| "Blessed
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Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time:
Aug. 19-25, 2007 |
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The Twentieth Week in Ordinary TimeSunday is the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus says, "I have come to set the earth on fire." He warns us that the divisions we see, even in our own families, are too often caused by the choices people make about his mission. Monday is the Memorial of Saint Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church. Tuesday is the Memorial of Saint Pius X, pope. Wednesday is the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Friday is the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle. Beginning on Monday, we hear from the book of Judges how the Israelites, fallen away from the Covenant, are brought back into that special relationship as God reaches out to Gideon. In Matthew's Gospel this week Jesus describes the cost of discipleship. Through parables, He accounts how the Kingdom of Heaven, while a beacon of hope, causes those called to follow Him to be ostracized from mainstream society. We are called to consider and pray with the cost of following Christ and to realize our truly God-given potential as Christian followers of Jesus; knowing that "many are invited, but few are chosen." Our faith and our relationships with God and our community carry a responsibility that God will grace us with the abilities to carry out. |
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Daily Prayer This WeekThis week we are invited to contemplate the price of discipleship. We are encouraged to not simply think of our call to follow Christ as one of burden, but that which we are invited to undertake, and best of all, are provided the means by God to fulfill those responsibilities of discipleship. There are many situations in our everyday lives that can become burdensome; that can be seen as things we "have to do" without regard to our own personal desire to do them. Often our faith can become this obligatory commitment that we find ourselves "going through the motions." We are asked by Christ to enter into that mystery that is discipleship, and allow ourselves to embrace God's commandments, not as obligatory burdens, but reconciling, freeing graces. Like the young man who questions Jesus about what good it is he must do to gain eternal life, we must understand that our own humanity separates us from that which is divine. Our own humanity is precisely how we are able to fulfill those commandments that Jesus reiterates as being essential to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We might spend this week's moments in prayer considering how it is we live up to those commandments, as well as which areas of our life we need to grow in. We can recognize the relationships that we are a part of and the ways these commandments bring us into unity with one another; into one community hopeful for the Kingdom. If we are able to recognize that grace that is given us to live out these commands, we are able to recognize that society that accepts us for following that call of discipleship, and not feel ostracized by the society that rejects us. Finally, as we approach Sunday, we can ask our Lord to grant us the wisdom to recognize His work in our lives, to realize that not only have we been offered this call of discipleship, we have been chosen. |
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