Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. -Year B - Sunday, 15 September 2024 (EPISODE:496)
Image - Shutterstock licensed - ID:47848003 - Saint Peter - By Zvonimir Atletic
Readings for Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.- Year B
FIRST READING: Isa 50:4-9a
Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9. "I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living."
SECOND READING: Jas 2:14-18
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Gal 6:14). Alleluia, alleluia! My only glory is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which crucifies the world to me and me to the world.
GOSPEL: Mark 8:27-35
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Please listen to the audio-recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year B - Sunday, 15 September 2024 - by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-24th-sunday-ordinary-time-year-b-episode-496/s-Z6k7b9x2WS8
(EPISODE:496)
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Prologue: "You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." (Mark 8:33)
This weekend in the readings, we are reminded that our faith must show itself in ACTION, and flow into good works. And in the gospel, Our Lord reminds us that following him is not about self-interest, but about denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following him, in HIS ways of service, sacrifice and compassion. No wonder the three theological virtues are so important and go together... Faith leads to hope, and hope leads to love that shows itself in practical action. (FHL)
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A dramatic series of events in today's gospel has Jesus firmly saying to Peter, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Jesus wants to make it clear to all who are following him, his disciples back then and us today, I am not the one who's making false promises of success. It's the liars and the false prophets who are promising worldly success and trophies like that of wealth, money, gold, earthly kingship, success, health and happiness in this life.
I'm not offering this to you. I'm offering you the way of the cross, the path of suffering, the path of self-forgetting love and service, even to the point of giving one's own life. He's saying to us, be under no misapprehension about what following Christ means.
But it's also about trust that this path will lead to victory and the stamp of approval from God the Father, and it's truly the way of everlasting life. Peter had rightly worked out who Jesus is. When Jesus asks, it's Peter, inspired by God, who says, you are the Christ, the Messiah, God's chosen King.
But the reason Jesus then silences him as soon as he says this truth, and then shortly goes further when Jesus even rebukes Peter, when he misunderstands what the next steps in Christ's mission need to be. Jesus now has set about carefully teaching them, actually even un-teaching them, re-educating them into the right understanding of what God's Messiah actually means. It's not an earthly king, as they expected.
It's not a revolutionary who will bring war and retribution upon the Romans. It's not one who's offering earthly success, in the eyes of this world anyway. And this goes against the common expectations and understandings of the time, and even of the apostles.
It's going to be a hard road to get those mistaken concepts out of their heads. And our Lord is wise and understanding. He knows that many will ask, well who would want to follow someone who only promises the cross, suffering, failure, death? But it is only those who believe and trust in him, who can trust that this path is the path of truth.
This is the path of fullness of life. Only those people who trust and have faith in him are capable of making that giant but necessary leap of faith. Jesus calls all of us to follow him, and not to try and lead him as Saint Peter tried to.
Jesus quickly sets him straight when Peter tries to tell Jesus what the Messiah should be doing. He very quickly says, get behind me, not in front of me, follow me, don't try to lead me. And just as importantly, Jesus shows us the priorities and values of God's anointed one.
He healed the sick, he forgave sinners, he welcomed outcasts, he looked for the lost, he invited all people to be part of God's kingdom. This was truly a reordering of values and priorities according to God's ways. And it was bound to cause a lot of anger and hatred and opposition from those who were very comfortable with the way things were, because those people were benefiting from the present status quo, at the expense of a lot of others who were trapped in terrible situations and unable to get out of them.
And the ones who were doing just fine, thanks, didn't really care if others weren't doing very well at all. Jesus knew that those who were benefiting from the present way things were would oppose him and would try to kill him and would succeed. And then only then would God's victory over the whole world and all evil be revealed in its fullness.
Because you can't bury God's plans and priorities, you cannot silence God's anointed one. No matter what one does, it will not work. Jesus had to crucify all the opposing powers by taking the poisonous fruits of their values and actions and defeating them on the cross, showing them to be hollow.
The messiahship of Jesus is one of service, of suffering love, of self-giving love. There will be no triumph apart from the cross. To be a disciple is to walk the same path of service, suffering and self-giving love.
Jesus wasn't desiring to suffer. He wasn't demanding the cross for its own sake. There's nothing in itself good about suffering.
He wasn't welcoming difficulty in this life any more than he would wish us to suffer. And in fact, he went about healing people, assisting them. But he was always faithful to the truth of the gospel's values.
And that meant burdens and suffering. Jesus knew that each person has their own cross to bear. For each of us, there are some things that cannot be avoided.
And if we tried to avoid them, we'd lose the things that mattered most. So we're invited to live with these crosses in ways that are loving, giving, hope-filled, and which show grace and gentleness throughout. Allowing God to transform the crosses into means of life and love.
To try and evade every cross in our life is to live dishonestly. I know that's a hard concept to pin down, and we're constantly reflecting on the meaning of it. But naturally, we're meant to do everything we can to heal, to help reduce others' suffering and burdens.
That truth continues to be absolutely true. But there are some burdens that if we tried to avoid them completely, it would mean selling out on the very values that matter most. Or it would mean not really living fully.
Not being prepared to pay a price for standing up for justice. For being determined to forgive, no matter what the cost. By being able to support people with practical care.
Even in the face of opposition from people who didn't want that practical care because it was taking away from their benefits. And for all of us, eventually, there'll be one or two definitive crosses that each of us cannot escape, no matter how hard we try. At different times and in different ways, not of our choosing.
Christ wants to be there with us and show us the way through them to lasting victory and eternal life. Ultimately, the teaching of Jesus about the cross is actually a lesson in hope. Jesus gives us the best message we could hope to know, no matter what happens in this life.
Whether it's good things or whether terrible things happen. And there can be both at times. Even if everything goes pear-shaped and doesn't seem to be ending well, our Lord is asking us to put our trust in him.
That the difficult journeys that we're called to take through life will eventually be greeted with resurrection and eternal life in Christ. Who is faithful to us through everything and will be there with us right through to the end and beyond. And that gives us all the strength we need to endure whatever comes.
Following the example of Jesus, who goes ahead of us through it all.
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References:
Homily Fr Paul W. Kelly
2009 – A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY ALICE CAMILLE;
SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ;
THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE. GOSPEL OF MARK. (REVISED EDITION). BY WILLIAM BARCLAY;
St Paul Sunday Missal. 2009. Paper edition;
Celebrating the Gospels. Gaynell Cronin; The Summit. Archdiocese of Melbourne. Vol 39. Number 3, Aug 2012).
Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. - ID:47848003 - Saint Peter - By Zvonimir Atletic
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year B -(Sunday, 15 September 2024) (EPISODE: 496 )
The Lord be with you.
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{{How are you today}} welcome everyone, we gather - To offer or praise, prayers and intercessions to our loving God On this Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
As we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery, let us admit our failings and ask the Lord for pardon and strength.
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 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9. "I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living."
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Gal 6:14). ). Alleluia, alleluia! My only glory is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which crucifies the world to me and me to the world.
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PREFACE: Ordinary 4
Eucharistic Prayer 3
(theme variation: theme 2 )
(post version: v2-long)
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{12. May God's love, strength, mercy and kindness guide you all this week.}
2. Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
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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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Details 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 (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: - Shure Motiv MV5 Digital Condenser. And (2024+) Rode Nt-1 + AI-1 Sound Mixer.
Editing equipment: -- MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software v10.49 (NCH Software).
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 17.63 (NCH Software)
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 10 Audio Editor (Izotope Inc.)
Text transcription as per recorded podcast version is transcribed by TurboScribe.ai
{excellent and accurate transcription from voice to text}
[Production - KER - 2024]
May God bless and keep you.
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