From the Pastor – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the Pastor – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings set a high bar for us Christian stewards, reminding us that a stewardship way of life is meant to be a challenging way of life.

In the second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, we are told to live as Christ lived. And how did Christ live? “For the sake of the joy that lay before Him He endured the cross.” If we are tempted to complain about the sufferings we must endure in living as Christ’s disciples, we are told, “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” In other words, “If you’re not bleeding, what are you complaining about?” That is quite a high bar!

The Gospel reading from Luke continues this challenging theme. Our Lord tells His disciples “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” A couple of verses later Jesus adds, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Jesus’s life on this earth and the message He brought were not meant to simply make us feel good. In fact, His words can make us downright uncomfortable at times. That’s because His Good News (and it is indeed good news!) Is meant to change us, to make saints of us.

The stewardship way of life sets a high bar indeed. But deeply embraced, this way of life focused on God and others will make us the saints we are called to be. ©Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Pastoral Pondering – For most of us over school age, the end of summer marks a return to the normal rhythm of life. Children and young people might like summer to go on and on, but, in my experience, moms and dads are normally ready for a fall change J. In reflecting back on the weeks of summer, I can honestly say that things around the parish did not really slow down. Although, both pre-K and St. Mark School were on recess, every week brought some type of camp or event that kept things around the parish “hopping”.

I was fortunate this summer to have a considerable amount of time for prayer and reflection. Both the annual pilgrimage to Fatima and my attendance at the Priests, Deacons and Seminarians Conference at the Franciscan University provided some needed space for renewal. Last week’s Priests’ Convocation offered an excellent discussion of Matthew’s Gospel which we will begin hearing in the Sunday readings this coming Advent and a good reminder that no matter how many times you read the Gospels, there is always more to learn and “hear”. Taking such time is important for all of us regardless of our vocation. I am hopeful that these summer days afforded you some time for refreshment and reflection as well.

Finally, as I sit writing this, the country is reeling and reacting to the mass shootings in El Paso and in Dayton. Such tragedy changes a community in many ways. Sadly, the public discussion often focuses on politics and political talking points rather than looking more deeply at the root cause of such acts of violence. From a Christian standpoint, man’s inhumanity to man is certainly a part of the whole story. We’ve seen this time and time again in recent history, e.g. the holocaust, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. As Catholic Christians we must always be reminded of our fundamental view of the human person. As the Catechism points out: God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. (CCC, 1). We are made by God and for God in God’s image and likeness (see Gen. 1:26).

Discussions about gun laws and so forth may be worthwhile, necessary, and address some aspects of the problem. However, the real dilemma runs much deeper and cannot be legislated because it occurs on a spiritual level. We have forgotten who we are as human beings. We see this in public discourse, and we see it in such acts of violence. The soul of our country is sick and needs healing. I believe the healing that is necessary, however, will only come when we remember our need for God. And that road, I fear will be a long and hard one. For our part, we need to make sure that we always seek to show forth our commitment to Christ in every aspect of our lives. In his book, Abba’s Child Brennan Manning writes: “the single greatest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians…who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door [of the Church], and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” I pray that we always commit ourselves to be followers of Christ both in words and in deeds. Only then will we be able to provide the world with the witness that it so desperately needs.