Daily Writing
| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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October 23, 2010
October 24th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 3 Period II.The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for October 24th are Glorious.
Go to St. Boniface - Cincinnati, Oh
for Fr. Joe's Mass
Sunday 10:00am and 12:00 noon
Please pray for Jimmy
Pray for Printing of Cycle A Book
We need donations for the postage to send it out.
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or Call
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Can anyone please help us payoff
our loan on the building?
October 23, 2010
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18
for the Lord is a judge
who is utterly impartial.
He never shows partiality to the detriment of the poor,
he listens to the plea of the injured party.
He does not ignore the orphan's supplication,
nor the widow's as she pours out her complaint.
Psalm 34: 2-3, 17-19, 22
Bet I will praise Yahweh from my heart;
let the humble hear and rejoice.Gimel Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh,
let us acclaim his name together.Zade They cry in anguish and Yahweh hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
Qoph Yahweh is near to the broken–hearted,
he helps those whose spirit is crushed.Resh Though hardships without number beset the upright,
Yahweh brings rescue from them all.Taw Yahweh ransoms the lives of those who serve him,
and there will be no penalty for those who take refuge in him.
2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18
As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to depart. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come for me now is the crown of uprightness which the Lord, the upright judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his appearing.
The first time I had to present my defence, no one came into court to support me. Every one of them deserted me — may they not be held accountable for it. But the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed for all the gentiles to hear; and so I was saved from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Luke 18: 9-14
He spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being upright and despised everyone else, ‘Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like everyone else, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get." The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." This man, I tell you, went home again justified; the other did not. For everyone who raises himself up will be humbled, but anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.’
When Fr. Joe's friend went to Ethiopia
only 10% of the people had shoes —
Fr. Joe said — Joke - a young priest became an associate —
the pastor said — he had been good for the
parish —
He said attendance was up —
Every one was happy —
The priest said he would have to get
rid of the sign before the
drive in confession
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"Toot and tell or go to hell" |
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 28, 2007
A very stern and humorless lady was not feeling well and made an appointment to see a doctor. The doctor began by asking his new patient some basic questions. “Do you drink at all?” “I never touch alcohol!” She said with great distain. “Do you smoke?” “I never go near tobacco!” She was insulted by the question. “What about your sleeping habits?” “I go to bed early every night,” she said haughtily. “I have no time for late-night partying and carousing. I am a busy woman. I am in bed by ten and up by six every morning.” “I see,” said the doctor, making notes on the chart. “Now exactly what’s been the problem?” “I have been having terrible headaches,” she said. “I think I see your problem,” the doctor said. “your halo is too tight.”
I wonder if the Pharisee in today’s gospel had problems with headaches. Those who heard Jesus would have understood the parable up until the last line. Jesus description of the Pharisee was accurate as well as his description of the tax collector. It was that last line that would have blown their minds: “The tax collector went home justified, the other did not.” Pharisees were holy people. Their main desire in life was to live by God’s law as perfectly as possible. It is certainly an admirable goal to follow God’s law faithfully. Tax collectors were despised as among the worst of sinners. They were seen as traitors in that they collected taxes for the hated Romans who controlled the Holy Land in Jesus’ day. More than that, they made their living on the taxes they collected and most likely they were not as honest as they should have been. As long as they gave the Roman Governor what was due, anything extra they managed to collect or extort was theirs. Some of them grew quite wealthy. In his parable Jesus was not trying to put down people who try to be good and applaud people who aren’t. The parable is really all about prayer. Do you remember last week’s gospel when Jesus told the story of the unjust judge and the poor widow who badgered him until she got a just settlement. It was a lesson in perseverance in prayer. Today he gives us another lesson in prayer.
At first it sounds as if the prayer of the Pharisee is a good prayer. It starts off with: “O God, I thank you…” Not a bad start. Thanking God should always be part of everyone’s prayer. If we can honestly say we’ve been pretty decent people, that’s a good think to thank God for. I often thank God for the parents I had, the education I had and the faith I have. I would hate to think where I would have ended up without the values I’ve been taught and the opportunities and grace God has given me. But if we examine the so called prayer of the Pharisee, we will see it is no prayer at all. Jesus tells us the Pharisee spoke this prayer to himself. He wasn’t talking to God but to himself. His prayer was filled with self-pride (not giving God the credit for his virtuous life) and with contempt of others who were not as good as he thought he was. If he had really given God thanks for the help and grace he had received that aided him to become the good person he was, if he had said a prayer for the tax-collector who may not have received the same opportunities and blessings in life that the Pharisee had received, then that would have been a real prayer. But that’s not the way it was. The tax-collector is the one who really prayed an honest prayer. He really connected with God in recognizing his own sinfulness and asking forgiveness. In honestly connecting with God he was justified; i.e., he was forgiven.
We only find this parable in St. Luke’s gospel, which is sometimes referred to as the gospel of prayer. It tells us our prayer must be genuine, it must be honest, it must be humble. If the Pharisee wasn’t such a pompous guy he probably would have been a pretty nice person. I’ll bet his wife found him to be a royal pain. It’s hard to live with someone who is perfect. I’ve tried to do marriage counseling with people like that. I wasn’t very successful. Someone who thinks they are perfect is not only blind to their own faults, they are quite conscious of the faults of others and feel it is their duty to constantly point them out.
I could talk a long time about pride and humility, honesty and dishonesty, being judgmental, looking down on others, etc. but I won’t. That would take another 45 minutes. We might just take a moment and ask ourselves “how do I pray?” To pray well we do not have to think of ourselves as no good, we do not have to sit in the back of church, we do not have to put ourselves down. We do have to be honest and humble, and if we’ve sinned, ask for forgiveness. Also at least once a week, if not more often, we need to spend some time recognizing how we’ve been blessed and saying “thanks” for all we’ve been given. We do that most perfectly in the Eucharist which we now celebrate. Amen
The tax collector came for forgiveness
and he received it —
The tax collector went home justified —
the other did not —
Holiness is there for whoever is open
and wants to do God's will in love —
Order your Christmas presents that last!
Fr. Joe's Cycle A book will be available this week.
$10.00 each plus shipping
| Rita Ring |
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| Fr. Joe Robinson |
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| Fr. Edward J. Carter |
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