Saint for today: Wilfrid (633-710)

Scripture Readings for today’s Liturgy:

Galatians 5:18-25    –    Psalm 1    –    Luke 11:42-46

“Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

 Today’s two main scripture readings come down pretty hard on the poor Scribes and Pharisees but the above scripture quote from the responsorial psalm puts a positive spin on our Liturgy of the Word so that we don’t have to walk in darkness but can be guided by the Light of Life – Jesus Christ our savior and redeemer. Still, it’s important for all of us to know that we are on the right path and both the reading from Galatians and the Gospel of Luke spell it out in clear terms. St. Paul tells us in this reading from Galatians that the works of the flesh are obvious especially if they are put up against the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.   If we take each of these words and ask ourselves, “when have I been; loving, joyful, peaceable, patience, kind, generous, faithful, gentle and self-controlled?” If you didn’t score very well on this question, maybe you have some work to do to get it right. But we have the promise of the quote at the beginning of today’s reflection, “Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.” If we walk with the Lord we will always be in the light and able to see where we are going and what we are doing. Any time you have to be clandestine about what you are doing you can be pretty sure that you’ve wandered off the “path of light.” I remember a time when I was at a Benedictine Monastery for retreat and a few of us were chatting after finishing with the evening dishes. Then the Abbot came into the room and I – jokingly said, “Cheese it! Here comes the Abbot!” He was a good natured guy but was quick to come back with a retort that I have remembered to this day. He told us, “any time you have to change your conversation because someone else has come into the room, you can be pretty sure you weren’t in a good conversation to start with!” You can tuck this away but keep it in mind for the future. Let us pray that we might always be close to “Light of the Lord and always walk in His ways. Amen!”