Bishop Barron's Gospel Reflection October 19, 2019

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues

Luke 12:8-12

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells us how to deal with persecution. When does the Church stop being persecuted? When the Lord returns, and not before. From the earliest days until the present, the community of Jesus Christ has been the focus of the world’s violence. The Church will announce, until the end of time, that the old world is passing away, that a new world of love, nonviolence, and life is emerging. This announcement always infuriates the world of sin. Always. The twentieth century was the bloodiest on record—and the one with the most martyrs. Here’s Jesus’ encouragement: "When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say." What do we do in the meantime? We maintain a detachment from the world that is passing away, our eyes fixed on the world that will never end. And we speak—confidently, boldly, provocatively—the message of the Gospel, the dying and rising of the Lord. Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs Lectionary: 472 Reading 1 Rom 4:13, 16-18 Brothers and sisters: It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, I have made you father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be. Gospel Lk 12:8-12 Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."