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One of my resolutions for this year is to try and read the Office of Readings for each day from The Divine Office: the Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite, as renewed by Decree of the Second Vatican Council and Promulgated by the Authority of Pope Paul Ⅵ.
The first reading is from the letter of St Paul to the Colossians
… You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be helpful to one another, and forgive one another, whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive each other in the same way that the Lord has forgiven you. And to all these add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity…
from Col. 3.
If only we all could abide by this suggestion. Too often we are angry, and use insults and obscene language from our mouths (and in our written communications). This is not the way that a follower of Christ should behave.
The second reading is from St Augustine’s Treatises on St John
… By loving your neighbour and being concerned about your neighbour, you make progress on your journey. Where is your journey, if not to the Lord God, to him whom we must love with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind? We have not yet reached the Lord, but we have our neighbour with us. So then, support him with whom you are travelling so that you may come to him with whom you long to dwell.
from Treatises on St John, 17
On reading this I was reminded of the words of St Benedict
In the salutation of all guests, whether arriving or departing,
let all humility be shown.
Let the head be bowed
or the whole body prostrated on the ground
in adoration of Christ, who indeed is received in their persons.
Wise words, and ones which we should all take to heart. When we do things for others, we do them for Christ.
