Sunday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary

 In other years: Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 7:49-50

Mass: Is 5:1-7; Resp Ps 80; Ph 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43

O Lord, God of hosts, restore us; if your face shine upon us, then we shall be saved.

There is much to be said about today's readings. I was looking for something as a lead in to a couple of quotations I have wanted to include for some time. And I found it in the Holy Father's Angelus Address. 

Pope Francis told those gathered in Saint Peter's Square earlier today: "God awaits the fruit of His vineyard from those He has sent to work in it." We have a responsibility to bear fruit, to grow in our love for God, love for our neighbor, and love for ourselves through a life of prayer and work or service. We are meant to give our all even with our daily sufferings, aches, pains, irritations, weaknesses and shortcomings. We can look to the widow in Saint Mark's Gospel (12:41-44), and Saint Luke's (21:1-4). She gave her all. A nun and friend of Stanbrook Abbey shared something Soren Kierkegaard had to say about this widow's contribution: "Kind men observing the widow would probably have said, 'There, there, little mother. You keep those coins ...' But the Lord God says Yes! Give me the lot! The Lord God takes us seriously enough to ask us to give absolutely everything." And so with a favorite line from a favorite film, something Andy said to Red: "Get busy living or get busy dying." Or with words from Saint Paul from our second reading: "Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus ... Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you" (Ph 4:6-7, 9). 

And we celebrate the Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti of the Holy Father Francis on the Fraternity and Social Friendship, given in Assisi, at the tomb of Saint Francis, on 3 October, Vigil of the Feast of the Saint, in the year 2020. Here, A Prayer to the Creator.

Lord, Father of our human family,

you created all human beings equal in dignity:

pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit

and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter,

dialogue, justice and peace.

Move us to create healthier societies

and a more dignified world,

a world without hunger, poverty, violence and war.

May our hearts be open

to all the peoples and nations of the earth.

May we recognize the goodness and beauty

that you have sown in each of us,

and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects,

and shared dreams. Amen.

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2020