From: October 24, 2025 Lectionary
Reading 1
Romans 7:18-25a
Brothers and sisters:
I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.
The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.
For I do not do the good I want,
but I do the evil I do not want.
Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it,
but sin that dwells in me.
So, then, I discover the principle
that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.
For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self,
but I see in my members another principle
at war with the law of my mind,
taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Miserable one that I am!
Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel
Luke 12:54-59
Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”
Saint Paul and Jesus are talking about the same interior prison. Saint Paul is describing his existential imprisonment and states that Jesus Christ has freed him…is continuing to free him…moment by moment. “Who will deliver” me now?, and now?, and, now?, and now?…The answer is always and and will always be Jesus. So we can rest…whatever problem the world throws at us next, we can always sit at Jesus’ feet. We can always turn to Christ, to His Father. We don’t have to be spooked by each and every fear or threat or enticement or rage bait. We can center our whole life on sitting at Jesus’ feet…silently…listening…He knows how to find us.
But what if we fixate on current events like: “a cloud rising in the west”
and its impact on the world: “it is going to rain”
And “the wind is blowing from the south”
and that event’s impact on the world: “it is going to be hot”
Jesus warns us: You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky [aka current events];
why do you not know how to interpret the present time? [now, and now, and, now, and, now…]
Why are you focused on all this mental static…getting spooked and manipulated by algorithms and scare tactics of lost souls trying to cope with being human by trying to buy and/or control everything?
If we are going to have the internal freedom necessary for our own sanity and also to tune into whatever God wants to use us for in His dramatic rescue and redemption plan, we have to “judge for yourselves what is right” instead of pissing our life away on meaningless trivia. And we have multiple major industries focused solely on producing this trivia in order to intoxicate us, domesticate us, control us.
Let me come to my senses now! Let me make “an effort to settle the matter on the way” while there is still time.
Before I sink lower (judge) and lower (the constable) and lower (existential prison).
“Miserable one that I am!
Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Boyd Camak 