Seek the Lord
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today’s opening reading, Isaiah urges us to “seek the LORD” who is “near” and can be “found” (Isaiah 55:6). Then Isaiah says God’s ways are as high above our ways “as the heavens are above the earth” (Isaiah 55:9). So we search, not because God is hiding, but because our tendencies are so different from God’s ways that we get lost. How are God’s ways so high above our ways? The example Isaiah gives is that God’s way is to be “generous in forgiving” (Isaiah 55:7). And our way? We try to be “fair.” You hurt me, so then I hurt you back, just as hard. Then, of course, you . . . . And on it goes. In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches that God is not “fair” like that. Instead, God is so generous we can hardly understand it. The same wage for one hour as for a whole day of work? Not fair! “Seek the Lord,” and we might find a God who calls us to be, not fair, but generous beyond expectations.
Living God’s Word
Everyone who participates in God’s reign has God’s own generous justice to thank. And that humble knowledge of God’s generosity to us should compel us to show the same generosity to the poor and marginalized in our Church and our society.
Readings for the Week
Monday: Prv 3:27-34; Ps 15:2-5; Lk 8:16-18
Tuesday: Prv 21:1-6, 10-13; Ps 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44; Lk 8:19-21
Wednesday: Prv 30:5-9; Ps 119:29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163; Lk 9:1-6
Thursday: Eccl 1:2-11; Ps 90:3-6, 12-14, 17bc; Lk 9:7-9
Friday: Eccl 3:1-11; Ps 144:1b, 2abc, 3-4; Lk 9:18-22
Saturday: Eccl 11:9 — 12:8; Ps 90:3-6, 12-14, 17; Lk 9:43b-45
Sunday: Ez 18:25-28; Ps 25:4-9; Phil 2:1-11 [1-5]; Mt 21:28-32
Saints & Special Observances
Sunday: Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Catechetical Sunday
Tuesday: St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio); Autumn begins
Wednesday: Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) 5775 begins at sunset
Friday: Ss. Cosmas and Damian
Saturday: St. Vincent de Paul
Teaching on God’s Gift of Forgiveness
This year, the Church will celebrate Catechetical Sunday on September 21, 2014, and will focus on the theme “Teaching About God’s Gift of Forgiveness.” Those whom the community has designated to serve as catechists will be called forth to be commissioned for their ministry. Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. Catechetical Sunday is an opportunity for all to rededicate themselves to this mission as a community of faith.
The theme for 2014 Catechetical Sunday is “Teaching about God’s Gift of Forgiveness”. Even before anyone of us can consider seeking forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, we know God is already at work in our hearts. God the Father pursues us down the byways of our life, intent to restore and share with us in greater measure a life of grace and union with him, which was secured at so great a cost through the saving death of his Son. The Spirit helps us to discern where sinfulness has wounded and enslaved us, and creates in us, the penitents, a readiness to embrace ongoing conversion of life through sorrow for sins, sacramental confession through the ministry of the priest, and a firm purpose of amendment…
…Whether you confess regularly, or this is the first time in a long time, may this be your moment to draw near to the confessional with confidence to celebrate the tender loving mercy of God. May you experience again and again God’s gift of forgiveness and healing through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Bishop David L. Ricken,
Chairman of Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis
Retrieved from http://www.usccb.org