One Minute Reflection – 17 October – Thursday of the Twenty-eighth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:47–54 and the Memorial of St Ignatius of Antioch (c 35 – 107) Father of the Church, Martyr
“Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.” … Luke 11:47
REFLECTION – ” The biggest sin of the Pharisees is that they persecute and even kill the messengers God has sent to purify and reform their religion. They are so caught up in the rut of their traditions, that they cannot heed or tolerate the voice of the prophets. They stone the present prophets and build monuments to the ancient ones.
Often we too make the same mistakes.
We are keen in preserving the names of great people who lived among us. We may even build monuments to their memory. But we fail to imbibe and live by their spirit. It is surprising how the creative spirit of a religious tradition can die in the hands of those who are faithfully seeking to preserve the tradition itself – the tradition stands, the faith dies.
That is what happened to the Pharisees of Jesus’ time and it is happening to us as well.” … Fr Joseph Thena SSP
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, grant that I may believe what I have learned, never presuming to know better than the teachings of Holy Mother Church and that I may put into practice what I believe. Let my commitment be like unto the Martyr, St Ignatius of Antioch, who went with joy to his horrific death, for the faith in Christ, Your Son, God with You and the Holy Spirit. St Ignatius, pray for us, amen.
AnaStpaul 