September 20 - Twenty fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: becoming the first to serve

First Reading  Wisdom 2:12,17-20
The just one is put to the test.
Responsorial Psalm  Psalm 54:3-4,5,6 & 8
A prayer for God's protection.
Second Reading  James 3:16—4:3
James teaches about the wisdom from above.
Gospel ReadingMark 9:30-37
There
is something about being human that drives us to succeed, to want to achieve
things. For some people they target greatness, look at our Olympic and
Paralympic athletes, for others maybe the ambition is smaller, getting the kids
to eat breakfast and get to school on time is challenge enough. Ambition,
drive, success and winning are the themes of today. And our teaching from
Christ today seems contradictory, "If anyone wants to be first, they must
ke themselves last of all." The message doesn't fit with the way we see
the world ork. Our
society tells us that being right, being first, being the best is all
important. But society is wrong. There is nothing good or important about being
first, however there is only one thing bad about being right, or first or best,
and that one thing is doing something just to be right or just to be the best
or just to be the first. Following our lord is
not easy. He never promised it would be. Selflessness is not in our nature,
pride and greed are. If you are to be a follower of Christ you needs put your
human nature last to enable you to put your spiritual nature first. Work hard,
but always for others, strive to do your best, but resist the urge just to be
the best, if you are the best thank God that you are able to serve so well.

September 13 - Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Where Sorrow is there is holy ground

First Reading  Isaiah 50:5-9a
The suffering servant of Yahweh is assured of God's help.
Responsorial Psalm  Psalm 116:1-2,3-4,5-6,8-9
A prayer of praise to God for his salvation
Second Reading  James 2:14-18
James teaches that faith must be demonstrated in one's works.
Gospel ReadingMark 8:27-35
The Christian under
sanding of Christ has to include the idea of suffering, death and resurrection.
To attempt to hold Jesus back from his divinely ordained path is to play
Satan's game to frustrate God's gift of life to the world through the costly "service"
he must render. In the same way we are called to 'get behind him' in the sense
of following him along "his way" rather than standing "in his
way". We know that suffering and sorrow are a part of life. There's no way
we can escape them. The important thing isn't the sorrow that befall us but how
we respond to them. The important thing is what we do about them. We can turn
them into something constructive, not destructive. We can turn them into
something that is life-giving and not death-dealing. we can turn them into
something that makes us better, not bitter. Let the Lord have His way and let
us follow that path in trust.

September 6 - Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: The gift of receiving and the gift of transmitting

 First Reading  Isaiah 35:4-7a
Isaiah prophesies about God's vindication.
Responsorial Psalm  Psalm 146:7,8-9,9-10
A song of praise to God
Second Reading  James 2:1-5
James teaches that there is to be no partiality within the Christian community.
Gospel ReadingMark 7:31-37
The healing which is recorded
in the Gospel, which follows the pattern of healings in Mark, is intended to be
read as one more indication of the arrival and nature of the messianic times.
Each healing and each miracle is like a pointer to one more aspect of Jesus as
‘the Christ’. At the end of the healing, the crowd’s reaction and amazement is
a direct allusion to the reaction described in Isa 35:5-6; and for Mark, the
healing taken with the reaction is an indication that the glorious future,
which was long awaited, is already a reality in Jesus. St John gives us
the key to interpret Jesus’ miracles. Whereas the other evangelists refer to
the miracles as “wonders” or “powers”, John calls them “signs”; for him the
miracles point beyond themselves to the “kingdom of God”.  The gift of new hearing
allows us to hear the word of God in our gatherings, in the situations and ups
and downs of life, and in our consciences. We can come to know that God loves
us, cares for us, and calls us to be his ministers and his witnesses. The gift
of new speech allows us to praise him in prayer, to proclaim the
truth to sisters and brothers, and to announce the good news of Jesus. God’s
gift to us is the gift of receiving and the gift of transmitting. We are
enabled to hear the word of God, and we are empowered to communicate the word
of God. In opening our ears and lips, Jesus gathers us up into his own divine
life.