Scripture of the day - 13 November, 2020. Friday of Week 32
1st Reading: 2 John verses 4-9
Love one another and acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come incarnate in the flesh
I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning, you must walk in it.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist! Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward. Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
The Word of the Lord
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Responsorial: from Psalm 118
R./: Happy are they who follow the law of the Lord
They are happy whose life is blameless,
who follow God’s law!
They are happy who do his will,
seeking him with all their hearts. (R./)
I have sought you with all my heart:
let me not stray from your commands.
I treasure your promise in my heart
lest I sin against you. (R./)
Bless your servant and I shall live
and obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may see
the wonders of your law. (R./)
Jesus said: “As it was in Noah’s days, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them, it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
“On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.” Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
The Gospel of the Lord
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Reflections - Distracted from God
By contrast, Saint John is delighted to find at least some of his Christians showing sincere love for each other. The Christian way of life (“walking in the truth”) includes our whole set of relationships, in-home and family, in community and daily work. Here is where we can practise compassion, forgiveness, joy and hope. If we are always gently aware of the gifted quality of all that is good in our world, the Tremendous Lover who inspires all goodness, we will be ready for the coming of the Son of Man.
Even the good gifts of nature could sometimes distract us from ever thinking about our Creator. Because they are so good, they can drown out the desire to think beyond the pleasures of the present moment, to worship the One who sustains a beautiful world. At the domestic level, once a pleasant meal has been eaten, we may forget to thank the cook. Parents who lavish their children with gadgets may easily be taken for granted.
While living fully and enthusiastically, we try to keep our Father and Creator in mind, to deepen our appreciation of life. If we forget the One who made us, our love can grow shallow and wither, drowned out as in the days of Noah, by eating and drinking, buying and selling and the many recreational activities that claim our attention.
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Saint of the Day for November 13 | (July 15, 1850 – December 22, 1917) | Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
She found disappointment and difficulties with every step. When she arrived in New York, the house intended to be her first orphanage in the United States was not available. The archbishop advised her to return to Italy. But Frances, truly a valiant woman, departed from the archbishop’s residence all the more determined to establish that orphanage. And she did.
Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized. Her deep trust in the loving care of her God gave her the strength to be a valiant woman doing the work of Christ.
Refused admission to the religious order which had educated her to be a teacher, she began charitable work at the House of Providence Orphanage in Codogno, Italy. In September 1877, she made her vows there and took the religious habit.
When the bishop closed the orphanage in 1880, he named Frances prioress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Seven young women from the orphanage joined her.
Since her early childhood in Italy, Frances had wanted to be a missionary in China but, at the urging of Pope Leo XIII, Frances went west instead of east. She travelled with six sisters to New York City to work with the thousands of Italian immigrants living there.
In 35 years, Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick. Seeing a great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith, she organized schools and adult education classes.
As a child, she was always frightened of water, unable to overcome her fear of drowning. Yet, despite this fear, she travelled across the Atlantic Ocean more than 30 times. She died of malaria in her own Columbus Hospital in Chicago.
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