Forget “Quid Pro Quo”

Monday of Week 31 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Philippians 2:1-4 | Psalm 130(131) | Luke 14:12-14


Today’s reading and Gospel share a common message: “be humble, take care of your neighbor’s interests before yours, without expecting anything in return”.

Which isn’t to say you won’t gain any benefits, just that it’s not the reason to offer a helping hand.

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Yesterday, my wife and I visited one of her brothers-in-law. I knew he had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for a long time, but nothing prepared me for the sight of a formerly robust and cheerful man reduced to a miserable half-sized husk after almost 20 years of neural degeneration.

So we did the only thing we could do: massage his limbs, then pray over him, asking the Lord to give him a little more each day:

a little more physical strength to withstand the crushing force of gravity,

a little more mental strength to withstand the crushing force of despair,

a little more motor control to let him shift himself in his chair,

a little more clarity of mind to let him recognize and communicate with his children and young grandson,

a little more wholeness of mind and body to relieve some of the backbreaking burden on his long-suffering wife.

What did I get out of it? Surprisingly, renewed hope for a miraculous recovery. Seeing the etched lines on his wife’s face, her salt-and-pepper hair and a general air of fatigue and hopelessness, just kicked off something in me, a quiet certainty that “you can heal both of them, Lord, if it be Your will”.

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Do you have friends or relatives who are similarly crippled in body and/or mind? Have you visited them recently, spent some time with them, tried to help in any way? How did you feel after that?

Tired but hopeful, like me? I hope so.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

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