Gospel LK 21:34-36 Jesus said to his disciples: "Be careful that your hearts do not become tired from partying and drunkenness and the fears of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will attack everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be alert at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the problems that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

Back to my chaplaincy work at UMC in January. Needed 6 months of spinal therapy to make it happen. It is such a great ministry for a priest. I missed it so much. No salary. Just reaching out to God's people who need it the most.

The feast of Christ the KING, CHRISTO REY. THE true King in God’s sight feeds, provides clothing, shares water, visits the prisoner, attends to the sick, and does not take tax money from the poor to give to the rich.

MT 25:31-46    For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." 

Gospel LK 17:11-19     As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed.  And one of the ten lepers cleansed by Jesus  realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.  He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?  Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"  Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

LK 18:35-43       He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!" Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He replied, "Lord, please let me see." Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you." He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

Gospel LK 18:1-8 Jesus told his disciples a parable about the compulsion for them to pray always without becoming exhausted.  He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.  And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'dictate a final decision for me against my opponent.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,  because this widow keeps bothering me I shall render a just decision for her for fear that she might come and assault me.'"  The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.  Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?  Will he be slow to answer them?  I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them promptly.  But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Gospel LK 17:1-6    Jesus said to his disciples, "Bad things that cause sin will unavoidably happen, but misery to the one through whom they occur.  It would be better for him if a deadweight were put around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, call him out; and if he asks for forgiveness, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him."  And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

l LK 16:9-15  Jesus said to his disciples: No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."  The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and mocked him. And he said to them, "You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human approval is an abomination in the sight of God."

LK 14:12-14 On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have compensation. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; holy indeed will you be because of their helplessness to reimburse you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

11-5-2017  (CNN) At least 20 people have been killed in a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, according to Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt.  Among the dead is the 14-year-old daughter of the church's pastor, Frank Pomeroy, according to his wife, Sherri Pomeroy, the girl's mother. The couple were traveling out of state when the shooting occurred. Authorities say many more have been injured in the attack that has devastated the small Texas town described as a place where "everybody knows everybody.

Blessed Father, I pray for the souls of our loved ones taken too soon. Give the survivors STRENGTH to face another day, HOPE that their loved ones are comforted in God’s eternal presence.

.JN 6:37-40    Jesus said to the crowds: "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."