Scripture Reading: Gospel of John 5:5-11

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’.”

 

Reflection

“For his first mission, Montfort chose the Montbernage area in the city of Poitiers… These modest people, shopkeepers, artisans, laborers, lived far from God, profoundly ignoring Christian truths, and full of hatred for the clergy. Montfort felt at home there. He traveled the muddy alleys, entered the houses, blessed the children, inquired about the health of the family, consoled the sick, and encouraged the dying. If it so happened to him to encounter laborers, jeers, jokes and insults burst forth from all sides as he passed. Clothed in a ragged cassock, visibly humble and meek, he addressed the insulters he met at random, showed interest in them, and soon, an atmosphere of sympathy prevailed around the missionary. He began grouping children who, in turn, became apostles for their family. Soon, it was time to organize general meetings.”

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How does liberating Wisdom at the heart of the world invite me to action?

What should I leave behind in order to move forward?