In today’s Gospel (Luke 17:26–37), Jesus warns me about clinging to what cannot save:
He reminds me that people in Noah’s and Lot’s day were so absorbed in ordinary comforts — eating, drinking, buying, building — that they became blind to God’s visitation. And Lot’s wife, turning back, becomes the great biblical symbol of a heart that cannot release what it loves more than God.
Staying behind, even spiritually, can be fatal.
MEDITATIO — The Word in My Life
This week the Lord has been pressing this theme into my heart from many directions.
“Shake It Out” hits differently today. As Jesus warns me not to cling to what can’t save me, the song echoes the same truth: “It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back, so shake him off.” Letting go of old attachments — fears, resentments, false prophets, even my own need to be right — becomes an act of faith. If I want to move with Christ, I have to travel light.
1. Through the Gospel’s Warning
I ask myself: What am I still looking back at? What am I trying to preserve that God is inviting me to release?
The answer came unexpectedly yesterday when I replied to Bishop Strickland on X.
Bishop Joseph Strickland interjects at US Conference of Catholic Bishop The US Conference of Catholic Bishops was briefly unsettled this week when Bishop Joseph Strickland intervened against Fr James Martin over a recent confirmation liturgy involving an openly “married” homosexual couple.
In charity — but also in clarity — I pointed out the deep inconsistency of condemning perceived sins of the flesh while excusing public, proven sins against communion, the very kind of rupture St. Thomas Aquinas calls graver because schism tears the Body of Christ itself.
I wrote plainly that:
unity cannot be preserved by partial obedience,
zeal cannot outrun communion, and
truth cannot outrun charity.
And as soon as I sent it, the Gospel echoed back at me:
Where am I tempted to look back at the comfort of silence, instead of stepping into the cost of truth?
2. Through Dilexi Te
“Jesus’ teaching on the primacy of love for God is clearly complemented by his insistence that one cannot love God without extending one’s love to the poor.”
Pope Leo reminds me that love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable — and every act of love toward “the least” is love toward Christ Himself. This means that defending communion, even when uncomfortable, is also an act of love for the poor, the weak, and the scandalized faithful who are harmed whenever shepherds divide the flock.
3. Through Laudato Si’
“We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world,…”
Last evening, I watched geese cutting across the gray Texas sky — each bird surrendering its own path to the formation of the flock. They do not look back. They move together, or not at all.
Their migration confronts me: Will I move with the Church, even when the winds change? Or will I look back at what feels safer or familiar?
ORATIO — The Word Becomes Prayer
Lord Jesus, save me from looking back like Lot’s wife. Save me from a faith that clings to comfort instead of communion. Give me the courage to speak truth in charity, to love Your Body more than my own opinions, and to let go of whatever keeps me from moving with You.
Teach me to fly in formation.
ACTIO — I Live It
The Shawshank Redemption fits this Lectio because it captures the same truth Jesus names today: clinging to the past destroys us, but letting go sets us free. Andy survives Shawshank not by grasping at control, but by surrendering—slowly, painfully—to a hope larger than himself. Like the Gospel, the film reminds me that salvation begins the moment I stop looking back, loosen my grip on what I think I must preserve, and step into the light that’s been breaking in all along.
Today, I will practice communion in a concrete way:
I will reconcile with someone I have avoided.
Or I will pray intentionally for someone I disagree with.
Or I will make one choice that favors unity over comfort.
While watching the geese, I realized: the Kingdom comes not by looking back, but by flying forward together.
