October 22, 2017

29th Sun., Ordinary Time

October 22, 2017:  Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time / World Mission Day

See a dozen connections with today?Legend below
Listen
For Psalm 96

For gospel
  • Turn to me/ Foley (1st reading, not just for Lent)
For upcoming celebrations
Pope Francis

Angelus:  Today's gospel teaches us the legitimacy of earthly authority and the primacy of God in human affairs and over the universe.  Christians are called to be concretely committed in human and social realities, without putting God and ‘Caesar’ in contraposition.  We're called to engage in earthly realities, enlightening them with divine light.  Entrusting yourself to and hoping in God don't require us to escape reality, but rather to render unto him all that's his.  We look to future reality, God's, that we may live in fullness and respond to challenges with courage.


Missionary month and JPII:  Live the joy of mission by witnessing the Gospel where you live and work.  We're also called to support with affection, concrete help, and prayer, missionaries who have gone out to proclaim Christ to those who still don't know him.  I'll promote an Extraordinary Missionary Month, October 2019, to nourish the ardor of the Church's evangelizing activity.  As today we remember St. John Paul II, missionary Pope, we entrust the mission of the Church in the world to his intercession.


 World Mission Day message: Mission at the heart of Christian faith:  World Mission Day gathers us around Jesus, the first and greatest evangelizer (Evangelii Nuntiandi), who sends us forth to proclaim the Father's love in the Spirit's power.

 The Church’s mission is based on the gospel's transformative power.  The gospel is joy-filled; it offers new life, the life of Christ, the Way, Truth and Life.  In following the Way, we experience Truth and receive his Life, communion with Father in the Spirit's power, that frees us from selfishness and gives us creativity in love.  The Father desires our transformation, through a Spirit-guided life in imitation of Jesus to the Father's glory.  The preaching of the Gospel accomplishes what it proclaims:  Jesus takes flesh in every human situation.

Through the Church's mission, Christ continues to evangelize and act; her mission makes the kairos, the time of salvation, present in history.  Through the proclamation of the Gospel, Jesus becomes our contemporary, so those who welcome him with faith and love experience the Spirit's transforming power.  His resurrection contains vital power:  where all seems dead, signs of the resurrection spring up; it's an irresistible force (Evangelii Gaudium).

 Being Christian is the result of the encounter with a Person (Deus Caritas Est).  The Gospel is a Person who offers himself and invites those who receive him to share his life by participation in his death and resurrection.  The Gospel becomes a source of life, enlightenment, and transformation; it becomes food, “medicine of immortality” (Ad Ephesios).  The Spirit points out new strategies for witness and accompaniment.

 The world needs the Gospel.  Through the Church, Christ continues his mission as Good Samaritan, caring for humanity's wounds, and Good Shepherd, seeking out those who wander.  Many experiences testify to the Gospel's transformative power:  the Dinka student who at the cost of his own life protected a student about to be killed; the northern Uganda Mass where after massacres a missionary made the people repeat, “My God, why have you abandoned me?”; countless testimonies to how the Gospel helps overcome narrowness, conflict, racism, tribalism, and to promote reconciliation, fraternity, and sharing.

A spirituality of exodus enlivens the Church’s mission.  We're challenged to go reach the peripheries in need of the Gospel.  The Church’s mission impels us to be pilgrims across the deserts of life, through experiences of hunger and thirst for truth and justice.  The Church’s mission inspires a sense of exile, to make us aware we're journeying towards our final home.

The Church is not an end but an instrument and mediation of the Kingdom.  We prefer a Church bruised, hurting, and dirty because it's been out on the streets to one unhealthy from clinging to its own security.  Young people are the hope of mission; they serve humanity with courage and enthusiasm.  The Pontifical Mission Societies develop a missionary heart in everyone and awaken a in every Christian community a desire to proclaim the Gospel.  We join in prayer, testimony of life, and communion of goods to respond to the needs of evangelization.  May we draw inspiration from Mary, Mother of Evangelization, who welcomed the Word in faith.  May she help us say yes, conscious of the need to make the Good News resound today.  May she obtain for us zeal in bringing everyone the Good News of life victorious over death, so we may discover new ways to bring everyone the gift of salvation.

 Read
    Give to Caesar... / Give to God...
    (animate)
  • Is 45:1, 4-6  I have called you by name.  I am the Lord; there is no other....
  • Ps 96:1, 3-5, 7-10  "Give the Lord glory and honor."  Sing the Lord a new song.  The Lord is great, awesome, and just.  Enter his courts, worship, and tremble....
  • 1 Thes 1:1-5  We give God thanks for you, remember your faith, love, and hope, and how you were chosen.  Our gospel came in word, power, the Spirit, and with conviction.
  • Mt 22:15-21  Pharisees, trying to trap him / Jesus:  "Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar?" / "You hypocrites, whose image is on the coin?" / "Caesar's." / "Then pay Caesar what belongs to him, and God what belongs to God."
Reflect
  • Creighton:  God is active today, though we may not recognize how our experiences and actions fit into his plan.  Cyrus the Great respected the traditions of the regions under his control.  He allowed the deported Jews to return.  God called him to be the deliverer of the chosen people, and Cyrus was integral in the preservation of the Jewish people and their religion and culture. / It's easier to point to God's presence and plan when things seem comfortable and clear than when we feel lost and discouraged, but dark times can help us recognize gifts from before.  May we always seek direction so as to help accomplish God's plan.
    Denarius from Jesus' time
  • Passionist:  God knows and calls us by name.  When we're aware of that, we feel valued and worthwhile and act as if life is meaningful and our lives count.  Paul reminded the Thessalonians they'd received the Gospel with the Spirit's power and that God loved and chose them.  We can be overwhelmed and forget God's love and call to live the gospel.  Jesus reminds us we belong to God.  Once we become aware of that, we won't be confused about what belongs to Caesar and what to God.  What belongs to this earthly existence has no ultimate value.  Wealth and good standing, ours by God’s grace, bring responsibility to share with the needy, spread Gospel values, and give witness to God’s way of life....
  • DailyScripture.net:  "Give everyone their due; "owe nothing, except to love one another."  We, "stamped"(as a coin) with God's image and likeness, belong to God and should present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.  "Lord, because you made me, I owe you my love; because you redeemed me, I owe you myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you my being....  Make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding.  I owe you more than my self but have no more, and by myself I cannot render it to you.  Draw me to you in the fullness of love.  I am yours by creation; make me yours in love."  (Anselm)
Dress Legend
  • 'Hand' tie pin:  The Lord grasps right hand of Cyrus (1st reading)
  • 'Phone' tie bar:  "I have 'called' you by name" (1st reading)
  • 'Sun' pin:  "I arm you so that toward the sun's rising and setting people may know I alone am Lord" (1st reading)
  • 'Clef' pin:  Sing to the Lord a new song (psalm)
  • 'World' tie:  Tell the Lord's glory among the nations (psalm); World Mission Day
  • 'Crown' tie bar:  Say among the nations:  The Lord is king (psalm)
  • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  Grace and peace to you (2nd reading)
  • 'Dove' pin:  Our gospel came to you in word, power, and the Holy Spirit (2nd reading)
  • 'Coin' button:  "Show me the coin....  Pay Caesar what's his and God what's God's" (gospel)
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)