Thursday, September 19, 2024
Monday, September 16, 2024
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 131
Reading 1
The Lord GOD opens my
ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?
Responsorial Psalm
R. (9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
and I called upon the name of the LORD,
"O LORD, save my life!"
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
What good is it, my
brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
"Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, "
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.
Indeed someone might say,
"You have faith and I have works."
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord
through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus and his disciples
set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that I am?"
They said in reply,
"John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets."
And he asked them,
"But who do you say that I am?"
Peter said to him in reply,
"You are the Christ."
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
As Christian, suffering will always be part of our lives. It is unavoidable, for Jesus Christ suffered and died for us so that we may obtain eternal life. The Book of Wisdom describes us as being, “forged in the furnace like gold.” This alludes to our sufferings now and in Purgatory. It is through suffering that our relationship with God is strengthened, and His love can be experienced more. Just as all friendships become stronger through crisis, our relationship with God is no different. We tend to relate better with people when there is a shared empathy, where each can relate to what the other has been through (good and bad). Jesus, the Word becoming flesh, enables this to happen between us and God. This is why Jesus describes Himself as the gate:
“I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
He then says later,
“No one comes to the Father except through me.”
This is the reason why there is a Christian Tradition to look at our sufferings as if we are carrying our own cross. It serves as a constant reminder that, just as Jesus was carrying His cross, we are carrying one to. We can then relate to Jesus and He can relate to us. We can then relate better with our fellow Christians who might be experience their own sufferings.
The Book of Isaiah describes a beautiful confidence in God. The servant’s ears were opened to God’s word and the result was the ability to accept all sorts of abuse and torment without losing his faith or confidence in God. In fact, he even challenges those who confront him:
“See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?”
This comes from the passages known as The Suffering Servant. It is seen as an early personification of Jesus Christ. Through these passages the theme of suffering, faith, and restoration are emphasized. It is through faith in God that we endure all hardships and will then be better for it. No suffering is forever, but the love of God is.
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus began to openly discuss what was going to happen to Him. He told them about how He was going to be rejected, persecuted, and ultimately killed. This was immediately after it was revealed that He was indeed the Messiah and, in the Book of Matthew, the Son of the Living God. You probably could imagine the confusion and anxiety this created among the disciples. The one they were waiting for to restore Israel was now destined to be taken from them. This led to a very human response from Peter, who began to basically contrive how to avoid all these things. Jesus replied by saying,
“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
It is a reminder to us that it is in human nature to avoid suffering, yet it is in Jesus’ nature to not only accept the suffering but to embrace it. It was through Jesus’ crucifixion that the resurrection was achieved and death was conquered. We have the opportunity for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the Resurrection. We also have the opportunity to experience special graces on our journey to the resurrection through our personal Passion, which we walk with Jesus continuously.
I remember having lunch with a good friend of mine. His name was Deacon Bruce. He was an older gentleman, about 86 years old . He had been volunteering at MCI Concord for several years now. His wife just died after a long illness. He had suffered greatly along with her as he witnessed her health deteriorate for years. He grabbed me by my hands and with tears in his eyes said,
“Tom, I do not know why God still wants me here. I have done everything I wanted to do in this life and I am ready to go. Why doesn’t He take me?”
I was given a very special gift at that moment. His faith and his love of God was so beautiful in that moment. He embraced his suffering as Jesus did and was walking with His cross, knowing what was going to come afterwards. With that exchange, I too was walking with him and helping him with that cross.
As Christians, we are stronger and better because of our sufferings, not despite them. We can be more joyous because of them. As the Apostle Peter wrote,
Let those suffering in accordance to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.”
Deacon Tom
Friday, September 13, 2024
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 128
Reading 1
Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations.
Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
My brothers and sisters,
show no partiality
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes into your assembly,
and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, “Sit here, please, ”
while you say to the poor one, “Stand there, ” or “Sit at my feet, ”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Again Jesus left the
district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” —
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Today’s Scripture Reading leaves no doubt what a right relationship with Jesus Christ will bring us. Through the prophet Isaiah, there is a straightforward vision and a set of promises that cannot be broken. The word “vindication” means, “the action of clearing someone of blame or suspicion.” It is through God that these things are washed away, and we are left with a new beginning, a clean slate if you will. That is what God promises: forgiveness and a life free from the trappings of sin and anxiety. It is through God that we can be raised above the brokenness of this world and we can be raised up as a new creation. This is where the term “Born again,” comes from.
Jesus said, “ No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.”
This is reminder of our baptism and Confirmation and what it does for us. Through the last couple of weeks, we were concentrating on the Eucharist and how it is a central part of our faith. Now we move forward with a vision of the other two Sacraments of Initiation in the Church. All three together offer a powerful counterbalance to the evils of the world. It is through these sacraments that we become renewed and free from the trappings of sin. Recognizing their power brings us closer to God and gives us an understanding of just how powerful God is: He offers us forgiveness and redemption and offers us instruction to achieve these things. We are never alone when it comes to our God. God goes as far as to tell us not to fear anything, for God is before us. There is no mediocracy with God. The vision of His greatness put forth through the Prophet Isaiah leaves no doubt to the greatness of God. He comes forward curing the blind and deaf, bring forth water from the desert. Fire will be quenched much like our flaming passions that we found ourselves immersed in before we found God. All these promises are for our benefit. They do not have to be earned but are offered when we let Gods into our hearts.
Because salvation is freely given and not earned by us, the playing field is leveled. A person’s status is too often judged in material terms: a person’s success is based upon their wealth instead of who they are as a human being. This then adds to the decline of morality and a loss of virtue. A person’s shortcomings can easily be overlooked as long as their power of wealth stays intact. The Christian Way goes directly against all of these things. In fact, the poor are elevated to a higher positing in the eyes of Jesus Christ. It is through the poor that the Kingdom of God is realized. Why? It is because the poor suffer in the world arguably in reaction to situations beyond their control. These situations are created by those who possess wealth and power. These people have the power to stop the suffering, but choose not to, for the suffering inflicted on other people enforces their status and position. There is no enforcement necessary with God. We all are equal in the eyes of God. We cannot judge our fellow brothers and sisters. Instead, we accept them as who they are and, through wisdom and chastisement, we help to mold them and ourselves into new creations through Jesus Christ. We all come forward to Jesus Christ with one request: to be loved and forgiven. Just as Jesus Christ died for all of us, then all those coming forward receiving forgiveness are equal in God’s eyes.
In the Gospel Reading today, Jesus reveals He is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah.. It is through Him we can receive healing, comfort, and forgiveness. He becomes a weapon of goodness in this life which is many times filled with evil. Nothing can stand up against Him, thus nothing can stand up against us. The reading is also a reminder that it is through Jesus Christ that our eyes and ears are open to a new reality: one filled with honesty., joy, and promise. As long as we keep ourselves united with Jesus Christ, that our eyes will remain open, along with our eyes and heart.
Deacon Tom