September 2010 - Bible Diary
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BIBLE DIARY 2010
Liturgical Readings and Reflections
| September 2010 |
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| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat |
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| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
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January ♦ February ♦ March ♦ April ♦ May ♦ June ♦ July
August ♦ September ♦ October ♦ November ♦ December
22nd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 3:1–9
I could not, friends, speak to you as spiritual persons but as fleshly people, for you are still infants in Christ. I gave you milk and not solid food, for you were not ready for it and up to now you cannot receive it for you are still of the flesh. As long as there is jealousy and strife, what can I say but that you are at the level of the flesh and behave like ordinary people.
While one says: “I follow Paul,” and the other: “I follow Apollos,” what are you but people still at a human level?
For what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are ministers and through them you believed, as it was given by the Lord to each of them. I planted, Apollos watered the plant, but God made it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who makes the plant grow.
The one who plants and the one who waters work to the same end, and the Lord will pay each according to their work. We are fellow-workers with God, but you are God’s field and building.
►Gospel: Lk 4:38–44
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Bending over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and waited on them. At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah.
Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of him and, finding him, they tried to dissuade him from leaving. But he said, “I have to go to other towns to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.” So Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of the Jewish country.
REFLECTION
"After sunset all who had friends who were sick with various diseases
brought them to Jesus; he placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all."
Its not easy
to make that one more effort
at the end of the day
but it may be exactly then
when people need us most
that we are being most like Jesus.
22nd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 3:18–23
Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says: God catches the wise in their own wisdom. It also says: The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless.
Because of this, let no one become an admirer of humans, for everything belongs to you, Paul, Apollos, Cephas – life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.
►Gospel: Lk 5:1–11*(completed)
One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around him listening to the word of God, he caught sight of two boats left at the water’s edge by the fishermen now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There he sat and continued to teach the crowd.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.
Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed him, leaving everything.
REFLECTION
“When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Push the boat
out further to the deep water and you and your partners, let down your nets for a catch.’
‘Master’, Simon answered, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing.
But if you say so, I will let down the nets.’”
There are moments when it seems as if
the only possible—the only sensible thing to do—
is to quit.
That’s the time for us to trust that God’s will
is being done even if we can’t see it
and let Jesus take over.
22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Gregory the Great
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 4:1–5
Let everyone then see us as the servants of Christ and stewards of the secret works of God. Being stewards, faithfulness shall be demanded of us; but I do not mind if you or any human court judges me. I do not even judge myself; my conscience indeed does not accuse me of anything, but that is not enough for me to be set right with God: the Lord is the one who judges me.
Therefore, do not judge before the time, until the coming of the Lord. He will bring to light whatever was hidden in darkness and will disclose the secret intentions of the hearts. Then each one will receive praise from God.
►Gospel: Lk 5:33–39
The scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus, “The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it that your disciples eat and drink?” Then Jesus said to them, “You can’t make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them. But later the bridegroom will be taken from them and they will fast in those days.”
Jesus also told them this parable, “No one tears a piece from a new coat to put it on an old one; otherwise the new will be torn and the piece taken from the new will not match the old. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed as well. But new wine must be put into fresh skins. Yet no one who has tasted old wine is eager to get new wine, but says: The old is good.”
REFLECTION
“Some people said to Jesus, The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same,
but your disciples eat and drink.’”
The holy life is not a sad life.
The holy person lives life
to the full.
They bear sorrow with faith
and accept joy with wholeheartedness.
They recognize the presence of God in each.
22nd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 4:6b–15
Brothers and sisters, you forced me to apply these comparisons to Apollos and to myself. Learn by this example not to believe yourselves superior by siding with one against the other. How then are you more than the others? What have you that you have not received? And if you received it, why are you proud, as if you did not receive it?
So, then, you are already rich and satisfied, and feel like kings without us! I wish you really were kings, so that we might enjoy the kingship with you!
It seems to me that God has placed us, the apostles, in the last place, as if condemned to death, and as spectacles for the whole world, for the angels as well as for mortals.
We are fools for Christ, while you show forth the wisdom of Christ. We are weak, you are strong. You are honored, while we are despised. Until now we hunger and thirst, we are poorly clothed and badly treated, while moving from place to place. We labor, working with our hands. People insult us and we bless them, they persecute us and we endure everything; they speak evil against us, and ours are works of peace. We have become like the scum of the earth, like the garbage of humankind until now.
I do not write this to shame you, but to warn you as very dear children. Because even though you may have ten thousand guardians in the Christian life, you have only one father; and it was I who gave you life in Christ through the Gospel.
►Gospel: Lk 6:1–5
One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the corn fields and his disciples began to pick heads of grain crushing them in their hands for food. Some of the Pharisees asked them, “Why do you do what is forbidden on the sabbath?” Then Jesus spoke, “Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry? He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering and even gave some to his men, though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.” And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the sabbath.”
REFLECTION
“Some Pharisees asked, ‘Why are you doing
what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?’”
Jesus teaches us very clearly here
that human needs transcend
every rule and regulation—
In the end, there is only one law that counts:
Thou shalt love one another
as I have loved you.
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Wis 9:13–18b
Indeed, who can know the intentions of God? Who can discern the plan of the Lord?
For human reasoning is timid, our notions misleading; a perishable body is a burden for the soul and our tent of clay weighs down the active mind.
We are barely able to know about the things of earth and it is a struggle to understand what is close to us; who then may hope to understand heavenly things?
Who has ever known your will unless you first gave him Wisdom and sent down your holy spirit to him? In this way you directed the human race on the right path; they learned what pleases you and were saved by Wisdom.
►2nd Reading: Phlm 9–10, 12–17
I, Paul, the old man, now prisoner for Christ. And my request is on behalf of Onesimus, whose father I have become while I was in prison.
In returning him to you, I am sending you my own heart. I would have liked to keep him at my side, to serve me on your behalf while I am in prison for the Gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your agreement, nor impose a good deed upon you without your free consent.
Perhaps Onesimus has been parted from you for a while so that you may have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave. For he is a very dear brother to me, and he will be even dearer to you. And so, because of our friendship, receive him as if he were I myself.
►Gospel: Lk 14:25–33
One day, when large crowds were walking along with Jesus, he turned and said to them, “If you come to me, without being ready to give up your love for your father and mother, your spouse and children, your brothers and sisters, and indeed yourself, you cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not follow me carrying his own cross cannot be my disciple.
“Do you build a house without first sitting down to count the cost to see whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise, if you have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone will make fun of you: ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
“And when a king wages war against another king, does he go to fight without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand can stand against the twenty thousand of his opponent? And if not, while the other is still a long way off he sends messengers for peace talks. In the same way, none of you may become my disciple if he doesn’t give up everything he has.”
REFLECTION
“None of you can be my disciples unless you give up everything you have.”
Following Jesus means giving up more than money.
Money is only money, after all.
But to follow Jesus in ways of which
our friends disapprove and our families reject
is to give up security and status, approval and respect.
Now that’s really everything.
23rd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 5:1–8
You have become news with a case of immorality, and such a case that is not even found among pagans. Yes, one of you has taken as wife his own stepmother. And you feel proud! Should you not be in mourning instead and expel the one who did such a thing. For my part, although I am physically absent, my spirit is with you and, as if present, I have already passed sentence on the man who committed such a sin. Let us meet together, you and my spirit, and in the name of our Lord Jesus and with his power, you shall deliver him to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit be saved in the day of Judgment.
This is not the time to praise yourselves. Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise? Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Passover, you should be unleavened bread. Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and perversity; let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.
►Gospel: Lk 6:6–11
On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralyzed right hand and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched him: Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.
But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Get up and stand in the middle.” Then he spoke to them, “I want to ask you: what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath, to do good or to do harm, to save life or destroy it?” And Jesus looked around at them all.
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored, becoming as whole as the other. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.
REFLECTION
“Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason
to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely
to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.”
Jesus defied the leaders of the religion in public
and he taught us all what religion was all about
as he did it.
Never be afraid of those who brand you
as unfaithful and unholy for doing good
rather than for keeping the law.
23rd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 6:1–11
When you have a complaint against a brother, how dare you bring it before pagan judges instead of bringing it before God’s people? Do you not know that you shall one day judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you incapable of judging such simple problems?
Do you not know that we will even judge the angels? And could you not decide every day affairs? But when you have ordinary cases to be judged, you bring them before those who are of no account in the Church! Shame on you! Is there not even one among you wise enough to be the arbiter among believers?
But no. One of you brings a suit against another one, and files that suit before unbelievers. It is already a failure that you have suits against each other. Why do you not rather suffer wrong and receive some damage? But no. You wrong and injure others, and those are your brothers and sisters. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Make no mistake about it: those who lead sexually immoral lives, or worship idols, or who are adulterers, perverts, sodomites, or thieves, exploiters, drunkards, gossips or embezzlers will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Some of you were like that, but you have been cleansed and consecrated to God and have been set right with God by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God.
►Gospel: Lk 6:12–19
Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood on a level place. Many of his disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear him and be healed of their diseases; likewise people troubled by evil spirits were healed. All the crowd tried to touch him because of the power which went out from him and healed them all.
REFLECTION
“At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God.”
Unless we know the scriptures
we can never know the mind of God for us.
Prayer and reflection show us
what Jesus expects of us as real disciples.
It is only contemplation that can both
drive us and sustain us as we go.
Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
►1st Reading: Mic 5:1–4 (or Rom 8:28–30)
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah, from you shall I raise the one who is to rule over Israel. For he comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.
Yahweh, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she who is to give birth has given birth. Then the rest of his deported brothers will return to the people of Israel.
He will stand and shepherd his flock with the strength of Yahweh, in the glorious Name of Yahweh, his God. They will live safely while he wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be peace.
When the Assyrian invades our land and sets foot on our territory, we will raise against him not one but seven shepherds, eight warlords.
►Gospel: Mt 1:1–16, 18–23*(completed)
This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife.
Solomon was the Father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings: Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
After the deportation to Babylon Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ—the Messiah.
All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God-with-us.
REFLECTION
“Joseph was a man who always did what was right,
but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly,
so he made plans to break the engagement privately.”
The law of the time required (allowed) a man
to refuse to marry a woman
pregnant out of wedlock.
But Joseph, a just man, could not keep a law
that disgraced another.
His very lawlessness was his sanctity.
23rd Week in Ordinary Time
Peter Claver
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 8:1b–7, 11–13
Regarding meat from the offerings to idols, we know that all of us have knowledge but knowledge puffs up, while love builds. If anyone thinks that he has knowledge, he does not yet know as he should know, but if someone loves (God), he has been known (by God).
Can we, then, eat meat from offerings to the idols? We know that an idol is without existence and that there is no God but one. People speak indeed of other gods in heaven and on earth and, in this sense, there are many gods and lords. Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom everything comes, and to whom we go. And there is one Lord, Christ Jesus, through whom everything exists and through him we exist.
Not everyone, however, has that knowledge. For some persons, who until recently took the idols seriously, that food remains linked to the idol and eating of it stains their conscience which is unformed.
Then with your knowledge you would have caused your weak brother or sister to perish, the one for whom Christ died. When you disturb the weak conscience of your brother or sister and sin against them, you sin against Christ himself. Therefore, if any food will bring my brother to sin, I shall never eat this food lest my brother or sister fall.
►Gospel: Lk 6:27–38*(completed)
Jesus said to his disciples, “But I say to you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who treat you badly. To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt. Give to the one who asks and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back.
“Do to others as you would have others do to you. If you love only those who love you, what kind of graciousness is yours? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do favors to those who are good to you, what kind of graciousness is yours? Even sinners do the same. If you lend only when you expect to receive, what kind of graciousness is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to receive something in return.
“But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For he is kind towards the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”
REFLECTION
“But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.”
To be a Christian
is to be a peacemaker.
The scriptures do not tell us
to accept injustice passively.
They simply tell us not to become
unjust ourselves as we pursue good.
23rd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 9:16–19, 22–27
Because I cannot boast of announcing the Gospel: I am bound to do it. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! If I preached voluntarily, I could expect my reward, but I have been trusted this office against my will. How can I, then, deserve a reward? In announcing the Gospel, I will do it freely without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel.
So, feeling free with everybody, I have become everybody’s slave in order to gain a greater number. To the weak I made myself weak, to win the weak. So I made myself all things to all people in order to save, by all possible means, some of them. This I do for the Gospel, so that I too have a share of it.
Have you not learned anything from the stadium? Many run, but only one gets the prize. Run, therefore, intending to win it, as athletes who impose upon themselves a rigorous discipline. Yet for them the wreath is of laurels which wither, while for us, it does not wither.
So, then, I run knowing where I go. I box but not aimlessly in the air. I punish my body and control it, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be rejected.
►Gospel: Lk 6:39–42
And Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye while you have a log in your eye and are not conscious of it? How can you say to your neighbor: ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye and when you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye.
REFLECTION
“First take the log out of your own eye, then you will be able
to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s.”
In every conflict I’m in,
I have something to do
both with starting it and with resolving it.
Until I’m willing to examine
my part in the problem,
I have no right to criticize the other.
23rd Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 10:14–22
Dear friends, shun the cult of idols.
I address you as intelligent persons; judge what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a communion with the body of Christ? The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.
Consider the Israelites. For them, to eat of the victim is to come into communion with its altar.
What does all that mean? That the meat is really consecrated to the idol, or that the idol is a being. However, when the pagans offer a sacrifice, the sacrifice goes to the demons, not to God. I do not want you to come into fellowship with demons. You cannot drink at the same time from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. You cannot share in the table of the Lord and in the table of the demons. Do we want, perhaps, to provoke the jealousy of the Lord? Could we be stronger than he?
►Gospel: Lk 6:43–49
Jesus said to the crowd, “No healthy tree bears bad fruit, no poor tree bears good fruit. And each tree is known by the fruit it bears: you don’t gather figs from thorns, or grapes from brambles. Similarly the good person draws good things from the good stored in the heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in the heart. For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.
“Why do you call me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ and not do what I say? I will show you what the one who comes to me and listens to my words and acts accordingly, is like. That one is like the builder who dug deep and laid the foundations of his house on rock. The river overflowed and the stream dashed against the house, but could not carry it off because the house had been well built.
“But the one who listens and does not act, is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The flood burst against it, and the house fell at once: and what a terrible disaster that was!”
REFLECTION
“A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit.”
Good is something we practice
throughout life.
It does not come randomly or spontaneously.
It comes from filling ourselves
with the word of God daily
and then—in small ways at least—doing it.
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Ex 32:7–11, 13–14
Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said: ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.’”
And Yahweh said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff-necked people. Now just leave me that my anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.”
But Moses calmed the anger of Yahweh, his God, and said, “Why, O Yahweh, should your anger burst against your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand? Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise you yourself swore: I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”
Yahweh then changed his mind and would not yet harm his people.
►2nd Reading: 1 Tim 1:12–17
I give thanks to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is my strength, who has considered me trustworthy and appointed me to his service, although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a rabid enemy. How-ever he took mercy on me because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This saying is true and worthy of belief: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. Because of that I was forgiven; Christ Jesus wanted to display his utmost patience in me so that I might be an example for all who are to believe and obtain eternal life. To the King of ages, the only God who lives beyond every perishable and visible creation—to him be honor and glory forever. Amen!
►Gospel: Lk 15:1–32 (or Lk 15:1–10)
Tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what he had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable:
“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent.
“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp and sweep the house in a thorough search till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”
Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father: ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.
“Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.
Finally coming to his senses, he said: ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind he set off for his father’s house.
He was still a long way off when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said: ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son…’
But the father turned to his servants: ‘Quick! Bring out the finest robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and kill it. We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and is found.’ And the celebration began.
Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and was near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered: ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration and killed the fattened calf.’
The elder son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The indignant son said: ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.’
The father said: ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.’”
REFLECTION
“The Pharisees and teachers of the Law started grumbling,
‘This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!’”
There are social boundaries in all our hearts:
people we shouldn’t be seen with,
groups we shouldn’t support.
But transcending these barriers
it takes us out of ourselves
and gives us a heart wide as the world.
24th Week in Ordinary Time
John Chrysostom
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 11:17–26, 33
Brothers and sisters, to continue with my advice, I cannot praise you, for your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse.
First, as I have heard, when you gather together, there are divisions among you and I partly believe it. There may have to be different groups among you, so that it becomes clear who among you are genuine.
Your gatherings are no longer the Supper of the Lord, ‑for each one eats at once his own food and while one is hungry, the other is getting drunk. Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or perhaps you despise the Church of God and desire to humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say? Shall I praise you? For this I cannot praise you.
This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in memory of me.” In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, he said, “This cup is the new Covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes.
So then, brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another.
►Gospel: Lk 7:1–10
When Jesus had finished teaching to the people, he went to Capernaum.
There was a captain whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of you, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”
Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the captain sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy to welcome you under my roof. You see I didn’t approach you myself. Just give the order and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers and I say to this one: ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to the other: ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant: ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people sent by the captain went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.
REFLECTION
“A Roman officer had a servant who was very dear to him;
the man was sick and about to die. When the officer heard about Jesus,
he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant.
They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly,
‘This man really deserves your help.
He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.’”
Reaching across the boundaries of life
like Jesus did
makes it impossible
for our governments
to create our enemies for us.
It is our contribution to world peace.
Exaltation of the Holy Cross
►1st Reading: Num 21:4b–9
From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”
Yahweh then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against Yahweh and against you. Plead with Yahweh to take the serpents away.”
Moses pleaded for the people and Yahweh said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.”
So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.
►2nd Reading: Phil 2:6–11
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness,
and in his appearance found as a man,
He humbled himself by being obedient to death,
death on the cross.
That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which outshined all names,
so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead,
and all tongues proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
►Gospel: Jn 3:13–17
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one has ever gone up to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved.”
REFLECTION
“God did not send the Son into the world to be its judge but to be its saviour.”
By immersing ourselves in Jesus
we come to the heart of God,
we see the presence of God
in action, curing the sick, loving the sinner.
We also see in Jesus, then, what we must be
if we are to come to wholeness of life.
Our Lady of Sorrows
►1st Reading: Heb 5:7–9
Christ, in the days of his mortal life, offered his sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to him who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his humble submission. Although he was Son, he learned through suffering what obedience was, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for those who obey him.
►Gospel: Lk 2:33–35 (or Jn 19:25–27)
His father and mother wondered at what was said about the child. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes of Israel. He shall stand as a sign of contradiction, while a sword will pierce your own soul. Then the secret thoughts of many may be brought to light.”
REFLECTION
“Standing close to the cross were his mother, his mother’s sister and Mary Magdalen.”
Three people out of all the crowds
were at the cross.
Three women, defenseless and alone,
stood by the crucified One to the end.
By whose crosses of sexism or racism or ostracism
are we willing to stand to the end?
24th Week in Ordinary Time
Cornelius and Cyprian
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:1–11
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.
In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received: that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then he appeared to James and after that to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me. For I am the last of the apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although not I, rather the grace of God in me.
Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.
►Gospel: Lk 7:36–50*(completed)
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so he went to the Pharisee’s home and as usual reclined on the sofa to eat. And it happened that a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that he was in the Pharisee’s house. She brought a precious jar of perfume and stood behind him at his feet, weeping. She wet his feet with tears, she dried them with her hair and kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them.
The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching and thought, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of person is touching him; isn’t this woman a sinner?”
Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, “Simon, I have something to ask you.” He answered, “Speak, master.” And Jesus said, “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.” And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? You gave me no water for my feet when I entered your house, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since she came in. You provided no oil for my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.”
Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others sitting with him at the table began to wonder, “Now this man claims to forgive sins!” But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
REFLECTION
“When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man really were a prophet,
he would know who this woman is who is touching him;
he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!’”
Jesus spent his life
walking the streets with the poor,
holding up those in pain,
lifting the agony of both souls and bodies.
Real Christians do the same regardless of how much
they’re criticized for doing it.
24th Week in Ordinary Time
Robert Bellarmine
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:12–20
Well, then, if Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty and our belief comes to nothing. And we become false witnesses of God, attesting that he raised Christ, whereas he could not raise him if indeed the dead are not raised. If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin. Also those who fall asleep in Christ are lost. If it is only for this life that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people.
But no, Christ has been raised from the dead and he comes before all those who have fallen asleep.
►Gospel: Lk 8:1–3
Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna and others who provided for them out of their own funds.
REFLECTION
“The twelve disciples went with him–and so did some women...”
In Jesus’ time,
women were not permitted to travel alone,
as they still may not in some countries.
The fact that the Evangelists
remark on their presence is the very proof
that Jesus was a revolution walking.
And we?
24th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:35–37, 42–49
Some of you will ask: How will the dead be raised? With what kind of body will they come?
You fools! What you sow cannot sprout unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body of the future plant but a bare grain of wheat or any other seed,
It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in decomposition; it will be raised never more to die. It is sown in humiliation, and it will be raised for Glory. It is buried in weakness, but the resurrection shall be with power. When buried it is a natural body, but it will be raised as a spiritual body. For there shall be a spiritual body as there is at present a living body. Scripture says that Adam, the first man, became a living being; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit.
The spirit does not appear first, but the natural life, and afterwards comes the spirit. The first man comes from the earth and is earthly, while the second one comes from heaven. As it was with the earthly one, so is it with the earthly people. As it is with Christ, so with the heavenly. This is why, after bearing the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
►Gospel: Lk 8:4–15*(completed)
As a great crowd gathered and people came to him from every town, Jesus began teaching them through stories, or parables, “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the grain fell along the way, was trodden on and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water. Some fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit—a hundred times as much.” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”
The disciples asked him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “You have been granted to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that seeing they may not perceive and hearing they may not understand.”
Now, this is the point of the parable:
The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it, but immediately the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he doesn’t want them to believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe for a while and give way in time of trial. Among the thorns are people who hear the word but as they go their way, are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word and keep it in a gentle and generous mind, and persevering patiently, they bear fruit.
REFLECTION
“And Jesus concluded, ‘Listen, then, if you have hears.’”
Jesus says to us what we say so often.
“Do you understand me?” he says.
“Do you get it?”
In that case, listen to me: Think as I do.
Act differently than this world acts.
Be my presence there: strong, honest, brave.
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Am 8:4–7
Hear this, you who trample on the needy to do away with the weak of the land. You who say, “When will the new moon or the sabbath feast be over that we may open the store and sell our grain? Let us lower the measure and raise the price; let us cheat and tamper with the scales, and even sell the refuse with the whole grain. We will buy up the poor for money and the needy for a pair of sandals.”
Yahweh, the pride of Jacob, has sworn by himself, “I shall never forget their deeds.”
►2nd Reading: 1 Tim 2:1–8
First of all I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for rulers of states and all in authority, that we may enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in godliness and respect. This is good and pleases God. For he wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. As there is one God, there is one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave his life for the redemption of all. This is the testimony, given in its proper time, and of this, God has made me apostle and herald. I am not lying, I am telling the truth: He made me teacher of the nations regarding faith and truth.
I want the men in every place to lift pure hands in prayer to heaven without anger and dissension.
►Gospel: Lk 16:1–13 (or Lk 16:10–13)
Jesus told his disciples, “There was a rich man whose steward was reported to him for fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him: ‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service for it is about to be terminated.’
“The steward thought to himself: ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do: I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be some people to welcome me into their house.’
“So he called his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first who came: ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The reply was: ‘A hundred jars of oil.’ The steward said: ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write there fifty.’ To the second he put the same question: ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was: ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ Then he said: ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred.’
“The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the people of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light. And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes.
“Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling filthy money, who could entrust you with true wealth? And if you have not been trustworthy with things which are not really yours, who will give you the wealth which is your own?
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money.”
REFLECTION
“Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property.”
We are put here for a purpose–
to make this world better,
to bring love and mercy,
healing and compassion.
We will be asked to account
for when and how we did those things.
25th Week in Ordinary Time
Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang and Company
►1st Reading: Pro 3:27–34
Do not hold back from those who ask your help, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come another time; tomorrow I will give it to you!” when you can help him now.
Do not plot evil against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you, nor fight a man without cause when he has done you no wrong. Do not envy the man of violence or follow his example.
For Yahweh hates the wicked but guides the honest. He curses the house of the evildoer but blesses the home of the upright. If there are mockers, he mocks them in turn but he shows his favor to the humble.
►Gospel: Lk 8:16–18
Jesus said to his disciples, “No one, after lighting a lamp covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather he puts it on a lampstand so that people coming in may see the light. In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret that shall not be known clearly. Now, take care how well you listen, for whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”
REFLECTION
“No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl.”
We are meant to give back to God
all the gifts God has given to us–
developed, distributed
and used for good.
Humility is not about failing
to become everything God made us to be.
Matthew, apostle and evangelist
►1st Reading: Eph 4:1–7, 11–13
Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.
But to each of us divine grace is given ac-cording to the measure of Christ’s gift.
As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers. So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.
►Gospel: Mt 9:9–13
As Jesus moved on, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?”
When Jesus heard this he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
REFLECTION
“Some Pharisees saw this and said to the disciples,
‘Why does your teacher eat with such people?’
Jesus heard them and answered, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor.’”
Our role is to speak for those
who cannot speak for themselves,
to heal those who cannot heal themselves,
to feed those who cannot feed themselves.
Those people are the people
who look to us to be Jesus in their lives.
25th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Pro 30:5–9
Every word of God is true, he is a shield in whom man can find refuge. Add nothing to his words lest he rebuke you and take you for a liar.
O God, two things I beg of you, do not deny me them before I die. Keep lying and falsehood far away from me, give me neither poverty nor riches. Give me just as much food as I need lest, satisfied, I deny you and say, “Who is Yahweh?” Or else, out of necessity, I steal and profane the name of my God.
►Gospel: Lk 9:1–6
Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to drive out all evil spirits and to heal diseases. And he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He instructed them, “Don’t take anything for the journey, neither walking stick, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver coins; and don’t even take a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place. And wherever they don’t welcome you, leave the town and shake the dust from your feet: it will be as a testimony against them.”
So they set out and went through the villages, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
REFLECTION
“Wherever you are not welcomed, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet...”
Jesus cannot be imposed on people.
Jesus can be modeled for them, however.
We are here to make love real, as Jesus did.
We are here to preach this Gospel
not with words,
but with our lives.
25th Week in Ordinary Time
Pio of Pietrelcina
►1st Reading: Eccl 1:2–11
All is meaningless—says the Teacher—meaningless, meaningless!
What profit is there for a man in all his work for which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, a generation comes and the earth remains forever. The sun rises, the sun sets, hastening towards the place where it again rises. Blowing to the south, turning to the north, the wind goes round and round and after all its rounds it has to blow again.
All rivers go to the sea but the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers come from, there they return again.
All words become weary and speech comes to an end, but the eye has never seen enough nor the ear heard too much.
What has happened before will happen again; what has been done before will be done again: there is nothing new under the sun.
If they say to you, “See, it’s new!” know that it has already been centuries earlier.
There is no remembrance of ancient people, and those to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
►Gospel: Lk 9:7–9
King Herod heard of all that Jesus was doing and did not know what to think, for people said, “This is John, raised from the dead.” Others believed that Elijah or one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. As for Herod, he said, “I had John beheaded; who is this man about whom I hear such wonders?” And he was anxious to see him.
REFLECTION
“When Herod, ruler of Galilee, heard of all the things
that were happening, he was very confused...”
Power is threatened by goodness
because goodness can’t be destroyed by force.
Goodness has a power of its own
to fire hearts and summons souls
to a level of living
beyond the false allures of puny powers.
25th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Eccl 3:1–11
There is a given time for everything and a time for every happening under heaven:
A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting.
A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.
A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing.
A time for throwing stones, a time for gathering stones; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing.
A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for throwing away.
A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace.
What profit is there for a man from all his toils?
Finally I considered the task God gave to the humans. He made everything fitting in its time, but he also set eternity in their hearts, although man is not able to embrace the work of God from the beginning to the end.
►Gospel: Lk 9:18–22
One day when Jesus was praying alone, not far from his disciples, he asked them, “What do people say about me?” And they answered, “Some say that you are John the Baptist; others say that you are Elijah, and still others that you are one of the former prophets risen from the dead.” Again Jesus asked them, “Who then do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Then Jesus spoke to them, giving them strict orders not to tell this to anyone.
And he added, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and put to death. Then after three days he will be raised to life.”
REFLECTION
“And who do you say that I am?”
This is the question of a lifetime for us all.
Who Jesus really is for us
will determine how we live
and what we do
and, in the end, how happy we are
as we go through life, as well.
25th Week in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Eccl 11:9–12:8
Rejoice, young man, in your youth and direct well your heart when you are young; follow your desires and achieve your ambitions but recall that God will take account of all you do.
Drive sorrow from your heart and pain from your flesh, for youth and dark hair will not last.
Be mindful of your Creator when you are young, before the time of sorrow comes when you have to say, “This gives me no pleasure,” and before the sun, moon and stars withdraw their light, before the clouds gather again after the rain.
On the day when the guardians of the house tremble, when sturdy men are bowed and those at the mill stop working because they are too few, when it grows dim for those looking through the windows, and the doors are shut and the noise of the mill grows faint, the sparrow stops chirping and the bird-song is silenced, when one fears the slopes and to walk is frightening; yet the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is fat and the caperberry bears fruit that serves no purpose,
because man goes forward to his eternal home and mourners gather in the street,
even before the silver chain is snapped or the golden globe is shattered,
before the pitcher is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the mill,
before the dust returns to the earth from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Meaningless! meaningless! the Teacher says; all is meaningless!
►Gospel: Lk 9:43b–45
While all were amazed at everything Jesus did, he said to his disciples, “Listen and remember what I tell you now: The Son of Man will be delivered into human hands.” But the disciples didn’t understand this saying; something prevented them from grasping what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
REFLECTION
“It had been hidden from them so they could not understand it.”
All of life is spent
growing into the word of God.
We do not understand at 16
what we understand at 56.
So we must stay open always
to hear the word of God newly.
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
►1st Reading: Am 6:1a, 4–7
Woe to those proud people who live, over-confident on the hill of Samaria!
Woe to you, men of renown, from the first among the nations, to whom the people of Israel come!
You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and sprawl on your couches; you eat lamb from the flock and veal from calves fattened in the stall.
You strum on your harps, and like David, try out new musical instruments.
You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you do not grieve over the ruins of Joseph.
Therefore you will be the first to go into exile; and the feast of sprawlers will be over.
►2nd Reading: 1 Tim 6:11–16
But you, man of God, shun all this. Strive to be holy and godly. Live in faith and love, with endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith and win everlasting life to which you were called when you made the good profession of faith in the presence of so many witnesses.
Now, in the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who gave the good testimony before Pontius Pilate, I command you to keep the commandment. Keep your-self pure and blameless until the glorious coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, which God will bring about at the proper time, he, the magnificent sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords. To him, alone immortal, who lives in unapproachable light and whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and power for ever and ever. Amen!
►Gospel: Lk 16:19–31
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, who longed to eat just the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores. It happened that the poor man died and angels carried him to take his place with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. From hell where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and with him Lazarus at rest.
“He called out: ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus with the tip of his finger dipped in water to cool my tongue, for I suffer so much in this fire.’
“Abraham replied: ‘My son, remember that in your lifetime you were well-off while the lot of Lazarus was misfortune. Now he is in comfort and you are in agony. But that is not all. Between your place and ours a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross over from here to you or from your side to us.’
“The rich man implored once more: ‘Then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house where my five brothers live. Let him warn them so that they may not end up in this place of torment.’ Abraham replied: ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ But the rich man said: ‘No, Father Abraham. But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“Abraham said: ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the grave.’”
REFLECTION
“If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not
be convinced even if someone were to rise from the dead.”
We are given everything we need
to see and understand
the greatness, the goodness, of God–
creation, love, life, and the Gospels.
We don’t need miracles to prove
the existence of God.
We simply need to repay Goodness with goodness.
26th Week in Ordinary Time
Vincent de Paul
►1st Reading: Jb 1:6–22
One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan came with them. Yahweh asked Satan, “Where have you been?”
Satan answered, “Going up and down the earth, roaming about.”
Yahweh asked again, “Have you noticed my servant Job? No one on earth is as blameless and upright as he, a man who fears God and avoids evil.”
But Satan returned the question, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not built a protective wall around him and his family and all his possessions? You have blessed and prospered him, with his livestock all over the land. But stretch out your hand and strike where his riches are, and I bet he will curse you to your face.”
Yahweh said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power. But do not lay a finger upon the man himself.” So Satan left the presence of Yahweh.
One day, while his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, “Your oxen were plowing, and your donkeys were grazing nearby when the Sabaeans came and carried them off. They killed the herdsmen. I alone escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came, “God’s fire fell from the sky and burned all your sheep and the shepherds as well. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
He had hardly finished speaking when another messenger arrived, “Three raiding teams of Chal-deans have killed your servants and carried off your camels. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
He was still speaking when another messenger came and said to Job, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother when suddenly a great wind blew across the desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they all died. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
In grief Job tore his clothes and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped, saying,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
naked shall I return.
Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken away.
Blessed be his name!”
In spite of this calamity, Job did not sin by blaspheming God.
►Gospel: Lk 9:46–50
One day the disciples were arguing about which of them was the most important. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he took a little child and stood him by his side. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. And listen: the one who is found to be the least among you all, is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John spoke up, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon your name, and we tried to forbid him because he doesn’t follow you with us.” But Jesus said, “Don’t forbid him. He who is not against you is for you.”
REFLECTION
“An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one
of them was the greatest.”
When we criticize others
because they live the gospel
differently than we do
it is important to remember
that Jesus wants us simply
to love one another–without distinction.
26th Week in Ordinary Time
Wenceslaus / Lawrence Ruiz and Companions
►1st Reading: Job 3:1–3, 11–17, 20–23
At length it was Job who spoke, cursing the day of his birth. This is what he said:
Cursed be the day I was born,
and the night which whispered:
A boy has been conceived.
Why didn’t I die at birth,
or come from the womb without breath?
Why the knees that received me,
why the breasts that suckled me?
For then I should have lain down
asleep and been at rest
with kings and rulers of the earth
who built for themselves lonely tombs;
or with princes who had gold to spare
and houses stuffed with silver.
Why was I not stillborn,
like others who did not see the light of morn?
There the trouble of the wicked ceases,
there the weary find repose.
Why is light given to the miserable,
and life to the embittered?
To those who long for death
more than for hidden treasure?
They rejoice at the sight of their end,
they are happy upon reaching the grave.
Why give light to a man whose path has vanished,
whose ways God blocks at every side?
►Gospel: Lk 9:51–56
As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem. He had sent ahead of him some messengers who entered a Samaritan village to prepare a lodging for him. But the people would not receive him because he was on his way to Jerusalem. Seeing this, James and John, his disciples said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to reduce them to ashes?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.
REFLECTION
We forget, like the apostles, that Jesus
did not repay rejection with rejection.
Those who do not accept Jesus
are not our enemies.
They are people going to God another way.
Our only obligation is to love them, too.
26th Week in Ordinary Time
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels
►1st Reading: Dn 7:9–10, 13–14 (or Rev 12:7–12a)
I looked and saw the following:
Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took his seat. His robe was white as snow, his hair white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire. A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before him. Thousands upon thousands served him and a countless multitude stood before him.
Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book.
I continued watching the nocturnal vision:
One like a son of man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into his presence.
Dominion, honor and kingship were given him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.
►Gospel: Jn 1:47–51
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree and I saw you.”
Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said: ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.
Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
REFLECTION
“Here is a real Israelite. There is nothing false in him.”
Opening ourselves to the eye of God
is the grace it takes to grow.
Until there is ‘nothing false in us,’
Until we face in ourselves what’s lacking
in both what we do and what we don’t do,
we will not really turn our lives around.
26th Week in Ordinary Time
Jerome
►1st Reading: Job 19:21–27
Have pity my friends, have pity,
for God’s hand has struck me!
Why do you hound me as God does?
Will you never have enough of my flesh?
Oh, that my words were written,
or recorded on bronze
with an iron tool, a chisel
or engraved forever on rock!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he, the last, will take his stand on earth
I will be there behind my skin,
and in my flesh I shall see God.
With my own eyes I shall see him –
I and not another. How my heart yearns!
►Gospel: Lk 10:1–12
The Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place, where he himself was to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know. Whatever house you enter, first bless them saying: ‘Peace to this house.’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house. When they welcome you in any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there and say to them: ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ But in any town where you are not welcome, go to the marketplace and proclaim: Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off and leave with you. But know and be sure that the kingdom of God had come to you.’ I tell you that on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for this town.”
REFLECTION
“There is a large harvest but few laborers to gather it in.”
This gospel confronts us
with the central question of our lives:
What am I myself doing, actually,
here and now,
to bring to fruition what God has planted for us
so that the whole world can profit from it?
