29th Sunday
in Ordinary Time – October 14, 2018
I
–If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a
long line.
R
–Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
II
– Let us confidently approach the throne of grace.
A
– The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
G –The
Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many.
+ Our theme of celebration today has everything to do with suffering, serving and sainthood. The
long and short of it is that we do not have a “glamorous” religion at all. The
true heart and core of the Catholic faith has everything to do with imitating
the greatest suffering servant Son of all:
Jesus Christ. The horrible nature of
the broken relationship between God and his beloved human creations is almost
unbearable to comprehend when we think of it in all of its tragic detail and
rampant ramifications. How could anyone so highly favored and exalted in God’s
sight and friendship wantonly, willfully and knowingly choose to obliterate
that relationship – which clearly was marked out as the result of violation of
trust and disobedience to a simple command.
And yet our first parents,
Adam, and Eve, his wife, committed such an act, such a betrayal, such a crime
against their own progeny. And yet, almost incomprehensibly and shockingly, our
loving Father-God immediately set into place a plan to make it right – to give
the outcasts another chance – to redeem them through an act of equal
unthinkable obedience: the human death of one who is also true God at the same
time, the death of his own only-begotten Son, Jesus!
And
so the Suffering Servant came among us and accomplished our
redemption in the most dramatic and powerful way that he could – teaching us
all along the way just how important LOVE
is: because love was the reason for his action, love was the motive of his
Father’s command, love is what makes everything personal alive and vibrant –
never to die.
So, now, having done that, we have a high priest, Jesus, Son of God, in
the heavens, interceding for us as we each make our own individual and
personal response to his loving gesture of redemption made on our behalf. And
we have surrounding him a cloud of witnesses,
friends of his, who lived fully their faith in him, took the risks involved in drinking the cup of suffering and death
that comes with being a true follower – and are now considered saints: models
and intercessors on our behalf.
And of course, chief among
them is Mary, Mother of God, Mother of Us All, Mother of the Church. Not only
is she a model Christian, she herself has great intercessory power with her
Son, and ultimately it is what he says goes – all answered prayers then – are
returned by graces she helps obtain – and are released through her open hands.
In this month of October – her
month – may we turn to often and pray often the prayer that she tells us is a
sure, tested and proven prayer: the Rosary.
The Church and the World are
in grave danger of imploding on themselves – because much focus is on
themselves, especially those in authority – armed with a Rosary in one hand,
and the Cross of Christ in the other: good will prevail, the devil will be
banished, and peace will reign in the hearts of those who persist until the
end.
Amen.
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