Readings:
Romans 5:12,15,17-21
Luke 12:35-38
Reflection:
Today’s readings speak to me of grace, faithful response, and readiness. The message for me is that our weakness and frailty are met by God’s mercy. Our response Him should be to live alertly, in gratitude and service. Grace transforms obligation into love, ritual into relationship, and waiting into faithful action.
In a world that wrestles with cycles of weakness, sin and redemption; violence, greed, division, and despair often seem to echo Adam’s fall in the first reading. Yet St. Paul reminds us that grace is stronger than our weaknesses. Where human weakness abounds, God’s mercy overflows. This message is deeply needed in a time when global conflicts, social fragmentation, and environmental neglect reveal how far humanity can stray from God’s harmony.
The psalm echoes what should be our response to God’s grace and mercy – “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will”; an invitation requiring a response not of empty words but of inner conversion. God seeks our open hearts, not just rituals.
In an age of performance and appearances, this is a radical call to authenticity. To act justly, to love tenderly with mercy, and walk to humbly remains our truest act of worship.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus asks us to be awake, to keep our lamps lit. Readiness is not fear of the end but attentiveness to the present. We are to live as people expecting the return of love itself, finding Christ in each person and moment.
To be “awake” today means noticing the suffering of others, the quiet injustices around us, and responding with compassion. It means being agents of grace where resentment reigns. Christ’s grace, freely given, summons us to be people of hope, signs of Christ’s light in a fragmented world, servants waiting with hope and hearts open to God’s transforming love.
So today, we can ask ourselves: Am I living with a heart awake — ready to serve, to forgive, to respond to grace?
Because when we stay ready in love, we find that Christ is already here, serving us with His mercy.
Michael Schiano has been a member of St. Brigid’s parish since 1990. As a parish member he has served on the Parish Pastoral Council, Liturgy Committee, Bereavement Team and is a member of the Passionist Companions.