Faith Daily | 28 September 2022

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p583

O God,

you declare your almighty power

chiefly in showing mercy and pity:

mercifully grant us such a measure of your grace

that, running in the way of your commandments,

we may obtain your gracious promises,

and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: Luke 9: 57-62

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Rev’d Jan

Have you ever wondered about Jesus and his daily, ordinary life… eating, sleeping, ablutions … it’s a bit like thinking about royalty, isn’t it. We tend to not think about the King and his bathroom. Part of that is that we are never privy to it either – we are presented with the image and person for the desired, controlled effect.

For Jesus, it is not that the ordinary things of life were not part of him – they had to be, in his fully human self. Revealed to us continually are the things of God interfacing with the things of earth – today’s reading is such a good example. Jesus is not saying he has nowhere to sleep – rather, to be with him means there is no earthly home identity. Where he is, is where you are, as his disciple.

It is one of the huge shifts in Christian identity we need to make – and Jesus affirms this in his next sentences – our earthly priorities and customs are not his, and we have to learn they are not to be ours.

FINAL PRAYER APBA p558 from St Augustine

O God,

the light of the minds that know you,

the life of the souls that love you,

the strength of the thoughts that seek you:

help us so to know you that we may truly love you,

and so to love you that we may fully serve you,

whose service is perfect freedom;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.