Monday,Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 7:1-4Mass: Ezra 1:1-6; Resp. Psalm 126; Luke 8:16-18

What Jesus says to the crowd today reminds of a radio program I listened to years ago. There was a segment where people would call, “Mr. Obvious,” asking a question to which the answer was, well, obvious. I imagine someone in the crowd raising his hand, then Jesus calls on him: “Excuse me, Jesus, but I bought a lamp to light up my front porch. The lighting is so poor that when my friends come calling at night, they can’t find the door. So, I lit the lamp and put it under my bed. My friends still can’t find the door. Is there something wrong with the lamp? After a brief pause, Jesus looks up and answers: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.”
God has given each one of us gifts, one this and another that. We might think of these gifts as lamps. We are not meant to conceal our lamps by putting them under the bed or a bushel basket. We are meant to light our lamps and let the light shine so that in all things God may be glorified.

ALLELUIA.Let your light shine before others,that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.ALLELUIA.
(Gospel Acclamation, Mass)