September 1, 2025 // Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 4:16-30
Reflect on the Word //
My family was in the midst of immense, simultaneous hardship—from unemployment and family stress to health issues and the passing of my father-in-law. It was all too much to bear.
During prayer, I begged God for a reprieve from the pain and suffering. But it did not come.
As time went on and the hardship continued, my begging turned into rage against God and the difficult circumstances He was allowing.
Similar to the response of the Nazareans in today’s Gospel, I was “filled with fury” when Jesus’ response was not what I wanted to hear (Luke 4:28). My heart closed off to His divine will, to His grace to endure, to the possible good that could come from such pain.
Slowly, through the grace of God, I recognized that my resistance to the Lord was making my situation worse. By not accepting God’s will, I was not living in cooperation with “the Spirit of the Lord” working in my life (Luke 4:18). Instead, I was obstructing and protesting His movements, His grace, His ways of purification.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecy that proclaims Him as Messiah and Lord. Jesus came to save us, because we need saving. This life is too hard to bear on our own, but Jesus came to bear it with us on His Cross.
Thus, Jesus came “to bring glad tidings to the poor [. . .] to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18). And we are the poor to whom He brings glad tidings. We are the oppressed captives that He sets free. And when we turn inward and focus on our will, He restores our sight to see His.
Today, my dear sister, as we pray with this Gospel passage, let us surrender our resistance, rise above our circumstances, and allow God’s grace to deepen our trust in Him. For He uses all things, even the hardships, for our greater good.
Relate to the Lord // Do you relate to your heart being closed off to God’s will? Today, be honest with the Lord about what you truly feel and think.
Sarah Damm is the blog manager and a writer for Blessed Is She. She also is a frequent contributor to other faith-based platforms. Residing in Minnesota with her husband and six children, Sarah was a stay-at-home mom for 21 years, until she returned to the workforce in 2023. Sarah enjoys attending her kids' volleyball, football, basketball, or baseball games (depending on the season). She loves her faith, coffee, walks with her husband, and good books. Read Sarah's posts here. You can find out more about her here.
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