In Today’s responsorial Psalm we declare with all our hearts, “What marvels the Lord worked for us!” Indeed, if we reflect on our very own lives, we will see the Lord’s hand in everything. How He has brought us out from slavery to idols in the world, and how He has freed us through His grace to live a life to the full in Him. Indeed, the Lord has worked marvels in our lives.
It is a wonder to see in today’s First Reading how a pagan king was moved by the word and will of our Lord, who commanded that he should help build the temple that has been destroyed. To allow the people who were scattered during the Babylonian exile to return home to have a place of worship once again; since they have turned their hearts back to the Lord and were now loving righteous lives following after the heart of the Lord their God.
Therefore, in our own lives, we should be a light for the world to see, how Christ our Lord and King has freed us from all anxiety, from all sin, from the temptation and wiles of the world. He has given us gifts and talents to be fruitful and to build His Kingdom. And the more we surrenderd and sacrificed to build His Kingdom, the more we shall receive. All for His Glory. Amen.
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First reading
Ezra 1:1-6
Cyrus king of Persia frees the Jews to return to Jerusalem
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord that was spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom: ‘Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; he has ordered me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah to build the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, wherever he lives, be helped by the people of that place with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, as well as voluntary offerings for the Temple of God which is in Jerusalem.”’
Then the heads of families of Judah and of Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, in fact all whose spirit had been roused by God, prepared to go and rebuild the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem; and all their neighbours gave them every assistance with silver, gold, goods, cattle, quantities of costly gifts and with voluntary offerings of every kind.
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Gospel
Luke 8:16-18
Anyone who has will be given more
Jesus said to the crowds:
‘No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, he puts it on a lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in. For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be known and brought to light. So take care how you hear; for anyone who has will be given more; from anyone who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.’
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