At times we are so busy, or focused elsewhere that we become unaware that our fuel is getting low. We need to watch our reserves. How are yours?
Saturday 29th Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30 Reflection: If we allow our fears and phobias (be they of failure, not being accepted, or anything else that limits) to stop us from using our gifts, then we will achieve little. At times it is hard to be courageous, but we need to recall that we are never alone.
Sunday 30th Scripture: Mark 7:1-8, 14-23 Reflection: "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come." (parts of verses 20& 21) We perhaps don’t like to think of evil coming from the heart. We perhaps like to think of it coming from the head, or in response to something someone else did. Have another look at the list of what Mark recorded as Jesus calling "evil things". Jesus said these things come from the heart - they come from the same place that keeps us alive!
Monday 31st Scripture: Luke 4:16-30 Reflection: The amazement of the people of Nazareth quickly turned to anger. They did not like what they had heard, from someone they thought they knew. So it can be with us. We may find ourselves unexpectedly confronted by angry people. People who we least expect to be angry with us. This can be very distressing, and may cause us to doubt our lives, our vocation, perhaps even our faith. When this happens, remember to stand secure, firmly aware, confident in, and with, God's love.
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