Articles

Wednesday September 2

Wednesday of 22nd Week of Ordinary Time

THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM

Introduction

We are God’s community, and therefore all division among us is a shame. It shows that we have not yet grown up in the Spirit as “spiritual” people. If we could only grow up!
Jesus has preached his message of hope in the lake town of Capernaum and confirmed it by liberating the poor and the sick from the powers of evil. He has to bring the same good news to other places. The gospel of hope in a new world is destined for all. With the people healed by Jesus, let us in this Eucharist thank the Lord for his good news.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we thank you today for Jesus, your Son.
He came to heal our wounds
and to set us going on the way
to you and to one another.
Help us in our fumbling, stumbling attempts
to continue looking for him
and to make his gospel of hope and love
come true among us as the good news
that your Son is alive among us
and that he is our Lord for ever.

Reading 1 1 COR 3:1-9

Brothers and sisters,
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another,
"I belong to Apollos," are you not merely men?

What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God's co-workers;
you are God's field, God's building.

Responsorial Psalm 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Alleluia LK 4:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 4:38-44

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.

At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Commentary

Early in his first epistle to Corinth, Paul deals with one of the community’s clear problems. It centers on rivalry and a form of hero worship. Groups were championing their own apostolic heroes: Paul, who had first preached to them; Apollos, whose rhetoric and speaking ability are noted in the New Testament; and Peter, who was first among the apostles.
Paul makes it clear: If that is the route you want to follow, then count me out. Paul may have planted the seed, Apollos may have cultivated it, but it was God alone who made it grow. It is not right to attribute to human beings what is clearly the work of God. The people are God’s field; the missionaries are collaborators of God in caring for the field. It is an important perspective to maintain. Like Christ in today’s Gospel, Paul did not want to bask in the light of spiritual accomplishment.
It is normal to recognize the gifts of priests and ministers who serve. But the parish is not great because of them; nor do they make virtue more visible. They are collaborators of the Lord (and that is no small matter). The principal work is God’s, to whose name belong honor and glory.

Points to Ponder

Ministry as collaboration with the Lord
The danger of hero worship
The Lord gives growth

Intercessions

– That the Church may continue with compassion the task of healing of our Lord Jesus, that the sick may be comforted, the downtrodden set free, and the poor and the weak be protected, we pray:
– That the faith and the hope of the sick and the dying may be firmly anchored in our Lord Jesus who is the resurrection and the life, we pray:
– That we may learn more to heal one another by forgiving each other and by uplifting the sad and the discouraged, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we need your Son Jesus Christ
to be with us today.
Give him to us in this bread and wine,
that, weak and fallible as we are,
we may not give up the hope
that your kingdom of justice and peace
can take shape among us.
Let it become the humble sign
of your goodness and justice
and of your joy that lasts for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
in your power you care for the weak,
and so Jesus preferred the poor and the helpless.
Give us his Spirit of compassion and strength,
that we too may commit ourselves
to bring hope and justice
to the dispossessed and the lonely.
And take away our pride, Lord,
for we are perhaps weaker and poorer
than those we presume to uplift.
Count us among those in need of Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior for ever.

Blessing

Jesus cured the many who came to him with all sorts of diseases. Are we aware that we too can bring healing to others, by showing them affection, compassion, forgiveness? May the Lord make you attentive to the healing powers in you and may God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.