Thirty-first Sunday. Year B - Sunday, October 31, 2021 (EPISODE:329)

 

Thirty-first Sunday. Year B - Sunday, October 31, 2021
(EPISODE:329)

Readings for Thirty-first Sunday. Year B
FIRST READING: Deut 6: 2-6
Ps 18: 2-3a, 3b-4, 47+51. "I love you, Lord, my strength. "
SECOND READING: Heb 7: 23-28
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (John 14: 23). Alleluia, alleluia! All who love me will keep my words, and my Father will love them and we will come to them.
GOSPEL: Mark 12: 28b-34

Image Credit: Shutterstock ID: 2038984640 - crucifix hanging on a  wall with words the greatest of these is love - By Kara Gebhardt
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for Thirty-first Sunday. Year B - Sunday, October 31, 2021, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-31st-sunday-ordinary-b-episode-329?si=776b93b2cfc34501a881133d7fd36f08  
(EPISODE:329)
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* (Prologue:  Fr Paul Kelly)
In the Bible, and particularly by the time of Our Lord's ministry on earth, there were literally hundreds and hundreds of rules, practices, regulations and observances for a faithful Jewish Person to try to keep. If one wanted to be considered "at rights with God" then they were expected by the experts of their day, to observe each of the many rules, laws, and practices set down. Not only were there the Ten Commandments, but also there were many extra detailed rules and regulations to keep. This included requirements relating to ritual cleanliness.

So, we are all extremely fortunate that Our Lord summed up all of God's Law and the message of the Prophets in two simple commandments, which are really different sides of the one coin: Love God and love neighbour.

This also means, we actually SHOW our love for God by HOW we show love and concern, care, mercy and compassion for our neighbour {and the way we would like to be treated ourselves if we found ourselves in the same situations as our neighbour).

The complete gospel is this…… love of God, and love of neighbour as our self…… and the common denominator to both parts is "love." The meaning and heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ… is LOVE….. To be people of love…. People Who act lovingly… to everyone…(even those who do not wish us well, or who do us wrong). .. and we act in and through love because we are relating to God whose very nature is love itself……

Our Sunday worship is a deeply mysterious and sacramental expression of our weekday lives…… and our weekday lives must be an application of what we proclaim and express on Sunday….

However, this is not meant to create in us a sense of perfectionism…… we all can fall short of our basic belief in our own ability to walk the path of holiness….   And we might, at times, fail to recognise the holiness of those with whom we meet and work and live …… We can all fall into the trap of not practically applying the principles we do truly believe in and strive to live…. But again, that is what is so beautiful about Jesus command today….. Love……. It is not about driving ourselves with mechanical intensity, to treat others like we would treat God, or else we've failed……. It is about loving ourselves and being gentle on ourselves, and allowing that love and gentleness to flow out to all around us….. allowing God to instil that loving attitude in us, with our cooperation……. If we fall short, it is love, and not harshness that is there to put us on our feet again……… because the goal is not about grabbing the crown of victory, it is about growing into the most loving person we can be; and being completely united to God, who is the true source of all love.
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(Homily:  Fr Peter Dillon).
31^st Sunday Ordinary Time Year B 2021

Why is it that the instruction of Jesus to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and your neighbour as yourself sounds such a simple, yet is so difficult to practice? One might wonder why Jesus found it necessary to link the two when it would be so much easier to proclaim that we should love God. We seem to do this so often in our prayers, at mass and most passionately when we are facing a crisis. It sometimes seems that we are repeating our profession of love so often, that we might be wondering has God forgotten our love and therefore might forget us. Well, that's never going to happen. It's probably the only thing our omnipotent God can't do, to stop loving and caring for us. So why the added instruction to love our neighbour? What good does it do us, we, who are so busy loving God so much.
Even though we have known this instruction since the time of Christ, we have never quite comprehended that the two aspects can never really be separated. One doesn't really make sense without the other. Essentially Jesus is saying that to claim to do one without the other is only living half the command. Of course, it is much more comfortable to tell God of our love and dedication, but Jesus made no promise of the love of God being comfortable. In fact, there are times when he alludes to it being a demanding life of service and self-denial focussing far beyond our own circle of family and friends.

Even if we think that we have grasped the concept of what it means to love God, then we have the dilemma of deciding who my neighbour is and who is deserving of my generosity of service. It is interesting to note at this point that Jesus does not say we should be serving our neighbour, but we should be loving them as much as we love ourselves. That presumes that we first have a healthy and generous love of self, one that ensures that we provide ourselves with life's necessities, like security, nourishment and companionship. This is where the commandment starts to get quite difficult.

This is not a new teaching from Jesus, since it was already part of the Jewish creed. When asked what was the essence of the Jewish law, the teacher Hillel said, "What you hate for yourself, do not to your neighbour – the rest is commentary".

So how can we really learn to follow these teachings that seem to be beyond our capabilities?  Perhaps the closest examples of living these compound commandments can be found in the lives of the saints. Where their love of God seems to spring from their comprehension that it is not a true love of God which does not express itself in the love of neighbour. They do not allow the love of ritual to take the place of love. I'm not referring to "perfect people" but to those people who have flirted with sin and then have realised they have a long way to go. Those who have not looked for God in the sky or merely in the sanctuary of the Church, but have seen him sitting in the gutter right outside the church. Perhaps our greatest neglect is not that we don't love our neighbours, it's that we don't really know them or want to. Our shyness, our suspicion, our sense of safety can convince us that it is necessary to sometimes avoid our neighbour. Sure, we'll help them if we see them falling over in the street, but it seems to be going too far to actively seek them out when they might be too proud to ask for help, or worse when they won't thank you for coming to their aid. It's perhaps a sad reflection on our times that the closer we live together in our cities and suburbs, the further we try to remove ourselves from the lives of others, which makes the application of the two laws outlined today seem so much more difficult.

And if we do put ourselves out for the stranger or the person in need what thanks to we get? What if they come back for more? Therein lies the dilemma for all of us. Does God only believe in our love when he sees how we serve those who don't yet know him?

We would do well to remember the wise words of Mark Twain who said that one of the nicest things that can happen to a person is to do good by stealth and be found out by accident.
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References:

Homily – fr peter Dillon

Prologue - Fr Paul W. Kelly

McCarthy, Flor. 1984. Sunday & Holyday Liturgies Cycle B. Dublin: Dominican.


Image Credit: Shutterstock ID: 2038984640 - crucifix hanging on a  wall with words the greatest of these is love - By Kara Gebhardt
Thirty-first Sunday. Year B  (Sunday, October 31, 2021)  (EPISODE:329)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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{{Joy and peace to everyone}} welcome everyone, we gather -  Listen to God's Word and contemplate the sacraments. 

As one family in Christ, let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries by calling to mind our sins. 

Lord Jesus, you healed the sick: Lord, have mercy//Lord Jesus, you forgave sinners: Christ, have mercy//Lord Jesus, you give us yourself to heal us and bring us strength: Lord, have mercy.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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Ps 18: 2-3a, 3b-4, 47+51. "I love you, Lord, my strength. "

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (John 14: 23). Alleluia, alleluia! All who love me will keep my words, and my Father will love them and we will come to them.
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PREFACE: Sundays VIII
Various Occasions 4
(theme variation: 1 )

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{Thank you for giving generously of  your time and prayer.}

Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

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Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to our weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here:  https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by sending an email to this address: paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul Kelly

Prayers and chants  — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)

Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009,  The Grail - Collins publishers.

Prayers of the Faithful -   " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'.   E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).

Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -  By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.

- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of William John (Bill) Kelly (1942-2017) -  Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

"Quiet Time."  Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.

- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly.  Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer.  Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

Sound Engineering and editing -  P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - RODE-NT-usb-mini

Editing equipment:    NCH software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software

NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44

Sound Processing:  iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor

[ Production -  KER -  2021]

May God bless and keep you.
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