Catholic 754 : Twenty-third Sunday of the Year C - Sunday, September 8, 2019

Homily Twenty-third Sunday of the Year C  - Sunday, September 8, 2019

First reading. Wisdom 9:13-18

Responsorial Psalm. 89:3-6,12-14,17. "In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge."

Second reading. Philemon 1:9-10,12-17

Gospel. Luke 14:25-33

Image credit: By Renata Sedmakova. ID: 595127756. Shutterstock licenses.  St. Paul the Apostle in Herz Jesus church by Friedrich Stummel and Karl Wenzel from the end of 19. and begin of 20. cent. BERLIN, GERMANY, FEBRUARY - 14, 2017: The fresco.   

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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Twenty-third Sunday of the Year C  - Sunday, September 8, 2019, by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/23c-faith-hope-and-love-ep-176/s-Ccumh  (EPISODE: 176)
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Prologue:   To become a full disciple of Christ, comes at considerable cost.  Being a  fully-fledged follower of Christ means accepting a value system that is often at odds with other values.  This can lead to us being ridiculed and ostracised, - throughout history, it has led to people losing their friends, family members, their reputation, their position in society and even their lives...   The cost is worth it, but our Lord wants us to know that the values of The Kingdom of God will turn on its head, many values of the world...   Those benefitting from keeping things the way they always were are not going to surrender their position and privilege. Divisions aren't desired by Our Lord, but he warns us that there are no fence-sitters in the Kingdom of God.    We have to jump in wholeheartedly and be prepared for the opposition. which will not fight fair.   Sadly, those who oppose Christ's values are opposing his vision of true justice,  compassion, inclusion, love, and peace.  

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Why would Jesus counsel his followers to "hate" their families or their own lives? Again, it seems contrary to the consistent message of love, inclusion, mercy and graciousness that Our Lord has been proclaiming throughout his whole ministry.

(Barclay)….   "When Jesus made this declaration, he was on the road to Jerusalem. He knew that he was on his way to surrender everything for us all... / to suffer and die on the cross; the crowds who were with him thought that he was on his way to an empire. No wonder he turned around and spoke so clearly and bluntly to them, in this way.....// 

In the most vivid way possible, he told them that anyone who wanted to follow him was definitely not on the road to worldly power and glory, but rather: they must be ready for a loyalty which would sacrifice the dearest things in life, and ready for suffering which would be like the agony of a man upon a cross (and for Christ himself - and some of his closest disciples it was literally to be such agony). 

But it is important that we understand his words as intended ...  and with all the nuance of the Eastern language with which it was spoken...which is always as vivid as the human mind can make it. When Jesus tells us to "hate" our nearest and dearest, he does not mean that literally. He means that no love in life can compare with the love we must bear to GOD. Christ knew if anyone who followed him had him in second priority, or lower, then when the first of many challenges, threats and suffering came along, these people would fall away swiftly...   

So, this passage teaches us that : 

(i) It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple; to follow the army (so to speak) wherever it went, without being a soldier of the Monarch; to be a hanger-on in some great work without pulling one's weight. 

There is a modern-day story a person was talking to a great scholar about another person who was name-dropping his connection with that scholar.  "So-and-so tells me that he was one of your students." The great scholar replied devastatingly, "He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students." It is the same with the Christian church --- there are so many distant followers of Jesus but how many are actually real disciples.

(ii) It is a Christian's first duty to count the cost of following Christ.

But if we are daunted by the high demands of Christ, let us remember that we are not left to fulfil this task alone. Christ who called us to this steep path will walk with us every step of the way and be there at the end to meet us."##

Our Lord's constant practical example and his wider teachings show us that we must love and cherish our family and loyally keep our commitments and our duties that we owe to our parents and family… / Our Lord saved one of his most stinging criticisms for people who used religious excuses to justify neglecting their duty to their parents and family. / So, when Our Lord says in the Gospel that we should 'hate our lives or families"…. The actual point of Jesus' message today is not to reject or abandon the bonds of the family...  the ties of blood...  but actually to WIDEN our vision of FAMILY…  ( ……)…. SO, Jesus is is telling his disciples that HIS definition of "family" includes not only our traditional ties of "blood relations"…… but also to include all who follow Jesus and act on his word/ all who hold the values of the Kingdom, and in fact all people…….. (which he means to be taken absolutely seriously)..

Also, we DO know that Jesus had a deep respect and love for his family, both his earthly family and His Heavenly Father. So, faithfulness to Christ and love and respect for our family need not be any kind of contradiction. Hopefully, our faith and values and our relationship to our family and friends will be mutually consistent and supportive. But, if there has to be a choice made between following God and remaining a part of our loving family, then something must have gone horribly awry in that family. What Jesus is asking here is that "You've got to be in this 'discipleship thing' 100 per cent! Half measures will never do. ………. Being the Body of Christ makes us complete sharers in the life of Jesus! And Jesus was never known to do things half measures.

There may very well be a bit of "hating" going on at the time of Christ's ministry, though, the hating was not by Jesus or his followers… Rather.. some people clearly hated Jesus' message; wanted to destroy him and his message, and persecute his disciples - precisely because they are seen to be welcoming outsiders and strangers into the "family-fold" whom they think should not be there… // Unintended (but very real) conflict and loss will be suffered because of choosing to follow Jesus; because people are included in Jesus' plan who others think should be left out…….. Hatred and persecution will come from those who are very comfortable with things as they are. Because they are doing very well, thanks very much, while others are doing very badly. A change in this situation will be detrimental to them and helpful to everyone else. And they will not stand for it. 

The plain truth is: Our goal is not merely to be a good person and avoid doing wrong. …… Being a disciple of Jesus is the goal. Discipleship is an expensive proposition. It costs everything we have. (Jesus needs us to give all we have in energy and time). Why is the price so high? Because the stakes are just as high. And his Kingdom is filled with the wonderful values and virtues that are worth fighting for and are life-giving and lasting. 

Christ is asking us to put our lives, our energy and our resources into the service of his plan for building up the Kingdom of God and its radically transforming values.

Jesus knows that following him will lead to tensions and pain…. Not because he wants us to reject family but because his message INCLUDES more people into the family than others (under the old system) can cope with…. IN Our Lord's Kingdom… water is thicker than blood….. (the water of baptism, that is)…. In the Kingdom…the waters of Baptism bind us more closely and are infinitely more important than even the utterly-deep ties of family …. And so this turns the whole system on its head….//. If people everywhere extended to all those we meet, that same love, loyalty and unconditional bond of generosity that we share with people who are related to us, … what a different world it would be… and it would be a world ever-closer to the Vision of Christ's Kingdom. 

We see an example of this transformation perfectly illustrated.  Saint Paul… a true and inspiring disciple of Christ… speaks about a fellow Christian.. a runaway slave … who has now become like a son to him because he is a fellow disciple in Christ….. Paul writes to another disciple and begs him to accept his runaway slave but not as a slave anymore but as a brother….. this is consistent with Jesus' gospel….. there is a considerable change to our lives and our relationships when we become a true disciple of Christ…. Things change quite dramatically… old values and old ways of doing things.. END…… and old advantages and arrangements are changed forever… the owner of that slave has paid a big price for becoming a Christian… he has lost his slave.. who is now a free person… because in Christ there is no distinction between slave and free.. we are all free…  

Whatever happened to Onesimus...  was he freed as Paul requested?...  Let us move on about fifty years. Saint Ignatius, one of the great Christian martyrs, is being taken to execution from Antioch to Rome. As he goes, he writes letters--which still survive--to the Churches of Asia Minor. He stops at Smyrna and writes to the Church at Ephesus, and in the first chapter of that letter, he has much to say about their wonderful bishop. And what is the bishop's name? It is Onesimus; and Ignatius makes exactly the same pun as Paul made--he is Onesimus by name and Onesimus by nature, (a word which means "profitable" -  he is the "profitable or useful" one to Christ. It may well be that the runaway slave had become with the passing years the great bishop of Ephesus.^^  

How wonderful are God's ways...   well worth staying on this difficult path. 

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References:

## Barclay, William. 1975. The Daily Study Bible – Luke's Gospel. Edinburgh: St Andrew Press.

^^Barclay, William. 1975. The Letters Of Timothy, Titus And Philemon. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press..

SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ

Fr Paul W. Kelly

Image credit: By Renata Sedmakova. ID: 595127756. Shutterstock licenses.  St. Paul the Apostle in Herz Jesus church by Friedrich Stummel and Karl Wenzel from the end of 19. and begin of 20. cent. BERLIN, GERMANY, FEBRUARY - 14, 2017: The fresco.  

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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 my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead:  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,  A time of Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from "The Psalms: A New Translation" ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg's 1993 book " Together we pray". Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:   http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

"Faith, Hope and Love" theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us at paulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.

Twenty-third Sunday of the Year C
(Sunday, September 8, 2019)

(EPISODE: 176)

The Lord be with you.
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{{Hello}}

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
option two on the cards/ Have mercy on us, O Lord./ For we have sinned against you./ Show us, O Lord, your mercy. And grant us your salvation.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation

2. When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

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Sundays Ordinary IV

Euch Prayer Three

Communion side.  pwk:  LH
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{Bless you all and May God's grace guide you each and every day.}

Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

Catholic 753: Twenty-second Sunday of the Year C - Sunday, September 1, 2019

Homily Twenty-second Sunday of the Year C  - Sunday, September 1, 2019 (Fathers Day in Australia)

Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21,30-31
Responsorial Psalm. Psalm 67:4-7,10-11. "God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor."
Second reading. Hebrews 12:18-19,22-24
 Gospel. Luke 14:1,7-14
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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Twenty-second Sunday of the Year C  - Sunday, September 1, 2019 by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/22c-faith-hope-and-love-ep-175/s-0eKVA  (EPISODE: 175)
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Father's day is celebrated at different times of the year around the world...
In Ireland, Uk, India, Mexico,  and USA and many other nations, its the third Sunday in June...   

whilst, in many catholic nations, since the Middle Ages, it coincided with St Joseph's feast ...  and  Italy and Spain..and others still celebrate it then.....

but in Australia, it is this weekend...   the first Sunday of September....   
whenever it is,  we give thanks for all Fathers...  for their love, care and generosity...    We pray that God grants them joy in their family and friends, and health and strength.   
For all fathers who have passed into eternal life..  may God give them a permanent place at the heavenly feast... for all their goodness and kindness...

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Prologue:  Isn't it interesting that some lessons from Our Lord, almost everyone remembers and observes - for example, this weekend's gospel....    about not taking the best seat...  but taking the last seat at the table; lest that "better seat" is reserved for someone else... //   that lesson, I reckon, is very much observed..  and that is great...  What is a little sad, though, is that people remember that part of the message but don't always see that Our Lord was teaching this lesson, not so that people would be considered wise when invited to dinner...  but, he was using this as an example of how we should live in our daily lives....    Sadly many people make sure they don't look like they are prideful by assuming that they are the most important person at a dinner table, but not so many take the same care to make sure they don't act, in their workplace, in their home and in the community, as if they are top cat !   - above all others! 

Our Lord, invites us to a healthy humility, and an openness to others....   giving and helping those most in need and acting not in in a way calculated to gain favours....   //God is generous and giving... and Our Lord is the most important person to ever walk the earth; and yet, he became servant of all... and stripped himself of all that he was rightly entitled to.. for the sake of the Kingdom...   this is Faith, hope and love.  

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 Happy Father's Day to all our Dad's in the community. May God bless you and grant you peace and joy. And we pray for all Dads who have gone before us, that they now are enjoying the peace, joy and mercy of the eternal banquet kingdom.

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This weekend's gospel shows us some contrasting attitudes: 
"What's in it for me?"
"What can I get out of this?" 
"What can this person do for me?"
 
People in Our Lord's day asked this kind of questions often. And indeed, these kinds of attitudes are still quite common in this day and age.
 
God must be so disappointed in this kind of mindset. Because this kind of thinking is just so alien to God's way of thinking.

God's ways are the opposite of this:
God is the most loving of Fathers-   Only wanting to give and keep giving for his beloved children -  to encourage them, to guide them, to nourish and provide for them,  to give them what they need in due season, to protect and defend them, 
God asks ....

Not;  "What's in it for me?" or "What can I get out of this?"  or "What can this person do for me?"
but rather;…  God asks:  
"How shall I help others?"

"What shall I give to this one?" 
"What shall I do for this person?"

Today's gospel is about Jesus teaching us the virtue of humility….  But….

"The challenge today is not about watching others practice humility but rather focusing upon whether we ourselves are willing to be truly humble. 
Truly humble people are loved so much. They make life easier for people around them, no matter how 'great' they might be considered by others. Humble people take up the burdens and responsibilities of the community without drawing attention to themselves. 

Humble people serve others with joy, without counting the cost or expecting payback.1

Humility is really about being honest about how things really are between us and God. We are truly humbled when we live the truth of the fact that all good things come from God…. And that if we do any good in this world, it is ultimately thanks to God's grace and guidance, rather than by any merit we have achieved on our own. This can be a jarring way of looking at things because modern society seems to promote the opposite worldview to this. 
 
If we help the poor or include the marginalized, and when we serve others without counting the cost, it is not as if we are doing something particularly praiseworthy - but rather we are just living the way God acts all the time. God always acts out of love (by his nature). God does not base his actions on duty, and nor does God give back according to how God is treated.  Rather, our God responds out of compassion and love. God is not punitively reactive but generously proactive. 

The message of today's gospel could be summed up by a saying the Jewish rabbis would have known well..  …..   …  " The best kind of giving is when the giver does not know who they are giving and the receiver does not know from whom they are receiving."[2]  Because then it is a pure gift. It is "giving simply for the sake of itself.. with no self-interest and no possible expectation of return. 

Jesus wants to totally break the kind of mindset revealed in the following saying:  ….     "hospitality is a lively sense of the favours to come."   
 Rather, 
Hospitality and engagement with others is not for what it can gain.. but for including those who cannot presently participate by the rules and expectations of a calculating culture….

Also, in this gospel today… 

"What Jesus is teaching are not fine points of etiquette or the best way to show table manners and the like. Rather, Jesus is promoting an interior attitude that really demonstrates where we stand, that is, do we consider ourselves to be the centre of the universe, or are we willing to be truly the servant of others? 

The way of Christ is the latter, for the self-centred will end up lost, but those who serve others and open their hearts to all will find fulfilment. Such persons, (and we are invited to be among them), will gain everything needed for a life on fire for God and the things of God. As Jesus acted in his lifetime, so should the followers of Christ.

The so-called religious leaders of Jesus time had really gone off the point….  They sat there glaring at Jesus and trying to find fault with him when all they were really doing was ignoring those most in need, whilst hobnobbing with people who could benefit them.,..- in a direct contradiction to the whole message and emphasis of God's law and priorities.  

All Jesus was doing was acting out of compassion, curing those in need and welcoming people considered to no value, who were actually very much cherished children of God.,……/…. 

Throughout history, it is a recurring mystery of human life.   How do we get things so wrong, in our actions and attitudes….   Let us pray to Jesus that we are always given a wonderful sense of proportion, generosity and self-giving service, compassion and reverence towards our fellow person.....….and of course, an honest and deep-seated humility…
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References:

Fr Paul W. Kelly

[1] Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Abbot's homily (2010)

[2] Daily Study Bible. Luke. By William Barclay (1954)

[3] Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Fr. Christian Leisy, OSB  (2010)

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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 my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead:  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,  A time of Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from "The Psalms: A New Translation" ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg's 1993 book " Together we pray". Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:   http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

"Faith, Hope and Love" theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us at paulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.

Twenty-second Sunday of the Year C
(Sunday, September 1, 2019)

(EPISODE: 175 )

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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{{May Our Lord's generosity inspire you. }}

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. 
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault,* through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
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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Sundays Ordinary III

Euch prayer two

Communion side.  pwk:  RH
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{thank you so much for taking this time with me to listen to God's word and for praising God for his goodness and care. }

Go forth, the Mass is ended.

Catholic 752: Twenty-first Sunday of the Year C - Sunday, August 25, 2019

Homily Twenty-first Sunday of the Year C  - Sunday, August 25, 2019

First reading. Isaiah 66:18-21
Responsible Psalm. Psalm 116:1-2. "Go out to all the world, and tell the good news"
Second reading. Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13
Gospel.          Luke 13:22-30

Photo by Luca Florio on Unsplash

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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers, and reflections for the Twenty-first Sunday of the Year C  - Sunday, August 25, 2019, by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/21c-faith-hope-and-love-ep-174/s-ltwZu   (EPISODE: 174)
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Prologue:   Can we say with great confidence:  I am a member of the Christian Faith, and I also know and love Jesus.   It is so important that these two statements can be said. Since, the readings this weekend make it clear that paper membership of a group is not enough - we have to Know the Shepherd and hold his values and show that in our actions and attitudes. On the Last day, the Lord will judge us not by how well we can recite the list of ten commandments and other rules of the Church,  The Lord will judge us on how we loved, as he loved. He will welcome those he recognises as his beloved children by the fruits of their lives.  Its a sobering message but as we deepen our understanding and knowledge of the person of Jesus, his gracious love and compassion is what brings us home to him. 
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I remember once when I was at university, (back around 1986 I think it was), well before mobile phones .. And, for some reason which I can no longer remember, I needed to make a phone call to someone and I didn't have any coins for the public phone, nor much cash for that matter. ....  It was rather urgent to contact this person, is all I recall, and so I decided to use the reverse-charges request through the operator..  (wow has technology changed now)...   By the way, this involved an Operator, (a real live person, not a computer voice, who would dial the number while you listened on the line.. they would then say to the person being called......  "a reverse charges call from a Mr Paul Kelly... will you accept the call?".....    and I could hear the person on the other end (whom I was trying to contact), saying...  "no"  and the call then cuts out... that was that.  I felt very flat and frustrated. I was disappointed, to say the least...   the one time I had used this facility and the person declined it...   If they had accepted I would have explained the reason...  Clearly, the person didn't recognise me or couldn't work out the connection so they declined... very deflating.   

That is a bit like the readings today...    except you are trying to get through to someone you know really well and whom you assume they know you really well too..  only for them to say..  "sorry I don't know you!!"  Wow. What a shocker !!!    

I wonder what it would be like for me to be knocking on Heaven's doors and saying "let me in, Lord, Its me!  Look I have the badge and the membership card"… only to hear God say in reply: 'I am sorry! Who are you? ...I don't know you! And I don't know where you come from!  you must have the wrong door." 
That, for anyone, would be devastating .....… and terrible!

Who we truly are, includes how we live and act.  How we respond to God's invitation to be disciples is essential. Everyone is invited to respond to God's invitation as well. We are warned not to become complacent. Our Lord also warns us not to become elitist. We are not to become people who exclude others.

We gain entry into the Kingdom not by our badge of membership alone, but by being recognisable as a disciple of Christ by our love and faithfulness to God's message, and by being true friends of Jesus … in action as well as in name…. Knowing Jesus and being known by Jesus….. in our lives and choices….  


So, this is the unsettling message of today's Gospel. 

The people listening to Jesus' parable (his own people, - The people of Israel), would have been very concerned by his message and they would say what is on the lips of the people in the parable.

The people are really saying words to the effect of this: "But, we ate with you, we heard your teaching! We are your fellow People of Israel. We are the Chosen People of God. We have Abraham as our Father and the Prophets as our divine inheritance. We are the saved people, and the privileged people of God's promise." 


The shocking reply would be too awful to contemplate: "Sorry, I don't know you and I do not know where you come from!" What does he mean 'I don't know where you come from???????" They come from his own PEOPLE, but this is clearly not enough, according to Jesus. 

People from other nations and cultures, who are not part of the chosen people, are welcomed into God's family and God's house ahead of those who have gotten cosy and self-satisfied in the presumption that their place in God's house is assured by simply being a member of a group. Jesus is warning all who follow him that a place in God's house is offered to all who actually respond to his values and teachings and to his invitation, irrespective of their background and culture or membership. 


It is a sobering reminder to us all that we need to be constantly open to God's surprising wisdom and teachings. We must never fall for the trap of thinking that we have gotten the message and that we having nothing more or new to learn about God's ways.

Jesus, throughout the Gospels, constantly has to teach his disciples that they have an enormous amount to learn, (a lifetime and beyond to learn), about God's ways and God's wisdom. Anyone who thinks they have already arrived at the fullness of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, anyone who thinks they are living out the perfect example of what a follower of Jesus should be, ought to be very humble and very careful. 

Discipleship in Christ demands of us constant vigilance, and a humble, openness of heart-and-mind, and a willingness to have our attitudes changed by God's wisdom. Jesus also seems to be inviting us to be welcoming and open to an ever-increasing group of people throughout the community and the world. just as God extends this warm welcome to everyone.

To be a follower of Jesus is to be open and always ready to be surprised and to respond in different ways to what God is doing. Being a faithful disciple of Christ also means being always alert to the dangers of taking our membership of God's family for granted and resting on our laurels. It is rather about being ready with an open mind and heart. 

God will say "I KNOW you"  when we have, through our lives and actions shown that we really and truly KNOW and (at least) start to comprehend the person, message and values of Jesus and his very different ways…. and live it.  
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly

Photo by Luca Florio on Unsplash
+++
Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead:  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,  A time of Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from "The Psalms: A New Translation" ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg's 1993 book " Together we pray". Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:   http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

"Faith, Hope and Love" theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us at paulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.

Twenty-first Sunday of the Year C
(Sunday, August 25, 2019)

(EPISODE: 174 )

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or// The Lord be with You)
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{{May Our Lord's care, comfort you}}

My brothers and sisters, we have gathered to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, - so let us pause and reflect upon our sins, so as to rejoice in Gods loving mercy. 
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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Memorial Acclamation

Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

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SUNDAYS I

Euch prayer two

Communion side.  pwk:  LH
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{my heartfelt thanks for your participation in this time of reflection, prayer, and praise. }

Go in peace. (glorifying the Lord by your life)

Catholic 751 : Twentieth Sunday of the Year.. Year C - Sunday, August 18, 2019

Homily Twentieth Sunday of the Year.. Year C - Sunday, August 18, 2019

First Reading. Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10. Jeremiah is punished for criticizing the wealthy for their corruption and their injustice to the poor.
Responsorial Psalm. Psalm 40:2-4,18. A prayer for God's help. "Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own".
Second Reading. Hebrews 12:1-4. Let us persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Gospel Reading. Luke 12:49-53. Jesus has come not only to bring peace but also division.

Image: Licensed by shutterstock - ID: 770558059
++++Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Twentieth Sunday of the Year.. Year C - Sunday, August 18, 2019 by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/20c-faith-hope-and-love-ep-173/s-UmSQG  (EPISODE: 173)
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Prologue: We believe that the Lord is the King of Peace...  the Lord of Love....   His Kingdom values are about compassion, service, self-forgetting love, mercy and inclusion.  which is why the readings this weekend seem more than a little jarring...   
Our Lord says, he has come to start a fire...  and wishes it were blazing already...  he warns of divisions in even the closest relations...   
But of course, it is not Our Lord who desires divisions and strife... yet, he needs to warn his followers that the conflict in values will lead to terrible persecution and estrangements -  (The price of peace would be watering down God's message... and telling people what they want to hear instead of the truth, and that is unacceptable).  But the values Christ represents are life-giving and beautiful and well worth the cost...  +++
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Poor Jeremiah, the prophet! It could not get any worse for him. The enemy is holding his people to siege. There is no way out. God tells his faithful prophet Jeremiah: "This is what you must tell the people// and also tell the King - Surrender! Leave the city, or you will surely perish !"

This is definitely NOT what the King and his people want to hear. They want to keep resisting. They want to win. But Jeremiah will not tell them what they want to hear. there are plenty of others who will tell them what they want to hear, if not to save their own skin and so as not to annoy, but in order to climb up the ladder of influence, or so they think.

Jeremiah, however, only speaks God's word and he does so at a great cost. So, what do they say about him for doing his job faithfully? "Let Jeremiah be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the welfare of these people at heart so much as its ruin." // It makes one wonder how often people have been accused of disloyalty and lack of care for the welfare of others just because they see a major disaster resulting. The problem for poor Jeremiah is that he can do nothing else but speak the truth, irrespective of the response. And so, he gets thrown down a muddy well for his troubles, and sinks deep into the mud and becomes hopelessly stuck. he will die there unless someone helps him. As it is, someone does indeed feel sorry for him manages to drag him out of the muddy well.

There is a name in the Bible for people who tell others only what they want to hear: They are called "false prophets." False prophets get pretty short shrift from God.
Then, by contrast, we see the likes of Jeremiah, who steadfastly and devoutly speaks God's word, in season and out of season, irrespective of popularity or whether or not people want to hear it. he simply MUST speak the truth…//

 But just as there are "false prophets," who tell people things they want to hear even when the truth is quite different, there are also "false critics." These are people who go around telling people unpleasant things and "telling things like it is" in a way that divides and hurts. These too are not necessarily real prophets just because they are getting rejected and causing divisions. That would be a grave mistake too.

There may be people walking around with a 'kick me' sign on them whose words and behaviour almost provokes or invites rejection or uproar. The test of whether a person is speaking prophetically is not that they are causing trouble and having to hire security guards, nor merely because they have ruffled others feathers. Such people may be self-defeating stirrers.

The true test of a prophetic person is the consistency of their words and behaviour with that of Christ and his Kingdom, and the whole picture, not just selectively chosen elements. Jeremiah spoke what God asked him to speak and not just his own hobby-horse or for his own adulation (or for his own rejection, for that matter). That is a major difference.

I also think to myself, if we are tempted to be challenging, we ought to start with ourselves, and challenge and unsettle the deep-seated pride and selfishness and enmeshment that we find in our own hearts, before starting on changing the world and getting others offside.

And also, no matter how "true' something is, no matter how much we might want to "fix up" a situation or a person, (which is probably an unhelpful way of approaching matters), if we do not act with love, or speak with love, it will (as Saint Paul says) "do me no good whatsoever." I doubt our words would have any effect if we spoke the truth without love.

True prophets are not self-proclaimed nor are they self-appointed. And really, I think we need to live the gospel more than go around pointing out errors. Putting the gospel values into action by our lives, which is one of the greatest acts of discipleship: proclaiming the Gospel by our actions.

It has always struck me that Jesus went around doing good and living the gospel and it was most often others who followed behind him saying "why did you do that?" or "stop doing that." Meanwhile, Our Lord had already moved on to the next project for the building up of the Kingdom and the next set of good work and actions. He indeed preached but even more, he acted; and mostly it was others who were doing the questioning and the finger-wagging.

A light example of this: Martha was rushing around busily getting the meal ready and getting steamed up that Mary was sitting at Our Lord's feet listening to him instead of helping her. Martha got flustered and asked the Lord to tell Mary to come and help her. He gently declined, saying Mary had chosen the better part. Martha's request could very well have been irritating and unpopular but she was not speaking or acting prophetically by speaking out, even though she felt strongly about it. Just because we feel strongly about something and speak up to the annoyance of others does not make us a prophet and nor does it make us right.

This theme continues in the gospel, which seems to be one of those really challenging and confounding scriptures. For the most part of the gospels, we see Jesus as the Good and gentle Shepherd. He usually tells the wonderful parable of the foolishly doting and forgiving father of the prodigal son, and yet now in this passage, there seems a real shock. Our Lord says the surprising words: "Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather a division." this seems rather surprising to say the least and out of character. Surely we are not mistaken when we understand Jesus as loving, forgiving, gentle, peace-loving, and fore-bearing??// In other situations, Jesus speaks of Peace, and "turning the other cheek" and putting down one's sword. So what is all this talk of "division" and "fire" and setting one person against another and families against each other?

This is not the first passage where Jesus warns his would-be disciples to be very clear about what it means to follow him. Jesus has warned his disciples…. Be aware of the cross… COUNT THE COST of what it means to follow him…… There is indeed a high personal cost to be paid for being a faithful servant of God. It is a very difficult role. Following Christ will lead to times of rejection, ridicule and opposition. Being a faithful follower of God's values will sadly lead to divisions, and even the real possibility of alienation between family members and social structures, and so much more.

However, Jesus is really just warning his followers to be aware of what they are getting into. Jesus is absolutely not encouraging and desiring conflict, opposition, and division, but, rather, he KNOWS that there are no "fence-sitters" in the Kingdom of God. You are either with him or against him. Jesus is declaring the sad reality that he and the Good news he is proclaiming, and the Kingdom of God that he is establishing will become like a "lightning rod" to all who hate what the Kingdom represents. Despite deeply desiring peace and love, he KNOWS that people will line up on one side or another. This division (based on conflicting values) will not fall along political, religious or even filial (family) lines, but will tragically mean that people of the same social standing or people who belong to the same household could quite likely find themselves opposing each other in their values and actions. Even the closest of family members might find themselves standing for different sides. Jesus wants us to know the cost……

As the great scripture commentator, William Barclay writes: "Jesus' coming would inevitably mean division; --- in point of fact it did!! That was one of the great reasons why the Romans hated Christianity--it tore families in two. Over and over again a person had to decide whether he loved better his kith and kin or Christ and his Gospel. The essence of Christianity is that loyalty to Christ has to take precedence over the dearest loyalties of this earth. One must be prepared to count all things as loss, but for the excellence of Jesus Christ."

You know the irony of all this? The divisions were over values we cherish so deeply. The divisions occurred because Jesus taught us to be gentle, to reach out to the outcast and offer the hand of forgiveness to the sinner and the outcast. The conflict and division occurred because Jesus was really LIVING the message of true peace… and the fullness of the new image of God's Kingdom, which included all people. This led to the most virulent opposition by those whose interests were not served by such an otherworldly world-view. Jesus turned on its head the unjust and "un-Kingdom-like" standards which kept some on the 'inner' and a lot of people hopelessly left on the 'outer,' with no way of inclusion. Those few who were the 'inside' wanted things to stay just the way they were. It was very cosy and profitable for them as things were. No wonder Jesus went to great lengths to prepare his disciples for trouble. He taught them to be as "wise as serpents but as gentle as lambs."

As Jesus reminds us in the Gospel, neither family ties nor fear of submitting to rejection, ridicule or persecution should stand in the way of salvation which comes from an uncompromising and costly proclamation of the good news, and of standing up for the truth as taught by Christ. **
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly


THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE. GOSPEL OF LUKE. (REVISED EDITION). BY WILLIAM BARCLAY.

**Joel Schorn: PrepareTheWord.com. PrepareTheWord.com, ©2012, TrueQuest Communications, LLC. 20th Sunday of the Year. - C. 18th August, 2013.

Image: Licensed by shutterstock - ID: 770558059
+++Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead:  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,  A time of Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.  [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from "The Psalms: A New Translation" ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]
Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg's 1993 book " Together we pray". Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).
{ "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:   http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

"Faith, Hope and Love" theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us at paulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.
Twentieth Sunday of the Year.. Year C
(Sunday, August 18, 2019)
(EPISODE: 173 )
The Lord be with you.
+++++++++++++{{May Our Lord's empathy abide in you.}}

Coming together as brothers and sisters, with confidence let us ask the Fathers forgiveness, for he is full of gentleness and compassion
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
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.
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Sundays Ordinary II
Euch Prayer One

Communion side.  pwk:  RH
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{I am very grateful for you joining us for this special time of prayer and reflection. }
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.