The Psalm response echoes the grace revealed in the Gospel of Luke. When we count our blessings we open our hearts in faith to the healing power of Jesus Christ.
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 24th Week of the Year
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Category Archives: Ordinary Time
Daily Mass: When we become living examples of love. Catholic Inspiration
St. Paul’s famous passage in 1st Corinthians (often used at weddings) challenges us to “put on love” in all that we think, say and do.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 24th Week (Cornelius & Cyprian)
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25th Sunday of the Year: We call upon the Lord for a generous heart.
Study: How have I reacted in the past when someone I know has been particularly blessed or fortunate? Am I supportive or jealous?
Pray: Ask the Lord for the grace and wisdom to celebrate sincerely with others when they have received special gifts or opportunities.
Serve: How can you support others in their moments of blessing? How might you be generous with gratitude for another person’s good fortune?
Mass Readings – 25th Sunday of the Year
Consider the following possible situations and scenarios:
- Your neighbor that you have known for over twenty years has just won the lottery.
- A high school classmate that you didn’t talk to very much in school makes it big in Hollywood.
- A relative gets left a hefty sum of money from your old uncle and goes on a long trip around the world.
- A kid who used to ride your bus to school is now the executive at the company – and is your boss.
- A fellow employee in another office gets a big bonus for a successfully completed project.
- Your best friend has the opportunity to have a special audience with the Pope – through a connection with a friend in the Vatican.
All of these scenes have one thing in common: through an encounter with generosity and/or opportunity another individual benefits and possesses rewards that we do not share.
How do we react? How do our attitudes and actions change toward those who have received unexpected (and sometimes unearned) generosity? While I know that I hope that I would be good natured, polite, friendly, and supportive – a part of me echoes with the sentiments of the workers in today’s Gospel.
There is a sense of justice, a feeling that we should get what we deserve that goes against the grain of the message today. The last workers got the same wage, even though they only worked a fraction of the time. It’s not fair!
In reality, the story went beyond fairness. No worker was cheated. No worker was denied a fair and agreeable wage. The Master simply wanted to be generous out of concern and care for others.
The fact is, God is generous to all of us. There are moments when we have fallen short of the Lord’s justice through sin and temptation. Yet like the workers today, we receive God’s generosity even when we have not earned it. May we live accordingly.
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Note: This blog was originally published on September 14, 2014.
24th Sunday of the Year: We must forgive to be forgiven. Catholic Inspiration
The Book of Sirach, the Psalmist and the Lord all proclaim the same message: God forgives us and demands that we forgive one another.
Mass Readings – 24th Sunday of the Year
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Daily Mass: Every tree is known by its own fruit. Catholic Inspiration
The Lord offers a nugget of spiritual wisdom to help us read the human heart…including our own.
Mass Readings – Saturday of the 23rd Week of the Year
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Daily Mass: Running the great race to Heaven. Catholic Inspiration
St. Paul uses the image of an athlete to remind us that discipline, effort and commitment are also crucial elements of our spiritual life.
Mass Readings – Friday of the 23rd Week of the Year
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Daily Mass: Love, mercy and forgiveness. Catholic Inspiration
The Gospel of Luke offers us a powerful teaching from Jesus regarding how we interact with one another.
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 23rd Week of the Year
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Daily Mass: Another look at attachments in life. Catholic Inspiration
Unlike the Beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel, Luke’s version offers “blessings and woes” that reveal a stark truth about what we rely on in this life: if it’s not rooted in God, it’s not for our good.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 23rd Week of the Year (Peter Claver)
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Daily Mass: Lead me Lord, in your justice. Catholic Inspiration
Amidst the temptations and deceits that come before us in the messy moments of life, we echo the vigilant cry of the Psalmist: “Lead me Lord, in your justice.”
Mass Readings – Monday of the 23rd Week of the Year
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24th Sunday of the Year: The crucial role of forgiveness.
Study: Recall a time when you received forgiveness. What did it feel like?
Pray: Is there someone you need to forgive? Ask the Lord for the courage and strength to do it.
Serve: Is there someone you need to ask for forgiveness? Be the first to foster healing in the relationship.
Mass Readings – 24th Sunday of the Year
Let’s take a quick look at a sketch of the readings:
- 1st Reading – Forgive your neighbor, so that the Lord will forgive you
- Psalm – “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.”
- 2nd Reading – We live and die for the Lord
- Gospel – We forgive others, just as our Father forgives us
On one hand the teaching is simple: if you want to be forgiven by God, start forgiving one another. It’s sound logic and makes complete sense…until you have something hard to forgive. Perhaps we have felt slighted or neglected, been hurt or experienced disappointment. Maybe we just don’t understand, or maybe we are choosing to interpret a situation in its worst possible light.
Forgiveness is the practical dimension of Christian love. After all, it’s easy to love people when we are comfortable, rested, calm and free of all distractions. The real test of our love happens when we can forgive one another in the light of Jesus Christ.
The Lord offers us the teaching of forgiveness with clarity and conviction. There is no middle ground. We forgive one another if we expect God to forgive us of our own sins. We forgive, knowing that we all stand in need of God’s forgiveness, so that by unlocking the gates of our hearts through forgiveness we can stand before the Lord ready to receive the grace of his mercy.
Two thoughts then emerge today:
- Who do I need to forgive?
- To whom do I need to apologize and ask for forgiveness?
May the Lord inspire us to be people of forgiveness as we practice his teaching and follow his example.
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Note: This post was first published on September 11, 2017.
