Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: October 21, 2024

Date: Monday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture Text: EPHESIANS 2:1-10

Brothers and sisters:

You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh, following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

The first reading for today is drawn from the Letter to the Ephesians and reminds us of the Almighty Fathers great plan for our salvation and mercy. While “we were dead in our transgressions,” the Father “brought us to life with Christ.” The Letter also reminds us, “by grace we have been saved,” so we have no cause nor right to boast.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Do I honestly and humbly admit my failings, my sins? Do I humbly and gratefully embrace salvation by grace?

Praying:

LORD, Almighty Father, Beloved and only-begotten Son, Most Holy Spirit, we humbly come before You full of wonder and with all humility lift our minds, hearts and voices to You. Salvation, the means for us to have life in abundance with You, comes from You, through You, and in You. We did not do it. You did this for us by grace. Grant that we may prayerfully discern your will for us, resolutely seek to live as You call us to live, to live as You will, filled with love for You. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.