Daily Readings - Mon Oct 30 2017

First Reading - Romans 8.11-17

¹¹But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead lives within you, then he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also enliven your mortal bodies, by means of his Spirit living within you¹²Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, so as to live according to the flesh¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live¹⁴For all those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God¹⁵And you have not received, again, a spirit of servitude in fear, but you have received the Spirit of the adoption of sons, in whom we cry out: "Abba, Father!¹⁶For the Spirit himself renders testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God¹⁷But if we are sons, then we are also heirs: certainly heirs of God, but also co-heirs with Christ, yet in such a way that, if we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him

Gospel - Luke 13.10-17

Luke

Chapter 13

¹⁰Now he was teaching in their synagogue on the Sabbaths¹¹And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. And she was bent over; and she was unable to look upwards at all¹²And when Jesus saw her, he called her to himself, and he said to her, "Woman, you are released from your infirmity.¹³And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was straightened, and she glorified God¹⁴Then, as a result, the ruler of the synagogue became angry that Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd: "There are six days on which you ought to work. Therefore, come and be cured on those, and not on the day of the Sabbath.¹⁵Then the Lord said to him in response: "You hypocrites! Does not each one of you, on the Sabbath, release his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it to water¹⁶So then, should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for lo these eighteen years, be released from this restraint on the day of the Sabbath?¹⁷And as he was saying these things, all his adversaries were ashamed. And all the people rejoiced in everything that was being done gloriously by him

Sermon

The readings today invite us to reflect on the transformative power of the Spirit of God and the freedom it brings. In the first reading from Romans, St. Paul reminds us that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us, making us children of God. This Spirit calls us to live not according to the flesh, which leads to death, but to mortify the deeds of the flesh and embrace the life of the Spirit. As sons and daughters of God, we are heirs of his glory, but this also means sharing in Christ’s sufferings so that we may be glorified with him. In the Gospel, Jesus encounters a woman who has been bent over for eighteen years, a vivid image of spiritual and physical bondage. Jesus, moved by compassion, heals her on the Sabbath, sparking controversy with the synagogue ruler. Jesus defends his action by pointing out the hypocrisy of rigidly observing the Sabbath while neglecting the freedom and healing that God’s Spirit offers. The woman, a daughter of Abraham, is freed from her infirmity, and the crowd rejoices at the glory of God revealed in her healing. Together, these readings remind us that the Spirit of God brings life, freedom, and healing. We are called to live as children of God, open to the Spirit’s work in us and through us. Like the woman in the Gospel, we must allow Jesus to set us free from the burdens that weigh us down, whether they are physical, emotional, or spiritual. Let us not be bound by fear or rigid traditions, but instead, embrace the Spirit’s transformative power and live as heirs of God’s glory.