"He called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles." (Lk 6:13)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
1 Cor 6:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
How can any one of you with a case against another
dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment
instead of to the holy ones?
Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
If the world is to be judged by you,
are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels?
Then why not everyday matters?
If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters,
do you seat as judges people of no standing in the Church?
I say this to shame you.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between brothers?
But rather brother goes to court against brother,
and that before unbelievers?
Now indeed then it is, in any case,
a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.
Why not rather put up with injustice?
Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God.
That is what some of you used to be;
but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Lk 6:12-19
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
The Word of God in today's Gospel recounts two events:
The first event was Jesus stayed up all night praying to God the Father before choosing the twelve atuesday-of-the-twenty-third-week-in-ordinary-time-lk-6-12-19-the-word-of-god-for-everyonepostles so that they could collaborate with Him in the plan of salvation of humanity.
- The second event was Jesus healed all diseases and unclean spirits, showing the great power of God who can drive out Satan and heal all diseases for humanity.
Today, God wants to teach humanity a lesson:
When doing anything, we need to run to God to ask for His help. We must always be closely united with Him in prayer at all times and in all places so that He can enlighten and guide us in our words and actions. For even Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came down to earth to become man had to constantly pray, incorporating with God the Father to unite with God the Father, to listen to His Word, and to receive the commands from God the Father to teach and tell all mankind about what to do and how to live according to the will of God the Father.
Now, God wants His apostles to always unite and pray without ceasing with God the Father so that He can strengthen them to be able to listen to His instructions on what to do according to His will. Because without God's will to teach and without His Spirit to guide, we will be superficially living on the outside. We will act against God's will and will be taken advantage of by Satan to interfere and destroy His plan of salvation. Through Jesus' exorcism of demons and healing of diseases, God also revealed that: to have the strength and power of God to cast out Satan and to heal the diseases of the sick and sinners, each of us needs the following:
- We must have the strength and power of God within ourselves.
- We must receive grace from God through constant prayer.
- We must live a holy life as God calls us to do in order to have the power and the authority of God to make Satan submit. For if anyone still lives according to the passions of the world, demons will laugh, and they will not submit to come out of the sick and sinners, and the strength and power of prayer to heal will not be effective.
Therefore, the Word of God today calls all of His children, especially the leaders in the Church:
- Must always have a life of close and continuous union with God the Father at all times and in all places, never leaving Him for a moment.
- In all actions, thoughts, words, and deeds, we must always put God above all things; and we must always be aware of God's presence in our life.
- Be humble, be self-abasement, and ask for God's power and strength to manifest in us to help us carry out God's commands correctly. This will help others have a peaceful and happy life in God's loving arms.
Indeed, only God's power, authority, and holiness can expel Satan, and heal all illnesses and diseases of the sick and sinners.
Whoever wants to be an instrument of God to help our brothers and sisters who are suffering from illness of the soul and body, must listen to and follow the teachings of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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