Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary Novena Prayer
(September 29-October 7)
Blessed Mother Mary, behold me, your
child, in prayer before you. Accept this Holy Rosary, which I offer you in
accordance with your requests at Fatima, as a sign of my tender love for you,
for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in atonement for the offenses
committed against your Immaculate Heart, and for this special favor which I
earnestly request in this Rosary Novena: (Mention
your request).
I beg you to present my petition to your Divine Son. If you will pray for me, I
cannot be refused. I know, my loving Mother, that you want me to seek God’s
holy Will concerning my request. If what I ask for should not be granted, pray
that I may receive that which will be of greater benefit to me and to others.
I offer you this spiritual “Bouquet of Roses” because I love you. I put all my
confidence in you, since your prayers before God are most powerful. For the
greater glory of God and for the sake of Jesus, your loving Son, hear and
intercede for me. Sweet Heart of Mary, be my help and my refuge. Amen.
As we enter into the deeper life which the Spirit calls us in through the Baptism of Fire, we learn the meaning of the cross in Jesus' life and in the life of the follower of Jesus. We learn that Jesus taught us the path of discipleship through the cross for a purpose. That purpose was stated by Paul: "But if we are children, we are heirs as well: heirs of God, heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him, so as to be glorified with him" (Rom 8:17). There is no resurrection without the cross, no Easter without Good Friday, no eternal life without the death to sin, no deeper life in the Spirit without the abandonment of self.
As we surrender and unite our will to God, as we empty ourselves of the need to be somebody through grasping and selfishness so as to become somebody through giving and service, we gradually learn the meaning and value of dying in order to live. In the words of Jesus: "I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit" (Jn 12:24). This paradox is a mystery. But what seems like a contradiction to all that is humanly logical is the reality which leads to truth.
Remorse is not simply remembering something from the past but something that remains an open wound which needs healing. "It is an open wound, which, when we have done something wrong in our life, pains us. But it is a hidden wound, unseen even by me, because I get used to carrying it around and anesthetizing it. It is there and some touch it, but it remains in them. When it hurts, we feel remorse. I am not only aware of having done evil, but I also feel it in my body, in my soul and in my life. And I feel the temptation to cover it and not feel it anymore....We must 'baptize' this open wound, that is give it a name...Then pray for God's mercy....The grace of remorse is a grace of salvation." (Pope Francis) To finally complete the process, we need to surrender it to the Lord for his healing forgiveness and touch. When we fail to name it and surrender it, we merely open the wound once more.
Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday Year A
Reading 1. This reading is a follow-up to last Sunday’s
first reading. Last Sunday we heard, “My thoughts are not your thoughts; my
plans are not your plans.” Today, Ezekiel expresses our response and God’s
words to us. From the human perspective, God’s ways seem unfair, because we
judge from a self-focus, subjective viewpoint.
God, through Ezekiel, shows the truth of God’s ways.
If a virtuous man commits sin and dies unrepentant, he shall surely die away from
God. On the other hand, if a wicked person repents and turns back to the Lord
and dies, he shall live with the Lord. From a human perspective, this seems
unfair. But not from God’s. The focus is not the fairness but the mercy of God.
The presumption is that the first person remained in
sin, in spite of the grace of mercy calling him to repentance. He died in his
sin and remained in that state eternally. The second person received the grace
of repentance, acted on it and died in that grace. That is his state for
eternally.
The nature of sin deserves punishment. That is justice
and rightness. But the gift and grace of God is mercy for those who truly
repent. We cannot begin to comprehend the reality of sin in relationship to
God. Nor can we comprehend the reality of mercy in the face of our sinfulness.
If God would render strict justice, there is no hope for any of us. Without his
loving mercy his justice would be everlasting damnation and alienation.
Reading 2. To begin to glimpse into the mercy of God—the
overwhelming love of God for us--, all we have to do is reflect on the
incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the God-Man. If God would
have just became man, that would have been more than enough to show his love
and mercy for us, sinners. But he chose to embrace death on the cross, the cruelest
punishment for wrongdoing, even though he had not done any wrong. He took upon himself our sins out of love
for us. He gave his life for our life.
In this reading, Paul tells us to have the same
attitude. What does that mean? Do
nothing out of selfishness or vainglory, but humble yourself, thinking of other’s
needs before our own. Sin centers around one’s desires, pleasures and wants; love seeks
the needs of others first.
Gospel. Jesus
gives us two basic words which lead to eternal life or eternal death: yes and
no. He shows that it is not merely
saying the words which count but living them. The parable of the two brothers
focuses on the reality of repenting and turning away from what was wrong and
doing what is right, what is the will of God. Jesus identified that the great
sin was not the first no or the lie, but the insincere yes with no intention of
doing what is right. Applying it to those around him, Jesus indicates that the
greater sin was to see others repenting and returning to the Lord but still,
because of the hardness of one’s heart or the false self-righteousness,
remaining in sin.
The most important moments of our life are when we
come into a personal, intentional relationship with God through his grace and
when we die in relationship to God through his grace. All we do in between is
to ensure that we respond to that last moment of grace, to die in relationship. Even if we sin in between as horrible as that
is, if we return to the Lord and die in his love, those are not remembered.
God’s mercy is a given because of who God is, not
because we have a right to his mercy. But when a person does not respond to
this gift of mercy but chooses instead to remain in sin with some false
expectation that God’s mercy will be there when and if the person becomes read
to change, is really an affront to the mercy of God. How long can we live in sin, while externally
trying to maintain a relationship with God? God is looking for the sincere
heart not the foolish heart that is not willing to turn away from sin but wants
the blessings of God anyway.
Where are we saying “yes” to God but not meaning it
which in reality is saying “no”? Where are saying “no”, but on hearing his
word, we experience the grace to repent, changing our “no” to “yes”.
“If God is the center of your life, no words are
necessary. Your mere presence will touch
hearts.” (St. Vincent de Paul) How important is it to fully center our lives in God, who is the beginning and end of our lives, the source of all our blessings! Once he is, then two things happen. One, like St Paul, we can say: “ I live now, not I, but Christ Jesus in me.” Two, it will be his love and presence which will minister to others, more effectively than I alone could ever hope to do. We can merely hope for his
presence or we can seek it intentionally.
Twenty-sixth Sunday Ordinary Time: Gospel Matthew 21:28-32
Jesus said: "What is your opinion?
Jesus addresses the question to the religious leaders of his day, who have rejected both John the Baptist and himself. But reflect how it applies to each of us at different times.
A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went.
Have we acted this way in the past towards God? Have we said "No" to God and sinned, but later repented and returned to the Lord?
The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go.
Have we acted this way in the past as well towards God? Have we said "Yes" on the surface but in fact did not do what God desires? It was a "yes" of convenience not of commitment.
When have I said "yes" to God but failed to do it? This past week? This past month?
Which of the two did his father's will?"
Isn’t this the heart of the question? Doing the will of God, either initially or ultimately?
How consistently and consciously do we see the will of God in our daily life?
They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.
Do we at times find ourselves self-righteous towards others?
What is the attitude God is challenging us to have?
Here is an interesting reflection to spend time on as we evaluate our relationship with God. It is called
"Dying to self".
When you are forgotten or neglected and you don't hurt with the insult,
but your heart is happy, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When your advice is disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, and take it all in patient, loving silence, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you lovingly and patiently bear disorder, irregularity, impunctuality, and annoyance, and endure it as Jesus endured it, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works, or itch for praise after an accomplishment, when you can truly love to be unknown, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can see your brother or sister prosper and can honestly rejoice with him, and feel no envy even though your needs are greater THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When your are content with any food, any offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
When you can take correction, when you can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, with no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.
ARE YOU DEAD YET?
Cardinal John Newman once wrote:
"God has created me to do Him some definite service;
He has committed some work to me
which he has not committed to another.
I have my mission--
I may never know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good; I shall do His work.
I shall be an angel of peace,
a preacher of truth in my own place
while not intending it--if I do
but keep His commandments.
Therefore will I trust Him.
Whatever, wherever I am
I can never be thrown away.
If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him;
in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.
He does nothing in vain.
He knows what He is about.
He may take away my friends;
He may throw me among strangers.
He may make me feel desolate,
make my spirits sink,
hide my future from me--
still He knows what He is about."
We need to remember that even when times seem the darkest, God has a plan for us because he loves us as his own.
When The Word embraced our humanity through his self-emptying, he enhanced and dignified our humanity. The Original Fall of our ancestors, with its consequences, cloudied the dignity of the human person. By uniting the two natures--divine and human--in the one divine person, Jesus, the servant, gave us true meaning again. Life is worth living because life does not end with death but continues into eternity. Our actions are of value because through them we can imitate the life of Jesus--a life of love and service to others for his sake. In fact, because of Jesus, nothing is lost, nothing is without meaning and purpose, nothing is inconsequential. Jesus stated it clearly: "I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least..., you did it for me" (Mt 25:40).
The same is true with the ultimate sign of emptying and servanthood, the humiliation of the cross. What before Jesus was feared and hated--the cross, and worse, death on the cross, becomes a sign of victory and a standard of life for true followers of Jesus.
The focus of Christ's servanthood was not self but other: that other being the Father and us. "I solemnly assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself--he can do only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise" (Jn 5:19). "There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:13). In both expressions of service--to the Father and to us--Jesus did all with zeal and love. In fact, he was consumed with the zeal of a servant. It is this consumption that led him to utter "I have come to light a fire on the earth. How I wish the blaze were ignited! I have a baptism to receive. What anguish I feel till it is over" (Lk 12:49-50)!
Jesus freely chose to embrace our humanity and to embrace the cross. He was not forced into servanthood. He chose this path freely, so that we could do the same. What seems to go against the grain of our fallen nature, namely, to put ourselves at the total service of another, to subject our will to take care of others first, to seek the good of another primarily, now in Christ becomes the way of life for the servants of Christ. What the world of today would consider intensely distasteful and humiliating--forced servitude--now is to be entered into joyfully and freely. "Defer to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21)....Give your service willingly, doing it for the Lord rather than men" (Eph 6:7).
Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday Year A
Reading 1. The first reading speaks an obvious mystery
we sometimes struggle with: God’s ways and God’s thoughts are beyond us. Even
so, we are to seek the Lord and to call to him, though we cannot begin to
comprehend the plan of God, the love of God, the infinite mercy and forgiveness
of God. He chooses the foolish and confounds the worldly wise, the weak and
confounds the humanly strong. Of all the nations of the earth at the time, he
chose Israel for his chosen people. Of the seven sons of Jesses he chose the
youngest, David. God chose to become man, to be born in a stable in Bethlehem,
the least of the towns in Judea. He chose to save us from our sins through the
cross. God’s ways are definitely not ours. His generosity is beyond our
understanding, especially in his forgiveness of sins.
Reading 2. In last Sunday’s second reading we heard
that we belong to Christ, both in death and in life. Paul continues his
teaching on our relationship with Jesus as the Lord of our lives. Paul is so in
love and committed to Jesus that he desired die so as to be forever with Jesus.
What he wanted more than anything was to please Jesus whether in life or in
death. He did not fear death since it was the completion of his relationship
with God. At the same time, if Jesus wanted him to live longer in the ministry
of the gospel, he wanted to do his will. His final challenge to us was really
his way of life: “Conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of God.”
Why? Because we belong to the Lord both in life and in death.
Gospel. Human beings demand justice towards others when
it is to their advantage but understanding, mercy and forgiveness for themselves.
Following the first reading, we have a
hard time with God’s mercy when it comes to others. It is good to be just rather than unjust but
better to be merciful and generous.
Last week’s Gospel we heard that we are to both receive
and acknowledge God’s mercy as well as extend God’s mercy. In that Gospel
reading the master forgave the large debt of his servant. But the servant would
not show the same mercy to another servant who owed him a smaller fraction.
In today’s reading, the invitation to work in the
field is a grace/gift and so was the wage. Yet the workers who labored all day
for the agreed wage complained because they thought they were owed more. What they wanted was not justice but a
bonus. Instead of rejoicing in the
generosity of the owner for extending mercy to the late workers, they
complained.
From God’s perspective salvation is a gift from him.
He determines what is required. God’s ways are not our ways. If he wished to
grant salvation to the thief on the cross at the last minute, who am I to
object? He received the mercy of God as I received his mercy. It is not ours to
judge God but to be judged by God.
No matter how hard we work on earth, we will get our
just reward, but by rejoicing in God’s mercy and forgiveness to us and others,
we receive the mercy leading to eternal life. This mercy flows from the
generous death of Jesus on the cross, which we can never merit.
When we act with justice—giving each person what is
due—but go beyond justice to give what is not due but give out of love, we
reflect the mercy of God. Do we want to
be judge with the blind scale of justice or by the generous scale of mercy? The
gift of mercy we have received is to be given as a gift to others. The measure
with which we measure will be measured back to us. God’s ways are not ours but
our ways need to reflect his as much as possible.
To grow in the life of the Spirit, we have to remove the masks and empty ourselves of the false self, so that we can fully embrace the authentic self seen, called by name and loved by God. We may find that in some cases we have sought our own way before the good of others. We may find that we constantly feel the need to defend ourselves, even if we are unjustly accused by the attacks and remarks of others. But this is not following the path of self-emptying. In Romans 12:14 we read: "Bless your persecutors; bless and do not curse them." In this Paul was reflecting the teachings of Jesus in these situations: "Offer no resistance to injury. When a person strikes you on the right cheek, turn and offer him the other....Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors" (Mt 5: 39,44).
Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Gospel A
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. (And) he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
Have we ever felt that God’s ways are unfair? Or is it that God sees things differently than we do?
Instead of thinking about money, substitute grace. If no one earns grace,--it is freely given by God to whomever he chooses-- does it make any difference who gets what?
Or look at it from the point of view of eternal life, which is also a gift from God. If God chooses to give the repentant thief on the cross eternal life does that take away anything from the same gift to us? Being a disciple for many years or being a disciple for a short time, God chooses to give eternal life freely to both. Their equality comes not from what they did but from what God freely gave them.
What is their real complaint? They got what was agreed to at the beginning of the day. They figured that if the owner was going to be generous towards those who worked less, he should be more generous with those who worked longer. Human standards vs Divine standards.
He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? (Or) am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
How does Christ’s words challenge the world’s understanding of justice (and maybe yours)?
Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first
will be last."
Is there envy or jealousy in our hearts over what God seemingly does for others? His blessing to them in comparison to his blessings to us?
How grateful are we for the generosity of God whose gifts are gratuitous?
We continue our reflection on Philippians 2:5-11.
In Jesus' kenosis (emptying) while remaining the same, he took on the less without becoming less. In our kenosis we too remain the same human person, but in our self-emptying we become what we could not become by our own power. We became in baptism of water a new creation, no longer destined to the second death, but now called to share eternal life in the glory of God's presence. It was God, in his love and mercy, who emptied us of our state of alienation from him, cleansed us in the blood of the Paschal Lamb, and filled us with his life. We did nothing but accept in faith and live in hope what God did. "to be nobody but yourself/ in a world which is doing/ its best day and night to/ make you everybody else/ means to fight the hardest/ battle which any / human being can/ fight and never/ stop fighting."(e.e. cummings)
However, it is when this relationship with God does not seem sufficient for us that we lose our true identity and begin to embrace the masks of the false self. When we think that we are more than we are, then we begin to strive for that more, which in turn leads us further from our true identity and worth. Like the disciples we prize ourselves better than the others and we strive for that position of honor. We set up little kingdoms and seek the external trappings of the world and society to cover up what we wrongfully perceive to be our lacks and defects, shortcomings and inabilities. We fail to remember the words of Paul: "I warn each of you not to think more highly of himself than he ought. Let him estimate himself soberly, in keeping with the measure of faith that God has apportioned him" (Ro 12:3). "Never act out of rivalry or conceit; rather, let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves, each of you looking to others' interests rather than to his own" (Phil 2:3-4).
Reflecting on Paul's Letter to the Philippians 2:5-11, what do we learn from the life and teachings of Jesus on the mystery of self-emptying and servanthood?
When the Word embraced our humanity through the incarnation, he wasn't less who he was. He was still God. Entering into the servitude of humanity did not detract from his divine person. Jesus' self-esteem was not tarnish because of his human flesh, which was subject to suffering, feelings, pain and eventually death by crucifixion. Jesus knew and was reaffirmed by the Father that he was the beloved Son, on whom the Father's favor rested. His self- worth and self-acceptance were not shattered by the non-acceptance of others nor by the menial ministry he undertook for the sake of others. He was who he was whether he was called a blasphemer or a healer, whether he sat with his disciples to a meager meal or at the table of a rich villager, whether he touched lepers or sinners touched him.
For us to accept the limitations of our fallen humanity and seek to remain and grow in our relationship of dependence upon God does not lessen who we are. We are sons and daughters of the Father; we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and gifted and empowered by the Spirit. Herein lies our true worth and self-esteem: our relationship with God, sharing his divine life as his adopted sons and daughters. "Man is worth what he is worth before God and nothing more." (St. Francis of Assisi)
Our ministry or service doesn’t change or impact negatively on our personhood. But our personhood–our self-identity and self-acceptance–impacts on our ministry and service.
Twenty-Third Sunday A Gospel Matt 18:21-35
Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
Peter thinks he is generous by saying "seven times," since the religious standard of those days was three.
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
What is demanded of a disciple of Christ is limitless forgiveness. The obvious reason is that is how God treats us. If God treated us the way we would want to treat others, what will our life be like?
Which is harder: to receive forgiveness or to give forgiveness?
Does forgiveness depend on who the person is or what was done?
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
Compare this to God’s generous mercy to you. Look at what you have done in your life and look at what God has done in response. Is there any comparison?
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.
Have I in the past refused to forgive others even though God has forgiven me much more? Why the double standard?
Have others refused to forgive me when God has forgiven them?
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.
Earlier the person experienced the mercy of God. Now he receives the justice of God. Do we want God’s mercy or his justice?
So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."
How have you experienced God’s forgiveness in your life? How have you responded to his forgiveness?
Notice Jesus specifies the source of the forgiveness: "from the heart." This means that it is true, sincere, and total.
How should our life be impacted in the future as a result of this teaching?
Homily for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday Year A
First Reading and the Gospel focus on the question of
forgiveness. In the first reading the issue is approach from two different
perspectives. Should we act one way
towards others and expect God to act differently with us? Remember your last
days—death and decay—if you do not forgive. Cease from the sin of
non-forgiveness and the storing up of anger and revenge.
Listen to the opening statement. “Wrath and anger are hateful
things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” Many times we have an eye for eye
mentality, which is the opposite to what God commands and expects from us. We
are commanded to forgive the sins of others, so that our own sins may be
forgiven.
When we pray the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us
as we promise to forgive others. But in action, many times, we do the opposite.
When we refuse to forgive others after God has
generously forgiven us, we fail to take into account the fact that God will
hold us accountable at the end of our life. That is why the prophet says: “Remember
your last days.” Remember we will die and our eternity will be determined by
our actions. Refusal to forgive another tells God not to forgive us in the end.
Forgiveness is not an option. It is an absolute necessity. There is no double
standard here: we can’t refuse to forgive another and still expect God to
forgive us.
Second Reading reminds us of the fact of our faith:
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross by which he saved us from eternal
damnation and alienation from God, we belong to him. He is the Lord of our
lives. In another Letter Paul says we are slaves of the Lord. How conscious are
we of this reality, namely, we belong to the Lord both in life and in death? If
we were conscious of this, would we act differently in reference to holding
grudges and non-forgiveness towards another? “None of us lives for ourselves.
If we live we live for the Lord and if we die, we die for the Lord.” To live for the Lord and in the Lord is to
forgive as he has forgiven us without restriction. It is our relationship with the Lord that
should determine how we live in relationship to others.
The Gospel Reading reminds us that there is no limit
to our need to forgive another, no matter how the extent of our injury from
that person. We have sinned against God far greater than what any other person
can do against us. We have received from God unmerited and unconditional mercy
as a free gift. But that gift needs to be responded to with mercy on our part
to others. In the parable that Jesus uses, the ungrateful servant forgot this.
His master showed him mercy over justice. But he, in turn, demanded justice
over mercy when had the opportunity. In this he sealed his own fate.
There is a story that fits this scenario. A woman in
hell was complaining that she should not be there because she must have done
some good deeds in her life. God was merciful. He lowered a rope for her to
grab on to. She did. But as she was being pulled up, others in hell grabbed on
to the same roe. In her desperation she began to kick and push each one off the
rope. It was hers. All of a sudden the rope broke and she fell back into hell.
God said: “The reason you are in hell is because when mercy was shown you, you
refused mercy to others in your lifetime.
The last statement of the Gospel shows what true
forgiveness entails. It is not lip service. “My Father will do to you the same,
unless each of you forgives your brothers from your heart.” If God’s
forgiveness of us is total, unmerited, out of love then that is the same
measure we are to use in our relationship to others.
In reality, what Jesus is saying is that
un-forgiveness is ingratitude to God. To choose to harbor un-forgiveness
towards another while asking God for his forgiveness is a mockery to God. That
is why in the parable the ungrateful servant was treated so harshly. Can we
expect anything less?
On this the Feast of Our Lady of
Sorrows, it would do us well to meditate on the seven sorrows endured by Mary.
1. Prophesy of Simeon in the Temple: “This child is destined to be the
downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed—and you
yourself shall be pierced with a sword.” 2. The flight into Egypt. Mary and
Joseph flee to Egypt because Herod is seeking the death of the child Jesus. 3.
The loss of Jesus when he was twelve. “Son, why have you done this to us? You
see that your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow.” 4. Mary
meets Jesus on the Way to Cavalry. Words cannot expressed the anguish as Mother
endured in seeing Jesus suffering so. 5. Jesus dies on the cross. All Mary
could do was to embrace the will of the Father and surrender her son to the
Father for our sake. 6. The piercing of Jesus’ side. Was this the fulfillment
of Simeon’s prophecy? 7. The burial of Jesus. The pain of seeing the stone
sealing the tomb must have been unbearable, except for the hope of
the resurrection.
“The Cross stands before us in
these days as an eloquent symbol of God's love for humanity. … In his Passion,
Death and Resurrection, we are shown that the last word in human existence is
not death but God's victory over death. Divine love, manifested in its fullness
in the paschal mystery, overcomes death and sin, which is its cause (cf. Rom 5:
12). (St. John Paul II) Though the cross is a symbol of cruelty, we exalt in
the cross of Jesus Christ because through his cross and sufferings we have been
saved. For us the cross is a symbol of final victory in Christ. That is why we
wear a cross, why we sign ourselves with the cross and why we display a cross
in our homes.
“Be ashamed when you sin, don't be ashamed when you repent
[To repent means to have a change of heart and mind. It is not simply a feeling
of sorrow, but a psycho/spiritual growth away from evil/death and a turning to
God/life]. Sin is the wound, repentance is the medicine. Sin is followed by
shame; repentance is followed by boldness [Boldness means to beg God for
undeserved mercy]. Satan has overturned this order and given boldness to sin
and shame to repentance.” (St. John Chrysostom) Yes, we need to be ashamed when
we sin. But it should be a shame that leads us to repentance and conversion. To
stay in shame and condemnation is the work of the Evil One. The grace of
repentance is the gift from God always available. Peter was ashamed he denied
Jesus, but embraced the grace of repentance and love which freed him from any self-condemnation.
In a sense what baptism of water, baptism of the spirit and baptism of fire do for us is regenerate the heart. Baptism of water gives us the heart of a new creature. The old self alienated from God dies and a new self lives. Baptism of the Spirit gives us the heart of a disciple/witness on fire for the work of the kingdom. Baptism of fire gives us the heart of a lover captured in the web of love spun by God who is love.
Recall the prophetic words of God spoken through Ezekiel: "I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees....You shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Ez 36:25-28).
God loves us beyond measure, but without a spirit-graced affection of the heart on our part there will be no growth in the life of the spirit. Many times we struggle with the recurrent sins of the old self, even though we want to change. Like Paul we come to the realization that the "desire to do right is there but not the power." What is missing is the intense fire of love, a love that is not lip-service but heart commitment and conviction.
When we surrender our sinful need to be in total control, we do not surrender the use of our free will. We freely choose to exercise this gift in a way that is in harmony with who we are and in harmony with our relationship with the One who made us and in harmony with our ultimate destiny and fulfillment. "You first loved us so that we might love you--not because you needed our love, but because we could not be what you created us to be, except by loving you." (William of St. Thierry)
In answer to the question, "Why was I made?" an earlier catechism answer responded, "I was made to know, love and serve the Lord in this life and to be happy with him in the next." When we acknowledge the great commandment, we say "You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." To do what these two faith proclamations state, we must choose to align our will with the will of God for us. To do otherwise is to oppose the Lord's plan by substituting our own plan of life, thus making ourselves the center of life and not God.
Such surrender and alignment can only occur when the love of God is the motivation and not the love of self. This happens when we fall so in love with God that nothing and no one, including ourselves is more important to us. "Love is the 'weight' of a soul which draws it as if by a law of gravity to what it loves and where it finds its rightful rest." (Raniero Cantalamessa, Life in the Lordship of Christ, p.144)
We have to learn to get out of the Lord's way and freely choose to allow him to work in whatever way he desires in our life. Too often we resist the Lord by telling him what we think is best for us and what his will for us should be. In these moments, we are attempting to assert our control in the situation, rather than trust in the Lord's plan. While we say externally the words, "Lord, your will be done", internally we are choosing to act in a way that is reflective of our self-will. It was easy for the Israelites to say in the desert after hearing the commandments of God, "We will do all that the Lord commands." But when it came time to follow through on their word, they did not. Instead they chose what they wanted to do--they complained, they made themselves a golden cow to worship as their god, they did not heed the words of the Lord in battle, they did not trust the Lord. As a result they wandered in the desert for forty years, instead of experiencing the full life of the promises.
We have the same problem. We pray in the Our Father, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven." But our actions many times indicate "my kingdom come and my will be done." As a result we do not grow in the life of the Spirit, but seem to go around the same desert. As it wasn't until they learned no longer to resist the Lord did they enter the land flowing with milk and honey, so it will be with us. Until we learn to surrender the independent, selfish exercise of our will and bring it consciously and freely in harmony with the will of God, we too will continue in the drudgery of our own desert track. The spiritual land flowing with milk and honey awaits us, but something must die first. That something is our need to be in total control and the lack of trust in God's plan for us.
Information
Monthly Mass for Women
Saturday, September 9, 2017
8am
Bishop's House
107 Albany Dr. Houma, La
Fellowship afterwards
Bring a friend
To surrender our will to the Lord is not so much an action to accomplish as much as an attitude out of which we live. It is an attitude of letting go, of a living yes in the present moment. of not resisting the move of the Spirit leading me to a true good. This absence of resistance is based on the realization that God truly loves me and that I can trust in his plan for me even when I do not see nor understand.
This attitude of surrender reflected in the absence of resistance is seen the lives of different spiritual heros in and out of scripture. It is an attitude that is based on a growing relationship between God and the individual. Take Abraham for instance. After many trials and errors, many signs and confirmations, God told Abraham to take Isaac his son and sacrifice him on the mountain of the Lord. Even though God had given Isaac to Abraham and Sarah after many years of waiting for the fulfillment of the divine promises, Abraham does not resist this new request. He does not understand God's plan, but trusts that only if he is obedient to the will of God will he be in union with that plan and see the promised blessings fulfilled. God did not want the death of Isaac but the submission and trust of Abraham in God's ultimate plan.
Homily for Twenty-Third Sunday Year A
First Reading: What is the main issue of the first
reading? We are called to be obedient to God in all things, even in regards to
one another. But this obedience is based on a relationship. God appointed the
prophet as a watchman for the community, a sentry, to stand guard and to warn
the community when an enemy was approaching.
The prophet was called to speak the word of God, no matter how hard or
unpleasant it was.
In this case, the attack was from within not from
outside. The enemy was within the community. The people had turned away from God, choosing
not to follow the way of the Lord. The prophet
was sent by God to expose their sin and to call them to repentance and
conversion. It wasn’t his role to force them to change but to point out their
sin. He was to act on the word of Go by responding to it in his own life and d
by speaking out. If the prophet failed
to do this, he would suffer the same consequences as the people: die in their
sins. If he did what God commanded, he would be spared because of his obedience
to God.
Obedience to God above all things, even rejection by
others, was the most important way of remaining in relationship with God.
Second Reading: To owe someone a debt is to have a responsibility
to that person, to incur an obligation. The second reading gives us the
motivation for responding to God’s word in obedience. It is love. Though the
word given to the prophet was a difficult word, he was to speak it, not in
condemnation nor judgement, but in love.
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.” Because of Jesus’ love for
us expressed by his death on the cross, we too are bound to express that same
love for one another.
Gospel: The
Gospel reveals God’s word to us in dealing with people whose sinful ways are
destroying themselves and hurting others. What is the Lord saying
to us? He is dealing with a reality of
life. Human life lived in a family or community is not easy or perfect.
Conflicts and disagreements will arise. How should we deal with someone who has sinned
against us? The learned human way is revenge, retaliation, hate, and non-forgiveness. But, we know that this is not
the way of the Lord. The Lord’s word to us is, out of obedience and love, we
need to forgive and seek to be reconciled. Jesus adds another factor. We must forgive
from our heart.
If the other doesn’t want to be reconcile or to
forgive, then we are to seek help from others to try to become reconciled. If
still the person refuses, then we are to let that person be. We did all we
could. Like the prophet in the first reading, I am not responsible to change
the other but to do what God called me to do. If I don’t, then I allow the sin
of the other to lead me to sin or leave me in sin.
God is calling us to a new way of life as a missionary
disciple. Only because of my relationship with Jesus am I able to be obedient
in love. Our fallen human nature wants us to act in one way, but as sons and
daughters of God, we are called to act differently out of our spiritually,
redeemed nature.
To surrender or yield to the Lord does not violate the gift of free will. To freely choose to be in the will of God, to freely unite my imperfect will with God's perfect will is to properly exercise the gift I have been given. We do not lose our freedom. We enhance it and perfect it by using it properly in the way it was intended to be used. The eye utilizes light to see an object clearly. The stronger the light the clearer the details of the object become to the eye. For the eye to focus on the object without the aid of the light could cause eventual damage to the eye. Yielding our will to the Lord is to look at things in the light of God and choosing them according to his plan and purpose. To look at things without the light of God is to be out of sync with the proper order of things and thus out of proper relationship with the Source of all things.
Twenty-Third Sunday A Gospel Matt 18:21-35
Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
Peter thinks he is generous by saying "seven times," since the religious standard of those days was three.
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
What is demanded of a disciple of Christ is limitless forgiveness. The obvious reason is that is how God treats us. If God treated us the way we would want to treat others, what will our life be like?
Which is harder: to receive forgiveness or to give forgiveness?
Does forgiveness depend on who the person is or what was done?
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
Compare this to God’s generous mercy to you. Look at what you have done in your life and look at what God has done in response. Is there any comparison?
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.
Have I in the past refused to forgive others even though God has forgiven me much more? Why the double standard?
Have others refused to forgive me when God has forgiven them?
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.
Earlier the person experienced the mercy of God. Now he receives the justice of God. Do we want God’s mercy or his justice?
So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."
How have you experienced God’s forgiveness in your life? How have you responded to his forgiveness?
Notice Jesus specifies the source of the forgiveness: "from the heart." This means that it is true, sincere, and total.
How should our life be impacted in the future as a result of this teaching?
Surrendering one's life and will to the Lord. Jesus is the model for us. He totally yielded himself and surrendered himself to do the full will of the Father. "I have come to do your will." "My food is to do the will of him who sent me." Like Jesus we are called to place every thought, desire, action, choice under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and under the control of the Holy Spirit. All that I am and all that I have belongs to the Lord to be directed and used as he chooses.
This choice to so surrender is contrary to my human instincts. The self seeks to be in total control. Was not this the first sin? God, the Creator, gave dominion over all creatures, except the tree of knowledge of Good and evil. Not to be able to eat of the fruit of that tree indicated that human beings were not in total control of everything, but that they were dependent on God. This dependence of relationship was symbolized in this prohibition and limitation. In identifying that God alone was fully God and human beings were not; that human beings were dependent and God was not--this need to accept this limitation was too much for human beings to accept. So the choice not to submit, not to surrender, not to yield to the plan of God led to the human rebellion against God which is called sin.
The journey to holiness is not difficult. It is a response to God's grace. Paul tells us in his First Letter to the Thessalonians: "This is the will of God, your holiness."(4:4) There are steps we can take to grow in holiness. Though we have been baptized and saved by the death of Jesus, though we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, sharing in God's divine life, we need to consciously choose to embrace the call and began to walk in the ways of holiness. The scriptures identify the steps. First of all, there is a need through personal encounter with Jesus for on-going conversion. This means uprooting sin in our lives. Read and reflect on Ephesians 4:22-32. Sin is the obstacle to holiness.
