Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, August 27, 2023 (EPISODE-436)

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, August 27, 2023 (EPISODE-436)

Readings for Sunday, August 27, 2023 - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A
FIRST READING: Isa 22:19-23 (diff)
Ps 138:1-2a, 2b-3, 6+8. "Lord, your love is eternal, do not forsake the work of your hands."
SECOND READING: Rom 11:33-36
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 16:18). Alleluia, alleluia! You are Peter, the rock on which I will build my Church. The gates of hell will not hold out against it.
GOSPEL: Matt 16:13-20

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Photo ID: 1937348614 - Tabgha, Galilee, Israel January 27, 2020: Interior Church of the Primacy of Peter, Tabgha, Sea of Galilee. Built in 1933 including parts of a 4th Century church. Mensa Christi is Table of Christ- Editorial Use Only.- Photo Contributor: DyziO
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers, and homily), for Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, August 27, 2023, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-twenty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-episode-436  (EPISODE-436)
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GOSPEL THIS WEEKEND
[' gospel' values included in the readings: God loves Justice, God's wisdom and thinking are beyond full human understanding, Our Lord is the Christ, the Son of God" – and it would be quite true to say that the Christian Faith is very wary about reducing the dignity of a human person only to mere labels.  We are all, ultimately, gift and mystery] {FHL}
 
In the Gospel Our Lord gives St Peter, the first amongst the apostles, the keys to the Kingdom.  
 
Our Lord builds his church on the solid rock of the profession of faith that Peter makes and that we all make.  
 
The church is BUILT upon the solid foundation of the profession of faith: "Our Lord is the Messiah, the Christ, the chosen one. Our Lord IS the Son of God who shows us what God is like. Our Lord is the one who forgives our sins and sacrifices his life so that we may be saved. That we may be restored to God's house. Our Lord is the one who invites us to share in God's gifts and promises, and if we accept, we become Our Lord's brothers and sisters. We become Our Lord's disciples and children of God - Part of God's family forever.
 
WHO AM I? …. Asks Our Lord of his disciples……… Who do you say I Am??????  
 
A person cannot be reduced to a mere sum of the characteristics you can use to describe them……. Who a person is cannot be summed up merely by titles they may have. Every person, not least of Our Lord himself, is a mystery and an encounter. Our Lord must be encountered as a person before one can understand him as a figure of doctrine and belief.  
 
Surely one of the most common things humans try to do to each other, which may be the most unfair thing we can do, is to try to reduce people to mere categories and labels. It may be convenient and reassuring, but it is also fraught with risk for us to attempt to file human beings into neat boxes or categories so that we can understand them, feel not threatened by them, or even worse, to control or subdue them. TO 'LABEL' ANOTHER PERSON  
 
Whilst that may sometimes be helpful for practicality, it reduces the mystery, complexity, and dignity of a human being into clichés, stereotypes, and labels. When we reduce a person to a label or a category, this can poorly replace dealing with the real person in favour of dealing with safe labels, generalisations, and assumptions about a person that are a pale shadows of who they really are. Sometimes, these reductions may do them grave injustice and be quite unlike who they are.  
 
Our jobs are important to us, but who we are is much more than our job. Who we are is more than what we have achieved in life. Who a person is, is much more than what they are good at doing or capable of doing. Even how we look and what we possess is not really the core of our identity. And when we rely too much on any one of those qualities (not that some aren't important), but if we make one or a few qualities the sum-total of what makes us "US," then we can run into troubles…and our view can become seriously distorted.  
 
If my job is everything I am, one day, I might lose that job. Who am I, then? I am not "nothing"! If my reputation is important, and for all of us to a great degree, it is very important, but if it is absolutely everything, it can be tarnished (it can be wrongly taken away for us, or it can rightly be taken away from us). But, if who I am is all about what I can do, my abilities, my health… One day these things might fail me too. But WE ARE still very much something in God's eyes and in the eyes of those who love and know us truly.  
 
No, who we ARE, it MUST be something much deeper than the various qualities and abilities that make up our lives.  
 
Ultimately, who we are truly, is something that time or situation can never take away. The full truth of who we really are is that we are beloved sons and daughters of our loving God, who loves us more than we could possibly understand, and who calls us into the fullness of life and union with Him. And Jesus calls us into the right relationship with everyone around us.  
 
Who is this person, Our Lord????
 
EACH person MUST DISCOVER the meaning and nature of Our Lord themselves, with the help of the Church and its more than two thousand years of tradition and experience. There is no substitute for personally encountering Our Lord as Christ in the Scriptures, in the Sacraments, in our personal prayer life, in the teachings of the church, and in writings of wise and holy men and women of the Church's history and reflecting on his presence and action in our daily lives and actions.  
 
More is needed than to obtain merely (or only) the Pre-packaged doctrines about Our Lord. However, these doctrines are important and tell us much about Our Lord, his nature and mission, and the divine love at the centre of his mission, values, and priorities. The thing is, Our Lord is always going to be much more than just the things we say about him…
 
Who Our Lord IS, is about encountering God (and that encounter with God occurs in a relationship and is not merely an intellectual exercise. That is, knowing Jesus is not just an exercise of the mind) … It is about encountering Christ and his good news in our lives, in the people we meet, and in ourselves… and our life story.  
 
Perhaps the second reading holds the Key. In it, Saint Paul reminds us that, although there is much we can and need to know and search for about our understanding of Our Lord and God in general, God is much more than we could ever truly comprehend in this life.  
 
God has many knowable aspects, but infinitely more aspects of God's nature and thoughts are beyond our human comprehension. But here is what makes that wonderful. That also can be said of every human being too. Even if you know them very well, the person sitting next to you is (still) a gift and a mystery. They cannot truly be reduced to a list of facts about them or a description of characteristics and traits. They are much, much more than the mere sum of their parts. They are deeper and more than just their past ways of relating and behaving. We are a mystery. And God is an infinite mystery. It is surely disrespectful and an error to take for granted anyone (reducing them merely to a set of labels and minimal characteristics! And how much more does that principle apply to the God of all heaven and earth?   
 
And it is not as much about knowing more but rather about engaging respectfully and with awe with this divine mystery. We jump into the deep and have ongoing prayer, reflection, listening, dialogue, and discussion… and encounter the unfolding events of each day….
 
Christ reminds us that it is all really about a loving relationship. It is so much less about categorisation and definitions. Relationship with God; relationship with each other; relationship with who we truly are ourselves.  This is an ongoing, never-ending journey…
 
Each one of us is called upon to reflect personally on Our Lord's question: "Who do YOU say I am?"
 
Our Lord means absolutely everything to us as Christians.  
Not only do we truly admire him as a person, but we also love his message of inclusion, mercy, justice and unconditional love and reverence. We love Our Lord's offer of welcome to all people.  
 
We adore the way Jesus always put people first. We worship the Heavenly Father's "law of love" in its proper perspective: as a lifegiving source of giving, for the benefit and help of all humans. God's law was never meant to be used as a millstone around the neck of others.  
 
We love the fact that Our Lord is God who has become human - one just like us, because this makes humanity and the physical world, blessed, holy, and sacred.  
 
We are in absolute awe of the fact that Our Lord is so sensitive and protective of every one of his Heavenly Father's children that he even goes as far as to say: "I regard that what you do to even the least of these little ones, you are doing it to me personally!"  
 
And so, Our Lord throws over his powerful cloak of protection, care and inclusion over each and every one of us. This is beyond measure. It is too wonderful to comprehend fully.  
 
Jesus is the perfect revelation of what God is truly like. He powerfully shows us how God acts towards us and what God feels towards each of us.  Jesus even shows us how God really treats us when we sin, stray from the path of life, or turn away and endanger our lives. And this is very good news indeed.  
 
We not only worship Jesus as the Son of God and our Messiah but also admire him and like him as Teacher, mentor, friend, and Lord.  
 
Can we ever really get our fill of the still fresh and challenging message (after over two thousand years) found in his words, parables, and actions? I believe (like Peter) we haven't even begun to comprehend the radicality of his message. Although we have already begun to apply it very deeply in our lives and attitudes, we are only just starting to explore its rich depths.   
 
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References:
 
Fr Paul W. Kelly
 
Break Open the Word. Liturgical Commission. 2011.
 
Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Photo ID: 1937348614 - Tabgha, Galilee, Israel January 27, 2020: Interior Church of the Primacy of Peter, Tabgha, Sea of Galilee. Built in 1933 including parts of a 4th Century church. Mensa Christi is Table of Christ- Editorial Use Only.- Photo Contributor: DyziO
 
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A (Sunday, August 27, 2023) (EPISODE-436)

The Lord be with you.
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{{Goodness and faithfulness to you all}}

Brothers and sisters, the Lord is full of love and mercy. And so, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us acknowledge our sins.
Lord Jesus, you are mighty God and Prince of peace. Lord have mercy// You are Son of God and the Son of Mary. Christ have mercy// You are Word made flesh, the splendour of the Father. 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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Ps 138:1-2a, 2b-3, 6+8. "Lord, your love is eternal, do not forsake the work of your hands."

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 16:18). Alleluia, alleluia! Let your face shine on your servant. And teach me your laws

Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary IV
Euch prayer III
Communion side:

(theme variation: full)

(pre+post variation: v2-long)
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{I pray this week brings you an ever deeper expereience of his compassion and love.}

Go forth, the Mass is ended.

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

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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 Kelly - 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: - Shure MV5 Digital Condenser (USB)

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 - 2023]
May God bless and keep you.
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