"Jesus opened the book and found the place where it was written." Filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord seeks the place in Sacred Scripture that proclaims his mission. The Word and the Spirit point to the Father as the Source of mission. The people ask Jesus to open the book; but they do not open their hearts. “Jesus is only Joseph's son.” They resist the Spirit that would move them through the Son to the eternal Father. That the Son exists here in their midst means that there is the Father who sent the Son. Jesus opens the book and opens hearts only through faith. Jesus, open me so that I may know you in the Spirit. Enable me in my prayer to place in you the sorrows of our suffering humanity as you are the absolute and only savior of all. You are the anointed one sent to heal the wounds of our sinfulness. Jesus, open the book. Open my heart.



Tuesday
Luke 4.31-37
Jesus is the Holy One of God. He is manifested, sent by the Father as the One who brings about the Kingdom. Sabbath is the holy day, separated out from the other six days of work. It is a day of rest from concerns about daily existence. Sabbath is about the peace and silence of resting in God. It is the grace-time of living for God alone. Synagogue is the holy place, the place separated out as the space where God meets his children in the assembly of worship. In the midst of the holiness, however, is the reality of the evil one. The evil one is not at rest; his kingdom of darkness and turmoil is threatened by the Holy One of God. The evil one cries out against the Strong One who is able to defeat him. The Holy One who conquers evil brings Sabbath wonder to the assembly. They wonder over the word spoken to them in Jesus, for a while at least. Thus it is that in Jesus and with his holy name pulsating in our hearts, our prayer is holy. Prayer is Sabbath, resisting the evil one, and giving rest.

Wednesday
Luke 4.38-44
Am I faithful to prayer practice in early morning solitude? From Mark 1. 35: "And when it was day he departed and went into a lonely place." I can't remain there long. The needs of others seek me out. But it must be the point from which I start and to which I return. What is absolute is the Holy Presence before which I surrender in adoration as this Presence envelopes me. I find Jesus in solitude in prayer. I join him by being in him in faith, hope and love. Being in him I am in the deepest truth of my own being by the gift of the Spirit. In Christ I am in the Father and in the bosom of the Church. The Church is the Sacrament of the Christ-Presence as a light to the world. Christ bears the pain of humanity in the common pilgrimage toward the Father. I must not be afraid. Jesus is at the heart of my prayer that brings healing and salvation.

Thursday
Luke 5.1-11
Luke writes here of the "people pressing upon him to hear the word of God." "The word of God"--this is a phrase favored by Luke especially in the Acts of the Apostles. Essentially the word of God is Jesus in his own person, as the Son of the Father. The “word of God” refers to all the words spoken by Christ by means of which we are drawn into the divine relationship. The word of God must be absolute for us in our prayer. For us who are in Christ, silence in itself is not the essence of our prayer. Prayer is not the nothingness of the great void or the self-comforting vague. Prayer is from and about the Word. The light enkindles love, the absolute center of our prayer. At the word the fish are caught. At the word Peter kneels and confesses the holiness of the Word made flesh. At the word Peter and his companions are strengthened not to fear and are enabled to leave all to follow after Jesus so as to be fishermen of souls for the Kingdom. Let us hear the word. Let press upon Jesus through the Teaching Tradition of the Church as the living successor of the Apostles, to absorb the word into our lives through prayer. My prayer begins with giving over the boat of my soul to serve the word. It is the person of Jesus breaking upon me. He calls forth my profession of surrender into him, Savior, Lord, Beloved. Then I leave prayer to be at service for the Kingdom, but Jesus remains in me. He accomplishes the work.

Friday
Luke 5.33-39
Religious practice is an essential part of my being in the Kingdom. It is the means of adhering to the life of the Kingdom. Prayer and fasting are part of the teaching of our spiritual ancestors. It is the old wine that is preferred over the new wine. But wait a minute. Don't overlook the heart of the matter. Practice exists only as a means to deliver me over to the Bridegroom. All practices of prayer must be expressions of the Nuptials of divine union with Christ in the midst of the Church, the Bride of Christ. Prayer celebrates the continual feast of being already in heaven at the feasting of the Kingdom. It is the new wine that can only come from the fertility of the vineyard under the care of the Vine Dresser. Life flows from the Vine into branches, deeply implanted on the Vine. Let everything be reborn into the newness of the Kingdom of Jesus.

Saturday
Luke 6.1-5
Sabbath is contemplation. Sabbath is rest because the work is complete. There is nothing more to do. In our human condition it seems that there is always something that has to be done. The process of life and its tasks constantly lie before us. In the victory of Christ that is real in God at this very moment, we can say, however, that all is complete, all is accomplished. In contemplative prayer we rest in that victory. Silent prayer of the heart is sharing in that victory through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially in the gift of wisdom, the perfection of love. Thus Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus with his disciples walking amid the cornfields brings that perfection of the Kingdom established now in Christ. In stead of being in the presence of the fullness and completion of God, the Pharisees were more moved with anger and jealousy at this perfection of Jesus. Jesus engages them first in rabbinical debate. Then he ends with the proclamation of his lordship and his sovereignty. In the paradox of the divine mystery God is at perfect rest yet works eternally to hold all creation in being and to bring redemption to fallen creation. We share in those rhythmic moments of work and rest until the day of our completion in glory. We taste of it now in portions by our prayer.