Mary M. McGlone

Scripture for Life: The title of this feast is superlative. The images we create for it are flush with symbols of royalty and high priesthood, greatness and grandeur. But the Gospel we hear today reflects none of that.

Natural and social catastrophes would make it seem that the world was coming to an end, and God's own people would be persecuted by enemies, former friends and even family members. The answer to their anxieties? Only this: "By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

Scripture for Life: Today's readings invite us to journey in reflection from the heroic to the ridiculous to the sublime, as Jesus invites us to perceive the infinite value of every relationship.

Only those who have begun to understand God's own humility, only those who understand that love is the one invincible power on earth, can begin to speak God's language.

Scripture for Life: In the end, it seems that the perseverance Jesus calls for has nothing to do with badgering God, reciting hundreds of rosaries or doubling down on novenas. The widow shows us that calling out for God's help is supposed to lead us to be unflagging in pursuit of the reign of God. 

Scripture for Life: We know this story only too well. Jesus healed 10 lepers. One, a Samaritan, came back to thank him. It's all about gratitude, right? Listen again, it's not quite that simple. 

Scripture for Life: Jesus' kind of faith, expressed through practices such as love of enemy and the hope that acts as if evil will never win, is grain-of-mustard faith; it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Scripture for Life: It's one thing to care about the poor and even donate for them — that goes a step beyond the rich man's blindness. But prayers and donations don't free us from being trapped among the insiders. 

Scripture for Life: There's no getting around it, as Luke moves toward the climax of his Gospel, his emphasis on reverence for the life and thriving of the poor only grows stronger.

Scripture for Life: Unlike people who carefully measure out their fortunes and hold something back for a rainy day, Jesus acts as if there's no end to his treasure and rain makes it sprout all the more.

Scripture for Life: How are we to move from being Jesus' fans to his followers? According to Pope Francis, today's most urgent call is to the "ecological conversion" that will lead us to heal and renew our common home.

Scripture for Life: Break free of a guest list written in stone. This same old, same old is hardly different from serving leftovers week after week. What about a new guest list instead of new clothes and fancy foods?

Scripture for Life: One of the core Gospel conundrums is that one cannot save oneself. Whenever we strive to be perfect or focus on sin and forgiveness, we remain the center of our attention. 

Scripture for Life: When we ask what these readings say to us today, we might take Jesus' opening line in combination with a phrase from the Letter to the Hebrews. Jesus said, "I have come to set the earth on fire." 

Scripture for Life: Today, we are invited into the future we long for at the deepest level of our being. We will get there only by leaving behind our fears and pessimism. 

Scripture for Life: When we pray with and in and through Christ, we come to know God's presence with and among us in everything. God may not keep us from all harm, but because God's love is expressed in the Spirit and through others, we will never face harm alone.

Scripture for Life: Today, if we want to enjoy the company of Christ, we need to find the balance between action and contemplation. This will allow us to join in Jesus' rejection of roles, rules and regulations that demean others. 

Scripture for Life: Here, in the middle of Luke's Gospel, we get the parable that explains the motive of Jesus' mission. When God sees suffering and need, the divine response is intimate, unbounded solidarity.

Scripture for Life: We need to pay attention to how countercultural our Gospel is. We may live in the "most powerful nation on earth," but the might of our country has very little to do with the vulnerable, noncoercive character of divine power.

Scripture for Life: We must not forget that while Jesus said he had no place to lay his head, he also said that those who leave home for him and the Gospel will find themselves enjoying hundreds of homes.