Yahweh appeared to him at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘if I find favour with you, please do not pass your servant by. Let me have a little water brought, and you can wash your feet and have a rest under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you can refresh yourselves before going further, now that you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’ 

    Abraham hurried to the tent and said to Sarah, ‘Quick, knead three
measures of best flour and make loaves.' Then, running to the herd, Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking curds, milk and the calf which had been prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

    ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent,’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall come back to you next year, and then your wife Sarah will have a son.’

    

Psalm 15: 2-5

The guest of Yahweh

Psalm Of David

Whoever lives blamelessly, 
who acts uprightly, 
who speaks the truth from the heart, 
who keeps the tongue under control, 

who does not wrong a comrade, 
who casts no discredit on a neighbour, 
who looks with scorn on the vile, 
but honours those who fear Yahweh, 

who stands by an oath at any cost, 
who asks no interest on loans, 
who takes no bribe to harm the innocent. 
No one who so acts can ever be shaken.

  

Colossians 1: 24-28

It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church, of which I was made a servant with the responsibility towards you that God gave to me, that of completing God's message, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his holy people. It was God's purpose to reveal to them how rich is the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; it is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we are proclaiming, admonishing and instructing everyone in all wisdom, to make everyone perfect in Christ.

 

Luke 10: 38-42

In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.'

 

 

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 18, 2004

INTRODUCTION – One of the themes of today’s readings is hospitality. Jesus, and most likely his disciples, share the hospitality of Martha and Mary, his friends in Bethany. Our first reading is about Abraham who welcomes three strangers with a lavish banquet. The Bible said he was 100 years old, but he was still pretty energetic as we hear. He doesn’t realize it at the time that it is God whom he is entertaining. God must have enjoyed the feast, for God tells him that his lifelong desire that he and his wife, Sarah, would have a son would finally be fulfilled.

HOMILY – There was a man who went to see his doctor and he had a carrot sticking out of one ear and a piece of celery sticking out of the other, with a couple of grapes stuck up his nose. He complained to the doctor he was not feeling well. The doctor said “It’s obvious, that you’re not eating properly!

    I hope you will pardon me for emphasizing the obvious, but everybody enjoys eating. Most of us sit down to eat several times a day and probably snack occasionally in-between. Jesus was away from his home territory of Galilee and was near Jerusalem when hevisited Martha and Mary in Bethany. He and most likely his disciples probably hadn’t had a good meal for a while and Martha was ready to put out a really fine feast for them all. But Jesus knew that in addition to feeding our bodies, there are other needs that we human beings have. After all, he is the one who responded to the temptations of the devil in the desert, after forty days of fasting, that we do not live by bread alone! Our hearts need to be fed with love and our spirits need to be fed with wisdom and truth. er part,” was he saying taking time to pray is better than feeding a hungry person? I don’t think Jesus is saying that either. We need to do both. I think that’s why St. Luke put this story right after the parable of the Good Samaritan. St. Luke is telling us we need balance. We need to do good things for others, but we need to take time just to sit at our Lord’s feet and communicate with him. I’m sure most of us remember the passage from the Book of Qoheleth: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; etc.” Perhaps what Jesus was saying to Martha when he said “Mary has chosen the better part,” he was saying this is a golden opportunity; here is the Son of God coming toAnd Martha’s sister, Mary, was needing to be fed with the wisdom and truth and love that Jesus spoke. When Jesus said “Mary has hosen the better part,” was he saying that sitting and praying or reading the Bible is more important than having a good meal? I don’t think so. We need both. It wouldn’t be a bad idea though if sometimes we ate a little less and prayed a little more. We seldom get so busy that we forget to eat in the course of a day. How often do we forget to spend a little while with God during the course of a day or even during the course of a week. When Jesus said “Mary has chosen the bett visit and you’re worried about chopping up the parsley; or perhaps he was saying “you’re trying to put out an eight course meal, Martha, and we would be happy with just a sandwich,” or perhaps he was saying “maybe we ought to think about feeding the spirit before feeding our faces;” or perhaps he was saying “maybe we need to spend a little time enjoying each other’s company before we get all uptight about dinner.”

    I remember some years ago when I would visit home, I just wanted to spend a little time sitting and talking and my mother was always trying to serve something to eat, even if I had just had supper. Frustrating! Now she is in a nursing home and when I visit, she’s not trying to feed me. We both just enjoy the visit. On the other hand, I have heard from so many wives how their husbands never have time to sit down and talk. They’re always busy doing something or else they’re half asleep in front of the TV. They complain “I feel like I’m all alone.” In too many families today, the family members are too busy to listen to one another, to talk to one another, to feed one another emotionally. We do not live by bread alone.

    Jesus came to Martha and Mary’s house and was given hospitality. Jesus did not belittle what Martha was doing. She was trying to see that Jesus and his apostles were fed. I’m sure he appreciated it. But he wanted to feed them too, with a food that would not just satisfy them for a few hours but for eternity. Didn’t he tell us in another place: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you?” (Jn. 6,27) As we come here today we are giving God our worship, our time, our love, our thanks, our prayer and our praise. Our being here is a gift to our God who created us and to our Savior who died for us. But we’re not just giving. We sit at his feet, listening to his word, being fed with his wisdom and truth. We receive him in Communion, we open our hearts to his love and presence. We pause for moments of silence so he can speak to us. Prayer is not just doing all the talking. It is also listening. Everything has its appointed time. Now, on this Lord’s day, is the appointed time to be like Mary in today’s gospel and communicate with our Lord.

 

January 13, 2022

^{Mysteries of Light in Petition}

The Baptism of Jesus

1. The sky was thrown open, the voice of the Father was heard.
2. "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
3. These are the mysteries of light.
4. Jesus is the Light of the world.
5. After Jesus lived the private life from age 12 to 30, He began His public life with the Baptism of Jesus.
6. We are on a journey, God wants us to grow more and more in the image and likeness of Jesus.
7. Jesus took flesh and came to this earth to teach us. Jesus is our Redeemer, our Savior.
8. Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordon, above His head was a dove, the Holy Spirit.
9. The Holy Spirit guides us to know God's will, fills us with love, and inspires us on this journey here below.
10. We run into complications on our journey in life, the Holy Spirit guides us on our way.
    Come Holy Spirit fill us with Your grace and Your love.
 

The Marriage at Cana

1. Jesus and Mary went to the wedding at Cana.
2. At the wedding they ran out of wine.
3. Mary told Jesus.
4. Jesus said, "My time has not come."
5. Mary told the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."
6. There were some water jars, Jesus told them to fill them with water.
7. Jesus changed water into wine.
8. Jesus performed His first miracle in His public life at Cana.
9. Jesus is the Son of God. Nothing is impossible with God.
10. In the Mass bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus.
 

The Kingdom of God

1. God wants us to promote the Kingdom of God.
2. We have a free will to choose light or darkness on our journey through life.
3. We can obey God's will and live in love, or disobey God's will and be unloving.
4. We are called to love God and love our brothers as ourselves.
5. God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of love.
6. Fr. Carter said there are 3 loves.
    Love of God. Love of others.
    Love of self.
7. We were created social creatures.
    If God created us to be social creatures, we should learn on this journey to work with others.
8. God the Father created us and wants us eternally with Him in heaven.
    We are on a journey to die to those ways not like Jesus and grow in the image and likeness of Jesus.
9. God wants us to live virtuously.
10. Mary is our Mother, Queen of heaven and earth.
 

The Transfiguration

1. Jesus took Peter, James and John up Mt. Tabor.
2. There Jesus was transfigured before them and
    Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus.
3. Jesus was transfigured in the brightest light.
4. Moses gave us the commandments and Elijah was a prophet.
5. Dear God, guide us to Thy perfect light.
6. God is a God of miracles; miracles are normal for God.
7. Peter, James and John were in awe.
8. The voice of the Father was heard: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, Listen to Him."
9. Jesus brought them down the mountain.
10. Soon there would be the Passion.
 

The Institution of the Eucharist

1. Think of the last supper.
2. See the Apostles around Jesus at the Last Supper.
3. See Judas at the table, the one who would betray Jesus.
4. Because Judas was working against Jesus, Jesus still did what He was to do.
5. Jesus gives us the sacraments.
6. In baptism, we receive a sharing in His life.
7. Jesus gives us Himself in the Eucharist: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
8. Jesus loves us so much He wants us to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist.
9. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.
10. We need to pray for our priests that celebrate the Mass.