11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Cassie

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

This week we return to Ordinary Time for our Sunday liturgy.  We go back to Matthew’s Gospel and pick up this year’s walk through his Gospel.  The Gospel of Matthew is distinctive for its practice of citing the Old Testament in  connection with Jesus’ activity and teaching.  The Gospel is also known for a structured presentation of Jesus’ doctrine in the form of sermons or discourses.   Each discourse is followed by collections of miracle accounts and incidents which reflect Jesus’ doctrinal teaching.

On this 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time we pick up Matthew’s narrative with Jesus’ discourse to His  apostles concerning their mission.  They are to  proclaim what Jesus proclaimed: ”The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  They are to do what Jesus did: cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.  He tells His apostles that their mission was to be directed “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.

Jesus wants to restore God’s flock and give them guiding shepherds.  He does so by choosing the “twelve.”  The twelve apostles were appointed and instructed so that the people of God would be renewed and shepherded.  Jesus sends out His disciples as laborers to bring in the abundant harvest of God’s restored people.

Matthew is telling his community that they, the Church, are to carry on Jesus’ work, we are to imitate Him in our service.  We are not only to minister to those in need, but to do so out of compassion and love.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell

 

The SOLEMNITY of the BODY and BLOOD of JESUS

Posted on by Cassie

Just as our body needs food to live, so to do Christians need another kind of food for our spirits to live. The food par excellence for our spirits is the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Without food we cannot live a full human life and enjoy health, work, learning and freedom.

It is no different in our life of the Spirit. Without the food of the Eucharist we become weak and incapable of reaching out to help others; we become easy victims to temptation and depression. Without the bread of life we quickly lose interest in reading Scripture and in praying; we lose our freedom in the Spirit and become enslaved by the materialism of the world. In other words, we need the Eucharist to become fully alive in our spiritual life.

As a Church, we are the Spirit-filled people of God who feed the Eucharist in faith as a sign of our total dependence on the Lord as the ultimate source of our life. We the Church—you and me—are the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. We are a people who share our bread with others— bread for the hungry by helping the poor; bread for the oppressed by fighting for justice; bread for the lonely by offering friendship; bread for the despairing by giving encouragement.

There is no need for physical or spiritual hunger. We need to work together to become a Spirit— filled people who feed on the Eucharist and share it with others. Pray that we may truly become a people of Faith who through the Bread of Life can fulfill all our needs.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell

SOLEMNITY of the HOLY TRINITY

Posted on by Cassie

God’s fundamental attitude toward the world is love, because God is love(1 John 4:8).  God would have been justified in condemning the world for its sins.  But instead He sent His Son so that we might have eternal life rather than perish.  All who accept Jesus receive eternal life.  Those who reject Jesus are rejecting their only escape from eternal death.

God “gave” His only Son  in two senses: gave Him as a gift to us through the Word becoming flesh, and gave Him up to death for us on the cross.  That is the measure of God’s love for us.  God does not seek to condemn us, but to give us eternal life through His Son. Those who accept Jesus as God’s revelation receive eternal life; those who reject Jesus reject the eternal life He brings, and thereby condemn themselves to the death which is the fate of all those born of flesh alone.

Deciding for or against Jesus therefore has eternal consequences, but it also has consequences here and now.  Rejecting Jesus and His message is the way to eternal damnation.

God wants us to have eternal life with Him.  If we ask His help to accept Jesus and not reject His message, God will give us the grace we need to accomplish His holy will.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell