St. Pio of Pietrelcina, priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Ezra 1: 1-6

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,

Yahweh wil­led to ful­fill the word he had said through the prophet Jere­miah, so he moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom,   “Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of heavens, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah.

  To everyone belonging to his people, may his God be with him! Let them go up to Jerusalem with the help of their God and there build the House of Yahweh, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.  In every place where the rest of the people of Yahweh live, let the people of those places help them for their journey with silver, gold and all kinds of goods and livestock. Let them also give them voluntary offerings for the House of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem.”

 Then they rose up – the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, and all those whose spirit God had stirred up – and they decided to go and build the House of Yahweh.   And all their neighbors gave them all kinds of help: gold, silver, livestock and precious ob­jects in great quantity, besides every kind of voluntary offering.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 8: 16-18

 No one, after lighting a lamp covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather he puts it on a lamp ­stand so that people coming in may see the light.  In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret that shall not be known clearly.

 Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

 

Reflection gospel：

“PEOPLE COMING IN MAY SEE THE LIGHT.”

God’s good news of love that has been welcomed in the human heart through conversion by perseverance in prayer and good works so that it continues to grow and bear fruit for one’s self and others. When a lamp, or a candle, is covered, it will cease to give out light and no sooner will it be extinguished because it lacks air, particularly oxygen, needed to keep it burning.

Once the good news takes its root, it would require “patient endurance” so that we can proceed with the demands of daily human affairs strong, withstanding and warding off the threats coming from various concerns, possessions and pleasures in life (Brendan Byrne).

Prayer, good works, endurance and patience are the elements of the air, so to speak, that keep the light of love in us shining. Without them, our conversion to a new life of faith in Christ will not last. In seeing this light, what others actually recognize is God’s love and mercy at work in our lives.

The light of our transformation and its accompanying fruits of good work touch people’s lives because they reflect divine goodness. Having this light, then, shining in our life is to be a witness to the power and love of God.