Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 391
Reading 1
Thus says the LORD:
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,
my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of nations not a few.
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!”
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?
As if a rod could sway him who lifts it,
or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (14a) The Lord will not abandon his people.
Your people, O LORD, they trample down,
your inheritance they afflict.
Widow and stranger they slay,
the fatherless they murder.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
And they say, “The LORD sees not;
the God of Jacob perceives not.”
Understand, you senseless ones among the people;
and, you fools, when will you be wise?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
Shall he who shaped the ear not hear?
or he who formed the eye not see?
Shall he who instructs nations not chastise,
he who teaches men knowledge?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
At that time Jesus
exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Jesus Christ can be revealed to us every day if we just open our hearts to Him and be willing to listen to what He is saying to us. Yes, Jesus is speaking to us all of the time. Unfortunately, because of our arrogance and propensity to focus on the physical things in life instead of the spiritual, we find ourselves not listening. This tends to get us into trouble. When we do not take into account what God wants for us, things always go wrong. I can reflect back on my life to the times when I found myself in crisis and I can see that there was one constant: when I got myself into as bad situation, God was the furthest thing from my mind. When we are not thinking about God, we are usually thinking selfish and sinful thoughts which will then eventually lead to disaster.
We cannot live this life alone. It is a miserable existence. We were not created to be separated from our creator. We were created out of love to love and to be loved. When we have love in our lives, everything else tends to fall into place. As the Apostle Paul writes:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.”
Loves is truly the beginning and end of all things. When this is realized, then we can start to heal and enter into a transformative experience. This experience can then change our lives. Some may ask, “Is it too late?” “Did I waste all that time before?” The answer is a resounding NO! We all have lived productive lives and have done great things. We have also done very bad things. No of us are exempt from this, including myself. What we should be seeking as Christians is a constant renewal of ourselves. In other words, a BETTERMENT of ourselves each day. When we concentrate on this, only good things can result.
We cannot ignore the bad we do. We cannot try to forget the times when we made mistakes. Instead, we should confront these shortcomings, ask God for forgiveness, then make a genuine commitment to do better in the future. This is what God wants us to do. He is calling for us to approach Him through His only Son and to enter into a relationship with Him. We then become part of the Trinitarian Experience: We approach the Father through the Son, guided by the Love of God, which is the Holy Spirit. When we focus on this relationship, only good things can result regardless of where we find ourselves.
Deacon Tom
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