SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OCTOBER 10, 2020

MASS READINGS:

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

REFLECTION: “He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.””

When I was young, I liked to climb a tree every once in a while. One day an old giant tree fell over and provided a great ramp with branches to hold onto for someone to explore this new territory. I could not leave this opportunity alone, even though my mom didn’t seem to like the idea. I excitedly took the challenge of climbing a tree without a ladder for the first time. I was very happy in my endeavor, until my foot slipped and my leg found the barbed wire fence entangled under the tree. I had my share of scrapes and bruises, but this hurt worse than anything I had experienced before.

Hobbling to the house, I cried for my mom, expecting her to help me stanch the blood and clean the wound as she always did when I needed a bandage. I was shocked when she reproved me for climbing that tree. I was left alone to do the best I could and hurt that she didn’t help me. What a disappointment! Here, I drank the bitterness of disobedience and suffered the heartache of rejection by the person I loved most. I still have the scar to prove my injury, but it was all for my own good.

Just like my childish ways and the woman in today’s reading, sometimes we are corrected to follow Christ and to observe the word of God. It is important for any Christian to study the word of God to attain a greater understanding of his love for us. However, we often fall short in our effort to find the time.

One way to do this is to schedule an appointment once a week with your Bible. You can mentally consider this to be the most important thing you do in your week. If you need more support in staying on schedule, take a Bible study class or find a partner to spend some time reading and discussing Holy Scripture. PAPA’s Zoom Bible Study of Sunday’s Gospels is one example to observe the word of God. You just might find it to be the blessing Jesus mentioned.