Ordinary Time Cycle A

Twenty Third Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle A

September 6, 2020

 

Review the Readings

Listen to the Readiings

The readings of this Sunday give us a good look at what it means to be Christian.

 

 

In the first reading Ezekiel (593-571 B.C.)is in Exile in Babylon and as God's prophet he is instructed to make God present for His people, also in exile. He is to be a sort of watchman to help the people.  He is to be an example for the people.

 

 

  

 

The answer is ...YES

Remember that in our baptism we were called by God to be a prophet, a watchman, to make God present to others, to all we encounter in our lives.  Sometimes the first thing to do is not to use words to tell someone about God's love. I think we all know that our actions speak louder than our words.

Our first response as a watchman, a prophet, should be mercy, compassion, understanding, patience, etc; the same way that God has dealt with us.  

For sure, just  telling someone how they must change can be so much easier.   Then we can dismiss the person and move on with our lives, thinking we did our job as prophet and we made God present.  But did we???  Really???

 

 

Paul, in his letter tells clearly about the call.  As chosen and sent by God in our baptism we are to love everyone, even the one who seems to be on a different path or who seems impossible.

 

 

 

Love does not ask us to only love those who will return love. 

Sometimes it will seem impossible to love the one who is difficult or the one we don't really know, and then we want to say that we are not responsible...

...but we are according to God's  call for us to be prophet. 

 

 We never know how God wants to communicate with us through the events in our lives. Are we listening???

 

Sunday's Responsorial Psalm

 

 

Sometimes it is through looking back on difficult situations or strange people that we will hear his voice and see our sin of thinking we are not responsible.  But we are. We are called to love, even the enemy.

 

 When we see in ourselves the inability to love, what a gift this can be from God. We then can't give excuses.  It is the time to ask, "Please Lord, help me to love as Christ loves."

 

The Gospel can help us to see we are not to dismiss strange or difficult people too quickly.  Patience, mercy, compassion for them is our call.

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus never gave up on sinners.  We too, need to see that is also our call; it is a call to love and not to give up on someone, or for that matter, to give up on ourselves.

 

 

It is interesting that in the primitive Church when a brother or sister sinned big, it was only as a last resort were they removed from the community, but they were never abandoned or forgotten. 

The community continued day and night to pray for them to repent and return to their call as prophet.

 

 

 

  

 

  Think about it each day

when you are faced

with difficult people!!!

 

  

 

Return to vicardoug.com 

 

 

 

Twenty Second Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle A

 

August 30, 2020

 

Review the Readings

 

Listen to the Readings

 

 

 

 

 

We know that at our Baptism we were called by name by God to be, among other things, a prophet, one who makes God present in the world.

 Every time when we encounter  a difficult life situation, whether that is health problems, financial problems, relationship difficulties, times of worry,  God is asking us, what does it mean to be prophet, to make God present in the world.

 

 

 

Young Prophet Jeremiah

 

Jeremiah was a youngster, when called by God to be a prophet.  He loved his country men and his country.  His temperament was thought to be peaceful, sensitive, and gentle, and he was to make God present to the people.

 

 

 
In the first reading we hear Jeremiah complaining, that God has deceived him, because his being a prophet was not easy. 

 

His people, whom Jeremiah loved, hated him, thought him to be a traitor, and wanted to kill him because of what he had to say. 

But Jeremiah knew that he was called to make God present. Jeremiah was discovering what it meant to be prophet.

 

 

 

Well, you and I know that we too were called by God to be a prophet when we were baptized.

And certainly at times, we may think that, the calling would be easy.  But many times, quite the opposite is or has been true. 

 

 

 

 

In the second reading, St. Paul addresses the pagan Romans, who had accepted Christianity, who had recognized their call in Baptism to be prophet.

 

 

 They had accepted and believed that God called them to make him present in the world, and that at times, making God present was not easy. 

 

They were faced with rejection, persecution, and even physical death.  That was how they were to make God present in the world.  This can be even more clearly realized in the words of Jesus in the Gospel.

 

Right after Peter has stated that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, came a real shocker.  

 

 

Jesus, whom they thought would solve all the problems, would be a political leader, was  destroyed. 

Jesus was to die, to be killed.  Peter cannot believe what he heard.

 

 

How about us?  When we hear that we will be killed (more psychologically than physically), be rejected, be persecuted, be faced with difficulties, how do we react?

 

 

 

During the difficult times, it so easy to forget the call of our Baptism to be phophet in the world today.

We can become like Jeremiah and think that God has tricked us.  Did we think that being a Christian, a prophet, would not be  a struggle?

 

Jesus told Peter and also each of us in our doubts, that we must pray to be able to take up our cross, our persecutions, our disappointments, our health problems, our rejections, and follow the Lord. 

 

 

 

At times we will have to let go of our own ideas of how God will work in us.

That is a part of our journey to eternal life.

Jeremiah knew that he had been called by God; he remained faithful to his calling. 

 We need to continue to pray for conversion, so that in the next difficult situation, we can loose our lives.

 

 

Q

Return to vicardoug.com

 

 

 

 

Twenty First Sunday Ordinary Time. Cycle A

August 23, 2020

Review the Readings

Listen to the Readings

 

 

 

  

 

In the first reading, Isaiah introduces us to King Hezekiah's servant,

Shebna, who had lost his position as second in command because he had

let his power  go to his head.  He decided that power and wealth were the

most important things, not God, and he had decided to overthrow King Hezekiah.

 

 We too can find our place in this reading.  Sometimes, don't we think like Shebna, that if we just had more

money, more power, more health, more youth, etc, life would be better?

 

 We may think that we place God first in our lives, but if we take a hard look at ourselves, we may discover

that at times we do place the things of this world first.  

Isaiah tells Shebna that he will loose everything and God will select someone else to take his place.

 

King Hezekiah remained faithful to God, and trusted  all  the events that were taking place.

 

We know that at our baptism God has called us by name and chosen us to be a part of his Church,

the Body of Christ.  Sometimes it may seem that He has made some sort of mistake in choosing us. 

 

I suspect that Peter must have also had those same

feelings at times in his life. 

But he came to know that he was called

by Christ to head God's Church,

and just as surely God has called

 

each of us to be a part of the Body of Christ, the Church.

 

 

  

It is amazing to see how God works. 

 

 

He never seems to select the most powerful, the wealthiest,  the smartest, etc. 

 

He selects the least. 

He selects each of us in our poverty.  If and when we put wealth and materials

things first, we become like Shebna in the first reading. 

 

 

 

 

We may think that Peter was a good choice, but wait a minute. 

 

 

 

Peter was a fisherman, a bit high strung, not educated, poor, etc. 

Judas was the most educated.   

But Peter, with all that he lacked, was selected to lead the church that was to make Christ present in the world. 

 

 

 

 

 God has selected each of us at our baptism to make Christ present in the world. Knowing that we have

been called, let us continue to pray that we, in those moments when we may think like Shebna in the first

reading, may convert and see that the things of this world are not the most important thing. 

 

Each day in this coming week, let us pray to be faithful to God, and in those moments when we fail, let us pray that we may return to Him, even if that is again and again.  We will never give up on our call to make Christ present in the world today.

 

 

St. Paul understands that God has chosen him and that God does not

always work as we think He should.  

Paul had experienced that in his life.

 If we look back into our history, we too will discover the same thing.

 

What Paul wrote in this part of his letter became a early Christian hymn expressing this same idea that God works in ways that we would not work.

 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

 
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord

or who has been his counselor?

Or who has given the Lord anything
that he may be repaid?

For from him and through him and for him are all things

. 
To him be glory forever. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As unqualified as we may feel about ourselves, we are sent this week to go out to the unexpected...

...to the homeless and the poor

...to the one who bothers us

...to the one who needs someone to just listen to

...to forgive the one who was wrong and hurt us.

...to the one who just needs our patience

 

 

By your very Baptism you are...

 

 

 

 

and

 

 

 

Be alert for God, in these following days, to ask you to make Him present to others more by our actions

more than by our words.

 

 

 Return to vicardoug.com

Twentieth Sunday Cycle A

August 16, 2020

 

Review the Readings

Listen to the Readings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it is so easy to judge other people who seem below us; those who don't have the same morals as we might have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or

There can be those times when we see our own failure, our own sin, that seems to devastate us because we have always believe we would never seriously sin .

 

This Sunday's readings can help us to recognize God's great love and mercy for all people, chosen or not chosen, good and bad.

 

 

 

 

 

Isiah the Prophet

In the first reading, the prophet reminds the people of their ancestors being brought out of slavery in Egypt, long ago, and  then God  brought them out of their own exile in Babylon; 538BC.

They are being reminded that God comes for the foreigner, which they had also been because of their exile, their turning from God.

 

 

 

It is a good reminder for us that God comes for all people, faithful and, unfaithful.

 

God is always there for us, whether we are doing the right things, or  whether in those moments when we see our failures and sin, sometimes even great sins.  

 

 

God always comes for us, when we feel close to Him, and even when we feel  so far away from Him.

 

 

 

Paul, a good Jew,  in his letter addressed the Gentiles, those who were considered dirty, not chosen by God and far away from God.

 

He reminds them that God has called them, Roman Gentiles, to eternal life.

Paul recognizes that God comes for all and, Paul has turned to the Gentiles because he has been rejected by his own, the Jews.

 

 

The amazing thing that we will hear again in the Gospel is that Jesus goes out of his way for a Gentile, a Gentile woman who has asked Jesus to help for her daughter who has been severely affected by a demon.

 

Jesus let's her know that He has come for the lost sheep of Israel.  She will not give up and, needless to say, Jesus heals the possessed daughter.

 

 

That Gospel can certainly gives hope for each of us when, in those moments we feel so out of touch with God because of our own failures or our own sins.  But, God will never abandon us.

 

 

 

 

 

These readings might also help us not to judge others because God comes for all people, for those who we perceive as good and those that we may perceive as evil or a far away from God.

 

 

 

 

God may be getting us ready to see if we judge, if we are willing to go out of our way for a person who is placed into our lives this week..

 

 

 

Will it be someone with whom we struggle?

 

 

 

 

 

Will it be a stranger?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will it be someone who smells and is not at all clean?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will it be a person asking for help; perhaps even holding a cardboard sign at the freeway off ramp?

 

 

 

 

 

Or will it be a friend or relative who needs help or advice or maybe just a phone call to say hello?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who will God send you???

 

Shocking...but it does make a point!!!

 

 

 Return to vicardoug.com