If we want to be faithful to the Lord our God. We must wake up every morning and renounce the works of the enemies, for we have to battle against sin each and every day of our lives.
And it’s not a battle that we need to fight alone, for Christ Jesus, our Lord, is with us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can resist and overcome. By his life, death, and resurrection, we have been empowered. And through the powerful name of Jesus, we can cast out evil within us, in our homes, even in our offices and communities, and we can bring Jesus into every situation.
Let us not make the mistake of thinking that we have tomorrow. Today is the day we make a decision to follow after Christ, body, mind, and spirit. For what if tomorrow never comes for us? Are we ready to say to the Lord, “I am ready, Lord. Into your hands, I commit my spirit”?
Lord Jesus, I’ve made up my mind. You are the one I love above all. Be with me, Lord, now and forever. Amen.
Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, priests, and their Companions, Martyrs pray for us…
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First reading
Ephesians 2:1-10 ·
Sinners are saved in Christ Jesus
You were dead through the crimes and the sins in which you used to live when you were following the way of this world, obeying the ruler who governs the air, the spirit who is at work in the rebellious. We all were among them too in the past, living sensual lives, ruled entirely by our own physical desires and our own ideas; so that by nature we were as much under God’s anger as the rest of the world. But God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ – it is through grace that you have been saved – and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.
This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it.
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Gospel
Luke 12:13-21
Fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you
A man in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’
Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’
