Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Luke 8: 1-3
September 19, 2025 | Friday

Today’s Gospel

Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed him, and also some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna; and others, who provided for them out of their own funds.

Today’s Reflection

Our life of faith needs to be made concrete in the way we live our ordinary lives. Faith cannot be simply abstract. It has to be translated into our actions. In its simplest expression, we can say that our faith, when lived up to by us, moves us to follow Christ. But then, we ask further: what does following Christ mean? St. Luke tells us that the women who followed Jesus, albeit never appointed as part of the twelve, provided funds for the cause of Jesus. Their provision was their service. Moreover, St. Paul exhorts Timothy regarding some practical means to express their following of Christ. Ultimately, when his practical counsels were done, Paul redirected the practical to the transcendental: strive to be holy and godly. Live in faith and love. Fight the good fight and win everlasting life. This is the motivation for our good works and our aspiration for holiness. God blessed us because we became poor in the world for him. By being poor for him, we became rich. The women gave what they owned but gained something more precious: Jesus. Paul exhorts the practical way to live as faithful Christians; he tells us to shun our love for money, our greed, our desires because the reward is better: eternal life. When we translate our life of faith into something actual and real, we receive the promise that Jesus has for us—life with Him in paradise.

/Vulnerasti, 2025