I, Paul, an ambassador and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus, appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart … Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for awhile, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother … So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. Philemon 1, 10, 15-17
For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Luke 14:11
“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of God, nor lose courage when you are punished by God. For it is the one who is loved that God disciplines, and every child whom God receives is chastised.” Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom the parent does not discipline? Discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time; but later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. Hebrew 12:5-7, 11
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Luke 1:39-42
Jesus said to his companions: “Fear not, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to open to you the reign of God. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:32-34
Jesus told this parable. “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him,‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray. Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.’” Luke 11:2-4.
As they went on their way, Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha received him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
A lawyer asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” A priest and Levite both passed him without giving him any help. “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the man was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds.” The Samaritan not only stopped to assist the man but he also took him to an inn where he paid the innkeeper to take care of the man until he was well. Jesus then asked the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (Excerpted from Luke 10:25-37)
Jesus appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the owner of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. (Luke 10:1-2)