A Homily - The Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 15(16):1-2, 5, 7-11 ©

Second Reading – Galatians 5:1, 13-18 ©

Gospel Acclamation – 1saiah 3:9, John 6:68

The Gospel According to Luke 9:51-62 ©

(NJB)

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe: God is not a maker of kings. God is a general leading armies. God does not desire sacrifices of blood and flesh.

God is a god of love and mercy, of justice and compassion.

Be mindful of this at all times.

Trust God, faith and confidence are their own reward.

God is good, all that is good flows from God, as everything flows from God.

Look for the good of God in all creation, in everything that unfolds for you. Look and you will find it.

There are no alien gods, there are only misconceptions of the one God.

Be mindful when you read this; because this includes our misconceived notion of the God we pray to.

The gods of the Greeks and Romans, the gods of the Persians and Egyptians, the gods of all the nations, the God in all our Churches and temples, they are one.

All images of God are the stuff of idols, whether they are made of metal, of stone, of wood, or of words, whether they are painted on canvass, or merely colored in the mind; they are idols.

Know this, God speaks to us where we are, in the language we speak, in te language of the heart.

God calls all of Gods children to God’s self, no one id left out.

We are brothers and sisters to each other, sons and daughters, and the human family includes everyone.

Read this passage carefully. The central message is this:

Love your neighbor as yourself, this is the whole of the law.

This is a shortening of the Shema, and of Jesus’ Golden Rule, the whole of which reads; Love God with all your strength and all your heart and all you mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, do not do to them what you would not have done to you.

As clear as these rule are they can still be subject to misinterpretation, as anything that passes through our hands can be.

Be mindful of how you live this command, do not seek the destruction of your neighbor because you yourself wish to be destroyed.

Do not withhold care from the needy, because you do not wish to be cared for.

Be mindful.

The impetus for the rule is your commitment to serve God, to love God with all your strength, which means that you must be open and honest and forthright in your loving, just as God wishes you to be.

God does not live with us here in the world, we cannot show our love for God directly; by clothing God, or feeding God, or providing God with a place to rest.

That is why we are called to serve our neighbors and the stranger, and even those with whom we quarrel (especially them), because the divine dwells within their spirit, they are your brothers and sisters in Christ.

By serving them you serve God who sent them.

Remember this, always.

Listen!

The reward for your faithful service is peace, it is peace in this life, and the knowledge that you have lived well, acted justly, done good.

God has prepared you for eternity, but eternal life is not your reward for doing good and avoiding evil.

The Gospel reading for today gives us an example of just where the early church went astray, It was at the beginning, at the very-start we deviated from the teaching of Jesus, and the lived experience of the way he taught.

We are given the thoughts of Saint Peter to reflect on, Saint Peter the Rock, who would have us believe that he follows Jesus because Jesus has the secret message of eternal life, as if this were the purpose of the gospel as if believing that Jesus is the “Holy One of God” is the key to receiving the gift of eternal life.

That is a false construction; there is no secret, there is no key, there is only God’s plan for that was drafted in eternity.

We are asked to believe that God the Father parcels out access to Jesus, to the truth, to the reality of life everlasting, allowing some to come to it while refusing others. None of this scheme is true.

Listen!

Here is the gospel; God loves you, and you are saved. You are not saved for anything that you have done, you did not earn it, you are saved because God loves you.

There is no mystery, it is as simple as that.

The promise of salvation is not that you will be spared from suffering and torment in hell, or that when you are judged God will forgive you.

God has already forgiven you. You are already saved.

God has prepared you and everyone for eternal life.

Believe it!

Let the goodness of the promise flow through you now, and start living in the way as if it were true.

We are not called to believe in the idea that Jesus is this or that, the Holy One of God, we are called to act on the principles of his faith, to live lives of charity and service to each other.

Now!

Reflect on this passage from Luke.

Have some empathy for Jesus. The road that the prophet walks is a lonely road. Even those closest to him are rebuked, Jesus critiques them harshly, again and again, because they do not understand his mission.

Jesus has been out in the countryside, preaching outside Judea; he has been in the wider region of Palestine, and when he turns his eye toward Jerusalem, toward the completion of his mission the Samaritans reject him.

Jesus, who had opened his ministry to everyone, encounters the sectarianism he is working to dissolve. It is a sorrowful moment.

James and John, the “Sons of Thunder,” offer to rain destruction on the Samaritan village as a penalty to them.

Jesus rebukes them, they are his companions, they have been travelling with him for nearly three years, and they still do not understand the works of mercy he is engaged in.

Jesus then encounters a sequence of people who are all seemingly willing to follow him, but they are busy, they have obligations. For them the time is not now.

Jesus laments.

Little has changed for human beings since his time. The divine work that Christians have been commissioned to undertake; that work requires a full commitment, and the understanding that at its heart there must be mercy.

Mercy, this is the easiest thing of all to forget when you are angry, lonely, tired, hungry and feeling slighted.

Mercy is the basic disposition that all Christians have been instructed to foster.

First Reading – 1 Kings 19:16,19-21 ©

Elisha leaves the plough to follow Elijah

The Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go, you are to anoint Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel Meholah, as prophet to succeed you.’

 Leaving there, Elijah came on Elisha son of Shaphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being with the twelfth. Elijah passed near to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’ he said. Elijah answered, ‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you?’ Elisha turned away, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen, then gave to his men, who ate. He then rose, and followed Elijah and became his servant.

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11 ©

O Lord, it is you who are my portion.

Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.

  I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;

  it is you yourself who are my prize.’

O Lord, it is you who are my portion.

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,

  who even at night directs my heart.

I keep the Lord ever in my sight:

  since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;

  even my body shall rest in safety.

For you will not leave my soul among the dead,

  nor let your beloved know decay.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion.

You will show me the path of life,

  the fullness of joy in your presence,

  at your right hand happiness for ever.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion.

Second Reading – Galatians 5:1,13-18 ©

When Christ Freed Us, He Meant Us to Remain Free

When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. My brothers, you were called, as you know, to liberty; but be careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence. Serve one another, rather, in works of love, since the whole of the Law is summarised in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself. If you go snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, you had better watch or you will destroy the whole community.

Let me put it like this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you.

Gospel Acclamation – 1saiah 3:9, John 6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

The Gospel According to Luke 9:51-62 ©

Jesus Sets Out For Jerusalem

As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.

 

As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’

Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

The Table is Set - Editorial, The Week in Review

Analysis, Commentary, Opinion

06.29.2019

The Table is Set

I did not watch the Democratic Debates.

I rarely do.

I am more interested in the spin that follows, because that more than what is said on stage, determines public perception of the performance of the individuals.

Right now perception is everything.

Joe Biden looked shaky. I’m sure he is still plenty sharp but he clearly teeters when he is on the brink of a clutch moment. If you can get him going then he can flow a little bit, but before that he is slow, almost doddering. I wish he would sit down.

I wish old Bernie Sanders would sit down too, we don’t need either one of those dudes mucking it up in the oval office.

I have a growing respect for Elizabeth Warren, but on the whole I find her preparedness bothersome. She has a plan for everything but someone needs to quote Mike Tyson to her.

Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face.

I don’t want anyone to punch Elizabeth in the face, but she is going to take a lot of metaphorical blows during the race, and I doubt whether or not she will be able to respond.

Planning isn’t everything.

I like Kamala Harris, I like the sound of her voice. I like the look in her eye.

Kamala can speak with conviction directly from her experience, no-one needs to inform her of what it is like to a woman, or a brown skinned person.

She knows.

I want that experience back in the white house. I think she would be a good president.

The race for the Democratic nomination is in motion, the table is set.

I hope the best one wins.

Prayer

Listen to my prayer, hear it echoing in the dark chamber of my heart

Take me from this island, free my shadow beneath a shower of light

Listen to the music, the harmony of the spheres, the rolling wave beneath the tranquil sea

Remember me, the forgotten, the poetry of Anonymous

The greatest philosopher who never was, the poet of graffiti artists

Pray for the travelers, trudging through this life, marching forward with their doubts

Listen to the forsaken, the wailing of the self-defeated, stretched and thin

Enlightenment reaches everyone, in the end; like the sun-going super nova, small comfort

Pray for the release of the captive, the deliverance of the addict, I pray for you

Say a prayer for me, for mercy on the sinner, broken from the first breath I drew

Pray, as I pray for you

Emergence 4.0 - Part Four, Kathy; Chapter Twenty-three, Prodigy

Week 25

Kathy loved jokes. Humor was a relief to her and she was a funny child.

Comedy is the art of the unexpected and of the surprise, Kathy loved it when she could suspend disbelief for a moment, allowing herself to be taken at unawares.

It was a departure from her normal mode of being.

Her laughter was the first unusual thing that her parents noticed about her, a trait which distinguished her from other children, it alerted them to the fact that she was different, because her laughter was different, it was mature, knowing, it seemed to come from a place beyond the tiny physical body of an infant.

Even as a baby she picked up on the punch lines of jokes. She delighted in them in her infancy. The fed her spirit, they were like water to a thirsty woman. She understood the spoken words, the inferences that were made and shared between adults. She understood and could follow their exchanges months before she had learned to speak.

It was unnerving to anybody who witnessed it, therefore her sense of humor became one of the first expressive traits that Kathy learned to conceal, it was an act of social alienation and self-abnegation.

Laughter is like crying, it is a free and open mode of communication, it is non-verbal and honest.

Kathy had to deny herself that, she had to keep it in check.

The laughing person is vulnerable, and Kathy had to learn to hide that vulnerability, withdrawing inside herself, to share her mirth with her ancestors only, and the other ghosts lingering in the outer-world.

Kathy was as quiet as she was observant. She learned to watch and ask questions of the voices within her.

It was better this way, for her it was better.

She also took joy in the acquisition of knowledge, the analytical skills she was developing were more astute, but she also found that asking questions, the types of questions she asked set her parents and teachers on edge.

As a baby, she did not flit about randomly like infants and toddlers do. She was not easily distracted or delighted by the things that most babies are delighted by.

She was a strange child.

Her introspection was so extreme that in those first months of life her parents thought she might be developmentally disabled. They had no way of knowing that in those moments she was communing with the voices of her ancestors. 

She was focused, balanced, and cautious. The evidence of her determinative spirit showed clearly through everything she did.

She repeated sounds and gestures in patterns that quickly became noticeable to her parents. The subtleties of her personality, the things they had thought were the ticks of autism, were in fact her measured and purposeful quest to learn.

Kathy was motivated by a deep desire to communicate, to be understood.

While she had the cognitive ability to speak, nearly from the day she was born, she did not have the motor skills to form words, those took time to develop. 

She trained herself, quickening the pace by which she would learn to walk, and talk, and she would not be stopped.

Her parents had no desire to get in her way.

In the days when they were still figuring out what their child was doing, if they were to interrupt her or try to redirect her, they would see the flash of anger in her eyes.

This was not the helpless rage of an infant wailing.

It was the anger of a fully formed person who would not be deterred from her path.

She was a frightening child.

Her parents were concerned for her wellbeing and her safety, both.

Kathy was crawling within weeks of being born, and walking within a few short months. In her private moments she was flexing her muscles, gaining strength, and tuning her body to obey her thoughts.

The voices within her guided her. Through repetition and diligence, she gained control of her limbs, she developed dexterity, and coordination.

By her first birthday she was dancing. 

Kathy practiced and practiced in the quiet moments of her day.

At night, in the dark, while her parents slept.

She did not speak a word until she was speaking in complete sentences. Her vocal muscles were the most difficult to master.

She practiced her breathing, she spoke to herself when she thought no one was watching.

She listened to the conversations happening all around her, the dialog without and within.

She knew that her parents were concerned about her.

Every person they ever brought to meet her told them how strange she was. Kathy tried to make things easier on them, but she was not always able to hide the things that she was doing, and she could not control her feelings.

The glands that produced the hormones and chemicals which formed the wetwork of the human emotional spectrum, they required a much greater level of discipline and measures of time to control.   

The direction for her exercises came from deep within herself. From her ancestors, and from her intimate link to the cynergenic field.

In the nous-sphere Kathy communed with those who were not directly linked to her heredity. She was connected to the assembled masters of every tradition, they instructed her in physical disciplines, martial disciplines, cognitive disciplines, the full scope of human knowledge was accessible to her. They guided her and focused her, kept her calm, allowing her to see her own life and experiences in the context of the collective experiences swelling within her.

She discovered a sense of belonging in the world through the interior of her mind.

She formed plans spontaneously, in order to realize her goals, her powerful mind operating beyond the limits of time and space, and then she had to slow everything down, to allow her body time to make the adjustments she was preparing it for.

It was excruciating, she wanted nothing more than to allow her mind to drift away, to leave the cares of the flesh behind, but when she felt that way, the chorus would rise within her, reminding her that she had a purpose to fulfill.

She had to prepare, be quiet, discreet, not draw attention to herself she developed her physical strength, and the strength of her mind.

She took pride in her accomplishments, they were a source of great esteem.

Kathy could shut the outside world off and retreat into the recesses of her interior life, But she could not escape from the voices within, they were always with her. She might ignore them for a time, but she could not depart from them, and even if she died, she knew that she would remain with them, as with all people, a shadow of herself imprinted on the cynergenic field.

Kathy followed the path of discipline, to protect herself from the world and from what was inside her, both.

Whatever her parents tried to teach her, Kathy took to with ease, despite the moment by moment challenges she endured in dealing with her atavistic connection to the past.

Nevertheless she was still a child, she had ordinary instincts, she wanted to belong to her parents, and for them to belong to her.

She wanted to please them, make them smile, watch them laugh. She did not like it when the things she said or did, or did not do, disturbed them.

Kathy mastered complex tasks without effort.

She had to learn, to pretend to learn from her parents and the adults around her.

This was one of the things that put her parents at ease. It was often the case that they would propose to show her how to do something, like tie her shoes, and she would just do it without thinking because the voices within her supplied her with the method.

This unnerved her parents, she had to learn to slow down and hide these things, even pretend to make mistakes so that they could correct her.

This was an exercise in conformity.

She struggled with the skill of blending in, with hiding her differences.

Her parents came to accept the fact that Kathy was pretending. They could tell because she was not good at it, and also because she would almost always shift to a pattern of action that was better, more efficient, quicker, more streamlined than what they had taught her.

For Kathy to get along she learned to be silent, to listen, to wait, to let the others fail. She had to be content that she knew the answers and had to resist the temptation to seek the reward of praise.

She practiced quietude.

She would not assert herself. She did everything she could to divert attention, seeking only the private recognition of her teachers.

She could not insert herself into the activities of her peers (she had none), she could not correct them, or provide the right answer to problems that were proposed in public settings to her classmates.

She learned to experience success as a personal matter, only harkening to the applause that came from within.

She turned in flawless work.

She reacted negatively to her teachers when they tried to highlight her talents, her knowledge and skills.

This was difficult for her.

Like any child she loved praise, and she had to force herself to eschew it.

More than praise from her teachers, she wanted friends

The other children in class with her, did not like her, they did not like the way she looked at them, or the way she looked through them.

They knew intuitively that she was beyond them

She was alien.

Kathy was unique.

She felt other.

She was different from every human being on the planet, different from all who had ever been.

She embodied the full scope of human potential and its actual realization in time.

She was unique in all the universe, she was born that way.

She was still young when she realized the differences that distinguished her from everyone else she had ever met. She had known empirically that this was the case. Her ancestors within her had said as much, and that estimation was confirmed by the voices of the entities she encountered in the nous-sphere, in Earth’s cynergenic field. Nevertheless, Kathy succumbed to a basic human tendency, which was to assume that the people she encountered were like her, that they shared a common point of view or perspective on the things and events they were witnessing.  

Understanding her differences did not help her manage her feelings, or those of anyone else. She had difficulties.

She knew that it was not her responsibility to control what other people felt. Whether they choose to be in a relationship with her, like her teachers, or whether, like her parents, the role had been thrust on them. 

People were afraid of her.

They either wanted to run away from her, or to exploit her.

Some people simply wanted to examine her, run experiments on her as if she was a laboratory animal.

Her parents were afraid of her, and afraid for her.

They were simultaneously proud of her, and ashamed that they had brought her into the world.

The people who cared for her knew that she suffered, but they could do little about it, some tried to comfort her, most did so only as a convenience to themselves.

Emergence 4.0

Section Four, Kathy

Part Twenty-three, Prodigy

A Novel – In One Chapter Per Week

#Emergence #ShortFiction #365SciFi #OneChapterPerWeek

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A Homily - The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – Zechariah 12:10-11,13:1 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-9 ©

Second Reading – Galatians 3:26-29 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 8:12

Alternative Acclamation – John 10:27

The Gospel According to Luke 9:18-24 ©

 (NJB)

Be mindful!

Zechariah the false prophet is a nationalist, he is a jingoistic liar.

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a God of war and battle. God does not intervene in human affairs, or conflicts. God does not appoint kings, neither does God show favor to some of God’s children over and against others.

These are the machinations of men, they are fantasies of folly, we must abandon them.

God is loving, God is just, and God is good.

Listen!

It is right to thank God, the creator of the universe for all the good things that come our way.

It is right and good to give thanks, but do not blame God for the hardships we suffer in this life.

The good and the bad come to us irrespective of who we are, what we do or have done or who we might become.

There is no plan it. God is no respecter of persons, and does not love anyone of God’s children more than God loves any other.

Praise God and give thanks for the good things that come our way, but do not dwell on the bad, allow those to pass.

There is peace to be had in practice of patience, in the comfort of contemplation, meditation and prayer.

Make your life a constant prayer, pray for the grace which comes from God and brings peace to the spirit.

Let the peace of God within you bubble up like a fountain, let it overflow so that other’s may quench their thirst and be nourished by it

Remember.

We are the children of God simply because we are. God, the creator of the universe is parent to everyone.

Our faith in God, our faith in the way that Jesus preached, the trust we place in the divine, that trust frees us to transcend our place in the world, it erases the distinctions between rich and poor, between male and female, between the priest and the lay person

We are all in the way, and the way does not exclude anyone. We are all moving inexorably toward God, the divine source of all being.

Trust in that, it is God’s plan for creation.

Keep this in your heart.

The sheep do not choose the shepherd, but rather the shepherd chooses the sheep.

God is the shepherd in whom all that is comes to be, it is to God that everything belongs.

There is just the one shepherd; just the one sheepfold, and whether it make sense to us or not, it is to that shepherd that we all belong.

Listen for the voice of the shepherd, and do not trouble yourself with how the shepherd speaks to you, in what language, in what text, through your sister or your brother, from the mouth of your neighbor or the stranger you encounter.

God, the shepherd is speaking to them to, and they are listening as they are able (or willing), God will speak through them to you. Listen as you are able, be willing..

Everyone that is, everyone who has ever been or ever will be, everyone without exception follows the way of God, there is no other way. Do not trouble yourself if you do not understand the journey that another person is on, God is guiding them, as God is guiding you.

If you resist, God will be patient, God will wait for you, as God waits for everyone, be thankful for this and pray that you can emulate the patience of God.

God the shepherd, God is love, and love is patient as love is kind.

Be kind to one another, be kind to yourself.

Have faith. God will not lose a single one of us. Neither will any one of us lose God, no matter what; God is with us.

Listen!

Jesus lived among us and taught by word and deed. He never wrote a thing.

He gave us the spoken word, the oral command “love one another, as I have loved you.” He told us in the simplest of terms that this is the whole of the law, and the only way to serve God.

He went to his death as an exemplification of this rule.

It is the only rule that really matters.

He spoke in parables, but there was no mystery in them. He spoke plainly, and he spoke true.

This was the source of the power in his teaching. That is why he shook the world.

In the generations that followed him, the message became contorted, and distorted it came to take on the trappings of the false prophet Zechariah whose words we encountered at the beginning of today’s readings.

The story of his life became distorted by myths, tales of power.

It was not enough to tell the truth as Jesus himself told it, they had to make him into a King, the Christ, Kyrios, the anointed one, a prophet like his predecessor John, or the hero Elijah, a mysterious figure pre-figured in arcane literature, in the Books of Enoch; they cast him as the Son of Man, and exalted figure, and more…he became known as the Son of God, and even as God’s own self, dwelling amongst us in the flesh.

That is the trajectory of the propaganda that dogged the story of Jesus of Nazareth, replacing the real with the fantastic and surreal.

Jesus was a man, he taught us about the good and the just, he instructed us in the demands of love.

We should honor the truths that he spoke to so eloquently, we should honor him by seeing him for who he truly was; a human being like the rest of us, a role-model we should aspire to.

First Reading – Zechariah 12:10-11,13:1 ©

They Will Look on the One Whom they Have Pierces

It is the Lord who speaks: ‘Over the House of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour out a spirit of kindness and prayer. They will look on the one whom they have pierced; they will mourn for him as for an only son, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child. When that day comes, there will be great mourning in Judah, like the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. When that day comes, a fountain will be opened for the House of David and the citizens of Jerusalem, for sin and impurity.’

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-9 ©

For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.

O God, you are my God, for you I long;

  for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

  like a dry, weary land without water.

For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.

So I gaze on you in the sanctuary

  to see your strength and your glory.

For your love is better than life,

  my lips will speak your praise.

For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.

So I will bless you all my life,

  in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,

  my mouth shall praise you with joy.

For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.

For you have been my help;

  in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.

My soul clings to you;

  your right hand holds me fast.

For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.

Second Reading – Galatians 3:26-29 ©

All Baptised in Christ, You Have All Clothed Yourselves in Christ

You are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised.

Gospel Acclamation – John 8:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;

anyone who follows me will have the light of life.

Alleluia!

Alternative Acclamation – John 10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

The Gospel According to Luke 9:18-24 ©

'You Are the Christ of God'

One day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ And they answered, ‘John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to life.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ It was Peter who spoke up. ‘The Christ of God’ he said. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this.

‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’

Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.’

 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)