Daily Readings Reflection for 10/16/10

Reflection on Today’s Daily Readings by Fr. Bertrand Buby, SM

Today’s Readings


Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23. Psalm 8:2-3.4-5.6-7. Luke 12:8-12.
Lectionary 472

Luke is the Evangelist of prayer yet Paul is the person of the New
Testament who actually prays and does not simply narrate a theme about
prayer or how Jesus prayed. We are immediately put into a prayer of Paul
whenever we read his introductory chapter right after the address to
someone or to a specific Church, then he gives the greeting and that is
followed by the prayer part that is called the "thanksgiving". So after
his greeting we have a direct prayer from Paul which is an inspired prayer
and can help us in our own way of praying. He becomes a mentor for our
prayer in this thanksgiving.

In Ephesians he is praying for the unity of the churches that are the body
of Christ; Christ is the head. The universalism of Ephesians is apparent;
there is also a cosmic universalism in this writing that includes all of
creation, but prayer is the theme we are focusing on today in this
meditation. When we pray with Paul we are never separated from the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He leads us to address them and to be mindful
of their presence in us. Trinitarian prayer is profound and personal; it
is dynamic and transcendent while also being immanent within us and our
relationship to the persons of the Trinity.

Christ is for Paul, the "Pleroma:, that is the fullness of God's redeeming
love that fills all the universe and the world and makes us believers to be
creative agents of Jesus' redemptive love. What an honor and an
entrustment! Thanksgiving, praise, and intercession are part of today's
prayer from Paul. He makes us mindful of the Trinity if we carefully
reflect upon the second part of the prayer today.

The Psalm chosen for the readings is helpful for it enters into the
universalism and cosmic dimension of Paul's manner of writing and praying.
God's presence is seen in the beauty of creation and in the cosmic powers
of the heavens. And God gives us his Son Jesus who is easily imaged in our
prayer through the Gospel passage we hear each day. The liturgical
response is a reflection upon verse 7 of the Psalm 8: "You gave your Son
authority over all creation."

In our Gospel passage, the Holy Spirit is central to the message. We are
not to fear about what we should say when we are confronted about our
faith. Here we would do well to also read again the best passages on the
role of the Spirit in Paul, chapter eight of his epistle to the Romans. It
needs no commentary. We only have to read it, pray it, and believe it.
Thus today we can pray with Paul through praying his prayer in Ephesians
1:15-23. We can pray with and through the Holy Spirit. Paul has a good
prayer for all of us, "May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
Glory, grant you a Spirit of wisdom and insight to know him clearly." Amen.