Sunday, September 18, 2022

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In other years: Saint Edith of Kemsing (961-984); Saint Stanislaw Kostka (1550-1568)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 4:1-21 The Tools for Good Works

Mass: Amos 8:4-7; Resp Ps 113; 1 Tim 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13

Above the heavens is His glory.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,
MARY, MOTHER OF MERCY,
PRAY FOR US.

Since ...

No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.
(Lk 16:13)

then, 

First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
(Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:1-2)

and we go from there.

Bouna domenica! And it's one of those Sundays when many things work together, primarily in the Word as spoken in the Gospel, in wisdom from Saint Benedict, and in what others have to say it about it all, including you. 😊 God is praised!

It is about making choices. We have been given the gift of reason; let us not waste it. May we be faithful in little matters, and faithful in bigger matters too, as a wise and prudent steward would. If what we encounter day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute, leads us to love and serve God, and to love and serve our neighbors as ourselves, then let us choose to go there. If our encounters detract from this love and service, we must choose to avoid them. In all things, may God be glorified (1 Pet 4:11/RB 57:9). Coraggio, dear faithful readers. United in faith and prayer, we pick our crosses, "go against the tide," and follow Him.

And from Pope Benedict XVI, during a 2007 Pastoral Visit to the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni, Italy: 

If loving Christ and one's brethren is not to be considered as something incidental and superficial but, rather, the true and ultimate purpose of our whole existence, it will be necessary to know how to make basic choices, to be prepared to make radical renouncements, if necessary, even to the point of martyrdom. Today, as yesterday, Christian life demands the courage to go against the tide, to love like Jesus, who even went so far as to sacrifice Himself on the Cross.
(Pope Benedict XVI, September 23, 2007, Eucharistic Concelebration, Holy Mass, Homily, Saint Clement's Square, Velletri, Italy)

And from Pope Francis, in today's Angelus Address, delivered to the pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square:

We are called to be creative in doing good with the prudence and cleverness of the Gospel, using the goods of this world, not only the material but all the gifts we have received from the Lord, not to enrich ourselves, but to generate fraternal love and social fellowship ... Let us pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary so that she may help us be like herself poor in spirit and rich in works of charity for one another.
(Pope Francis, Sunday Angelus, Saint Peter's Square, Rome, September 18, 2022)

SAINT EDITH KEMSING,
SAINT STANISLAW KOSTKA,
PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Seeing some blue sky with a smattering of clouds yesterday morning, I thought it was time to share some of this beauty with a friendly reminder: "Don't forget to look up!" And speaking of looking up, it rained during the night, and it continues to rain this morning. High above the nations is the Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

No comments:

Post a Comment