October 23, 2016

30th Sun., Ordinary Time

October 23, 2016:  Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time / World Mission Day

  • 'Scales of justice' tie:  The Lord judges justly (1st reading)
  • 'Pierced hearts' suspenders:  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted (psalm)
  • 'Crown' tie bar:  "A merited crown awaits me" (2nd reading)
  • 'Road runner' tie pin:  "I've finished the race" (2nd reading)
  • 'Lion' pin:  "I was rescued from the lion's mouth" (2nd reading)
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season
Listen

For 1st reading and psalm
For 2nd reading
For gospel
For next Sunday:  Psalm 145:  I will praise your name/ Celoni:  sheet music, new version for the day's text, just written 
For All Saints Day:  Psalm 24:  The people that longs/ Celoni:  ssheet music, just written 
Pope Francis
Angelus:  We're creatures in time, but destined for eternity with God, source of our being, and font of truth and joy:  in the key of mission.  Today is a time of mission and courage:  courage to strengthen our steps, to rediscover the delight of spending ourselves for the Gospel, to regain confidence in the strength that service brings.
But courage doesn't assure success:  it's needed to fight, not necessarily win; to proclaim, not necessarily convert.  We need courage to be alternative without becoming argumentative or aggressive.  We need courage to be open to all, without diminishing the absoluteness and uniqueness of Christ, the one Savior of all.  We need courage to stand up to unbelief without becoming arrogant.  We need the courage of the publican in today's Gospel.
World Mission Day message: Missionary Church, Witness of Mercy
The missio ad gentes is an immense work of mercy, spiritual and material.  We "go out" as missionary disciples, offering our talents, wisdom, and experience to bring the world the message of God’s tenderness and compassion.  The Church cares for those who don't know the Gospel; she wants everyone to be saved and experience the Lord’s love.  She's commissioned to announce God's mercy to everyone, everywhere.
When mercy encounters someone, it gladdens the Father, who has always loved the most vulnerable; he reveals his greatness in his capacity to identify with the young, the marginalized, and the oppressed.  He's close to those in need, especially the poor; he involves himself in our lives as parents do in their children's.  The Bible uses the word for mercy to speak of the womb; it refers to a mother's love for her children, whom she'll always love, because they're the fruit of her womb.  God's love and compassion are for all.
Mercy finds its most complete expression in the Incarnate Word, Jesus, the face of the Father rich in mercy.  When we welcome and follow Jesus, we become merciful like our Father and learn to love as he loves us and make our lives a gift, a sign of his goodness.  The Church is the community that lives by the mercy of Christ; she senses his gaze and feels he's chosen her with his love, through which she discovers and lives its mandate.
The presence of women in the missionary world is a sign of God’s maternal love.  Women and families carry out their missionary vocation in many ways including announcing the Gospel and charitable service; they often understand and know how to deal with people's problems:  in caring for life, focusing on people, and building good relations, harmony, peace, solidarity, dialogue, cooperation and fraternity, in particular through care for the poor.
Evangelization often begins with education; missionaries devote much time and effort to it, waiting for fruit after years of cultivation, bringing forth a new people to take the Gospel to new places.  The Church is "mother" of those who will have faith in Christ.  May God's people continue to exercise this service of mercy, which helps those who don't yet know the Lord to encounter and love him.  Faith is God’s gift, not the result of proselytizing; it grows thanks to evangelizers' faith and charity.  Jesus' disciples need to love without limits, like our Lord.  We proclaim his life and love, his greatest gifts to us.
Everyone has the right to receive the message of salvation, God’s gift.  Missionaries know the Gospel of forgiveness and mercy can bring joy, reconciliation, justice, and peace.  The gospel mandate to make, baptize, and teach disciples commits us to hear the call to a renewed missionary impulse:  "Discern the path the Lord points out, obey Christ's call to go forth from your comfort zone to reach the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel."  Open your heart to all humanity.
Read
  • Sir 35:12-14, 16-18  The Lord hears the oppressed, orphan, widow, lowly, all who serve God.  Lord judges justly, won't delay. 
  • Ps 34:2-3, 17-19, 23  "The Lord hears the cry of the poor," confronts evildoers, rescues the just, is close to the brokenhearted, saves the crushed in spirit, redeems his servants.  I bless the Lord always.
  • 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18  I am being poured out, have competed well, finished the race, kept the faith.  The just Lord will crown me and all who longed for him.  All deserted me, but the Lord stood by me, rescued me so all may hear the proclamation, will bring me safe to his kingdom.
  • Lk 18:9-14  Two went to temple to pray:  Pharisee to himself:  "Thank God I'm not like others; I fast and pay tithes."  Tax collector:  "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Reflect
    • Creighton:  If we're convinced of our own righteousness, we risk being humbled.  If we focus on ourselves, we move down that path.  If we don't listen openly, we can miss the cry of the poor and the oppressed.  Signs we're convinced of our own righteousness:  we don't make simple changes in our consumption that would better steward the gifts of creation; we don't provide refuge to those displaced by war, famine, or disease; we're insensitive to those harmed because of their skin color, economic status, religious traditions, addictions, gender identification, or family situation; we're resentful instead of grateful; we feel entitled to what we think we control instead of relinquishing control to God.  The Lord gave us the ability to hear, see, and act, so we should hear the cry of the poor like he does and rescue them. When we so serve them and him, we humble ourselves and recognize our gifts are to be shared.
      The Pharisee and the Publican/ Tissot
    • One Bread, One Body:  "I must decrease":  The Pharisee's tithing and fasting were admirable, but he was "praying" to himself, not God.  He compared himself to others, not God.  The tax collector was a Jew working for the Romans, likely extorting their people to get a better commission, but he saw his lowliness before God; he saw his sin in the light of God's holiness, not in comparison with others, and cast himself upon God's mercy.  In the 2nd reading, Paul "boasts" about his faithfulness to God, but it's really a testimony to God's faithfulness because he gives God the credit. (The Pharisee credited himself.)  Any good in our life is God's doing.
    • Passionist:  The Pharisee thanks God he isn’t like everyone else, especially the tax collector, and boasts about his fasting and tithing; the tax collector humbly asks for God’s mercy.  The Pharisee saw God’s love for himself but not for the tax collector; he saw the tax collector’s sin but not his own.  May we see how God loves everyone and love them too....
    • DailyScripture.net:  "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"  God spoke through Hosea, "I desire love, not sacrifice."  Our prayers and sacrifices must spring from a heart of love for God and neighbor; we must recognize our need fro God and approach with humility and contrition.  The Pharisee closed his heart to God through his disdain for the tax collector; he presumed he could be judge and shame him.  The story offended the Pharisees who regarded tax collectors as unworthy of God's favor.  Jesus speaks about the nature of prayer and our relationship with God by contrasting two attitudes towards prayer:  the Pharisee exalted himself at others' expense, centering his prayer on himself, not God's goodness; the tax collector humbled himself and begged for mercy.  Pride leads to self-deception and spiritual blindness; humility helps us see ourselves as we are to God and inclines us to seek mercy....
      • John of Capistrano, judge, Franciscan priest, crusaded against Turks invading Christian Europe, died of plague, patron of military chaplains
    Posted by at

    No comments:

    Post a Comment

    Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)