The gospel for Friday of the 29th week in Ordinary Time is taken from Luke 12:54, 59th verse. Jesus said to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the west, you say immediately that it’s going to rain. And so it does. And when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south, you say that it’s 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 will hand you over to the constable, and the constable will throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. When Jesus is talking to the crowds, he’s wanting them simply to recognize something that they do naturally.

They look at what’s happening in the sky and figure out what the weather’s going to be. But they don’t really yet know what the kingdom of God is like and how different it is from what they’ve been used to. They have lived under the law, and the law, when one is guilty, does nothing other than punish. But Jesus is giving a new law, and he’s saying, what I want you to understand is that there’s a way to settle things without using the law and punishment, but simply using a new law. The law of love, the law of understanding, the law of forgiveness. That’s the challenge.

After your reflection, I’ll close with a prayer. Closing prayer Father, in all of our relationships, we fall into the trap of sometimes demanding or seeking that someone pay for what they’ve done to us in a way that hasn’t anything to do with money, but just they owe us something. Give us a heart that is forgiving, the heart of Christ, where we’re not interested in punishment, but in transformation. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.