Roman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Friday, 7 November 2014

Roman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Friday, 7 November 2014 
Meditation: Philippians 3:17-19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
4:1 My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.
31st Week in Ordinary Time
Join with others in being imitators of me. (Philippians 3:17)
What an odd thing for Paul to say! Why should we try to emulate him, a mere mortal, when we have the example of Jesus, the perfect Son of God, right before us?
Clearly, we should never elevate Paul—or Peter or Mary or anyone else—above the Lord. Only Jesus can draw us into union with God. In fact, Paul’s letters show that he could sometimes be cranky, temperamental, and strong-willed as he founded churches and tackled various challenges that these new churches faced.
But despite these flaws—or maybe through dealing with them—Paul learned how to come into the presence of God. He learned how to bring his needs to the Lord, and he learned how to let the Spirit soften his harder edges. He never stopped pursuing Jesus, asking for “the power of his resurrection” to help him become more like Christ. (Philippians 3:10).
So yes, it is a good idea to imitate Paul! In his quest to become one with the Lord, he walked a path that we all can follow. What’s more, his letters are filled with clues that can help us find the Lord.
Take today’s reading, for example. Paul laments those whose “minds are occupied with earthly things” (Philippians 3:19). If we want to find the Lord, we need to lift up our hearts. We need to take time every day to quiet our many concerns, fears, and responsibilities so that we can hear the Spirit’s gentle whisper in our hearts.
Paul also told the Galatians, “Stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). We too can stand firm against temptation so that sin doesn’t cast a cloud over our hearts and keep us from experiencing God’s love.
He also told Timothy, “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). You have the Holy Spirit! And that Spirit wants to lift you to heaven! So seek him, trust in him, rely on him, and he will lead you to Christ.
There are so many other lessons Paul has to teach us. Take a chapter of one of his letters today and see how many you can find.
“Lord, I want to know you and the power of the resurrection more each day. Come and fill me with your presence.” Amen!
Psalms 122: A Pilgrim Song of David
1-2 When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”
    my heart leaped for joy.
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,
    inside Jerusalem’s walls!
3-5 Jerusalem, well-built city,
    built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend,
    all God’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of God—
    this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment
    are set there, famous David-thrones.
Luke 16: The Story of the Crooked Manager
1-2 Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired. And I want a complete audit of your books.’
3-4 “The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’
5 “Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’
“The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.’
7 “To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’
“He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’
“He said, ‘Take your bill, write in eighty.’
8-9 “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”
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