First Reading – Genesis
18:1-10 ©
Responsorial Psalm –
Psalm 14(15):2-5 ©
Second Reading –
Colossians 1:24-28 ©
Gospel Acclamation – Acts
16:14
Alternative Acclamation –
Luke 8:15
The Gospel According to
Luke – 10:38 - 42 ©
(NJB)
Be careful how you read the scriptures and
remember that God, the creator of the universe, remember that God is not a God
of flesh and blood. God does not eat flesh, drink milk, eat bread or drink
water.
The narrative from Genesis is a metaphor, as are all of the myths of the patriarchs.
Remember this also, The scriptures are always
asking us to do this simple deed; treat the strangers who come to your land as
if they were God, treat them as you would if Jesus appeared at your door.
Treat them well, treat them kindly, honor them
as if they were your closest friends and dearest family.
Honor them as if they were God, do it, because
God dwells within them.
When you consider the scripture for today keep
this in mind:
The future is not set, God has made each of us
and the whole of creation free.
God is a God of law and order. God does not
interfere or intervene in the lives of God’s children, God did not cause Sarah
to become pregnant, god did not restore life to a barren womb.
There is another story being told here, pray
that you may discern it.
Read
every Psalm with the knowledge of
this in your heart:
All of God’s children are welcomed home.
God forgets no-one and loves us all; God loves
each and every one of us.
God, creator of the universe, God already
dwells in the heart of every person; where God is present, God is present fully,
and a just life is its own reward
The just and the unjust are loved by God in
equal measure.
If we become the servant of one another out of
love, and through a great undertaking, such as the organization of a charity, a
mission or a church, and because of our efforts we find that we must endure some
extent of suffering, as regrettable as it might be, this is type of suffering
is not a bad thing..
If we are persecuted, or beaten for speaking
the truth, it is not a bad thing, it is a sad thing, but it is good.
It is good to stand for the rights and dignity
of others, even if you are persecuted for it.
This is what the Apostle is preaching:
We should not seek out suffering, suffering
for its own sake is not a good in itself.
If you are persecuted for following the way,
taken advantage of for doing something good; know this, the good thing is done
and the way is intact.
There is a blessing in that.
Remember!
God
dwells in the heart of every person, God speaks to us from there, and God
listens.
God
is with you.
Let
us repeat this message because it cannot be said often enough.
Doing good is its own reward:
Seek justice.
Love mercy.
Speak the truth
Be good to people, be kind and patient no
matter who you are dealing with.
Do unto others what you would have them do
unto you.
Love God with all your strength and all your
heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
This is the whole of the law.
Be mindful!
We
all have work to do. For those of us who live with our families, or near them,
or if we have friends who are a close to us as any family’ with whom we have
shared responsibilities, there is work to do.
There
is work to do every day; in maintaining a business or a household.
There
is cooking, there is cleaning, there are chores that never end.
In
the midst of all that work there is who we are; who we are as individual people
with individual needs. Our personal needs have many facets; there are material
needs, there are emotional needs, there are intellectual needs, and there are
spiritual needs.
Our
needs are unique to us as individuals, there are few of them that we can meet
on our own, we are intended to meet them in relationship to one another.
Most
of us are good at meeting our material needs; food, clothing, shelter, those
things are dialed in (for most of us). Our intellectual needs can be met in
conversation, or through reading a book. Meeting our emotional needs can be a
little more difficult, because it requires that we have other people around us
whom we trust, that we can relate to.
The
most difficult resource to find is that of a genuine spiritual teacher.
Our
spiritual life has direct links to the other modes of our life; this is to acknowledge
the truth that we can find some spiritual satisfaction in a good meal, a good
conversation, or a deep emotional connection.
Those
things can also be exploited; overdone, so as to inure us to our actual
spiritual state.
When
the true spiritual teacher is present to us, that is time for us to receive and
take the light for ourselves, for our understanding and our illumination.
It
requires mindfulness, and perception to recognize this.
It
requires will and determination to act on it.
It
requires perceptivity and awareness.
It
requires humility and openness, and a willingness to be loved.
First Reading – Genesis 18:1-10
©
'Next Year Your Wife
Sarah Will Have a Son'
The
Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the
entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and
there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from
the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he
said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by.
A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the
tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going
further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied,
‘Do as you say.’
Abraham
hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of
flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and
tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking
cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate
while he remained standing near them under the tree.
‘Where
is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his
guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will
then have a son.’
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm
14(15):2-5 ©
The just will live in the
presence of the Lord.
Lord,
who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
He
who walks without fault;
he
who acts with justice
and
speaks the truth from his heart;
he
who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in the
presence of the Lord.
He
who does no wrong to his brother,
who
casts no slur on his neighbour,
who
holds the godless in disdain,
but
honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in the
presence of the Lord.
He
who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who
takes no interest on a loan
and
accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such
a man will stand firm for ever.
The just will live in the
presence of the Lord.
Second Reading – Colossians
1:24-28 ©
A Mystery Hidden for Generations
has Been Revealed to God's Saints
It
makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to
do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the
sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made
me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a
mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his
saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich
glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of
glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we
thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.
Gospel Acclamation – Acts
16:14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open
our heart, O Lord,
to
accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Alternative Acclamation –
Luke 8:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed
are those who,
with
a noble and generous heart,
take
the word of God to themselves
and
yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
The Gospel According to
Luke – 10:38 - 42 ©
Martha Works; Mary Listens
Jesus
came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She
had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking.
Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care
that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her
to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and
fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary
who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’
16th Sunday in
Ordinary Time (Year C)
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