Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 150
Reading 1
The LORD is a God of justice,
who knows no favorites.
Though not unduly partial toward the weak,
yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.
The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan,
nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint.
The one who serves God willingly is heard;
his petition reaches the heavens.
The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
it does not rest till it reaches its goal,
nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds,
judges justly and affirms the right,
and the Lord will not delay.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Reading 2
Beloved:
I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.
At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of salvation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --
greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.'
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
God is the perfect good. It is from Him that all good things came and nothing evil was ever brought into creation. Evil is the responsibility of us and the misuse of our free will coupled with our perpetual wanting to be gods. Being the perfect good also means that, with God, there is an expectation of justice, a proper way to be treated and a proper accounting of things good and bad. We are told today through Sacred Scripture that this is indeed true, that God hears the cry of the poor, rights the wrongs of the world, and is true to those who serve Him. We can take comfort from these words. We may not be favored by God, for He knows no favorites because we are all His children, but it is guaranteed that we will be listened to. When we are in dire straits, it is good to turn to God and cry out to Him, for He will listen and respond to our cry.
It is easy to forget that we have such a great advocate in the Holy Spirit where we can experience the love of God. It is through this love that we can be shaped and molded into a new creation. There is no escaping being transformed by a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, and by the prompting of the Spirit. We just need to be open to Him and respond to the call of the Father. He is constantly listening to us and is always willing to respond. This response may come in many forms: an immediate reaction, a presence of His grace, or through a variety of spiritual gifts that will alleviate our suffering, replacing it with solace and understanding.
We are the only ones standing in the way of a rich and fruitful relationship with God. Pride and ego are the biggest culprits. We as corruptible beings tend to have a particular vision of ourselves that has been carefully developed through our pride and ego. Our self-importance demands that we ultimately are only answerable to ourselves for our actions, which leads to self-justification and a glamorization of our unique set of circumstances. What is lost in this self-created image is the fact that we are all equal in the eyes of God. We are all His children, and He doesn’t have any favorites. This we learned from the First Reading today. We are all loved completely and unconditionally. This immediately puts all of us on a level playing field concerning God. The only thing that remains to be resolved then is justice, which coming from the perfect good, can be guaranteed to be meted out. We should have no doubts, regardless of the circumstances. Our God will manifest Himself and provide us what we are asking for, if it is actually the most beneficial thing for us to receive at that time. For God is also the source of all wisdom, which can then lead to a different result than what we were expecting.
The key to understanding what is being given to us is to put ourselves in a position to realize what He is actually doing for us. This takes humbling oneself and realizing that, in His eyes, we are all one thing and are asking for one thing: We are sinners and are looking for mercy. Being in that position, it can then be understood that we cannot dictate the terms of mercy and How God is going to present the justice that we seek, especially when justice must hold us to account also. In the end, the most effective way to approach this dilemma is to be on our knees as was the tax collector, pleading from the bottom of our hearts, “ 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” He will hear you and He will react.
The Beatitudes, as written in the Gospel of Matthew provides the many ways that we can be blessed by God, just by realizing our circumstances and our condition:
“ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Most of these show that it is through suffering that we encounter God. It is through mercy that mercy is given, while it is being remorseful for one’s sins, forgiving others, and reacting to the Love of God that we enter into a relationship with Him. It is in that relationship that we can then be ready to receive what He is offering with open arms.
Deacon Tom
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