Sixth Sunday Ordinary Time Year A
What are the spheres of my influence? Am I following our Lord’s example?First Reading Sirach 15:15–20
Response Psalm 119:1b
Psalm Psalm 119:1–2, 4–5, 17–18, 33–34
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 2:6–10
Gospel Acclamation Matthew 11:25
Gospel Matthew 5:17–37
We come to church to worship on Sundays. When we leave, when Fr gives the final blessing, is when our Christian leadership starts.
Our Lord looks at the content of our hearts, not just our external appearances and behaviors; He knows our deepest motivations and desires. Matthew Kelley puts our human condition very succinctly. He said we are very good at deceiving ourselves. The Pharisees thought they were in a very good and healthy relationship with God. But in fact, they were not. They actually ended up rejecting God. They were the major players behind the crucifixion of Jesus. Are we sure that we are not conducting ourselves like Pharisees? We are not persecuting Christians like the Pharisees were persecuting Christ followers. We all probably are regular church goers. We must also remember that our work starts after the mass ends. I think much of my adult life I didn’t know what Jesus truly expects of me.
In the second reading we read that St. Paul points out the beauty of what God has in store for those of us who love Him. Our Lord in today’s Gospel acclamation says this wisdom is hidden from us. It is revealed to infants. A short reflection will tell us that our Lord is telling that she (the Wisdom) is given to those who are humble. We need to be constantly on-guard to keep updating this wisdom, so we do not effectively persecute Christ unconsciously.
We all need to stop being a thermometer and become like a thermostat. Let’s say I am holding a thermometer that reads 70 Degree F. If I insert that thermometer in cup of water that is 80 Deg F, it will adjust itself to its environment. However, if we take a thermostat and set it to 70 Deg F. It will invoke necessary actions to change the environment to 70 Deg F and not adjust itself to match the environment. We Catholics must be careful not to adjust ourselves to the culture but work to change the culture to our standards. For this, we need to understand our standards. We are capable of impacting the culture. A cursory look at Church history clearly reveals our positive impact on society in the past. So, let us finish with couple of verses from our first reading today as a prayer:
*********************************************
33Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it to the end.
34Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Let us align all our actions in the society to build God’s Kingdom and not to persecute Christ unconsciously; because “eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him.
First Sunday of Lent – Year A
First Reading: Gn 2:7–9; 3:1–7Responsorial Psalm: Ps 51:3–4, 5–6, 12–13, 17Second Reading: Rom 5:12–19 or 5:12, 17–19Gospel: Mt 4:1–11 In today’s selection from the Letter to the Romans, Paul connects the first reading and the Gospel by proposing that we look at Jesus...
Church History Part 1
Why Church history? C.S Lewis said, the growth of the Church is like a long conversation. If the conversation started at 10 AM and if we joined the conversation at 3 P.M, we would hardly follow the discussion unless someone updates us. To fully grasp where we fit...
Church History Part 2
It is generally believed that the birth of the Church was on the day of Pentecost; Fifty days after our Lord’s Ascension to Heaven. However, I would like to take this opportunity and go back to the Old Testament and point out couple of historical events. Our Church...
Church History Part 3
From 54 A.D to 68 A.D emperor Nero was ruling Rome. His mother was the great granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. When he became the emperor, he was guided by his mother and senate. Nero, however, was not happy about the restrictions imposed by his mother and the...
Church History Part 4
While Emperor Nero was still alive, Peter was accepted as the leader of the apostles. Our Lord, in Matthew 16:18, assigned Church leadership to Peter. Peter and the apostles were performing miracles and performing plenty of good deeds in addition to spreading the...
Church History Part 5
While the apostles were making inroads in evangelization, there was a pharisee called Saul of Tarsus who was working against them. Tarsus is in present day Turkey. He was also a Roman citizen. He was from a wealthy family. His dad was a tent maker. He studied...
Church History Part 6
I ended last week’s article with a question why the Jewish scriptures were translated to Greek. Alexander the Great had conquered most of the known world, taking the Greek language with him. Around the same time because of persecution, Jewish Christians fled to other...
Church History Part 7
Last week we saw why and how the Greek Translation of the Scriptures were done. I pointed outed out that we should not view ancient historical events with the same expectations as reading present day history. There is another reason that is of interest regarding the...
Church History Part 8
Because the early Church in Jerusalem was growing at a rapid pace, the apostles were being stretched thin by preaching, praying, administering the money and land given to them, and distributing necessities to those in need. In Acts 6:2, the apostles say: “It is not...
Church History Part 9
Towards the end the article published on August 28th we saw St. Paul proposing that Gentiles can become Christians without first converting to Judaism. Apostles, who were all Jews, were shocked. Circumcision was required to become a Jew. On the one hand the apostles...
Church History – Part 10
After the council of Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas had a difference of opinion and they parted ways. From this point on, Timothy became Paul’s closest companion. His remarkable missionary journeys, which had already begun before the council of Jerusalem with visits to...
Church History – Part 11
Bartholomew, according to a non-Biblical document “Martyrdom of Bartholomew”, was martyred in Armenia by King Astyages. Historian Eusebius who lived in the 4th century has recorded that Bartholomew preached in India too. His remains are currently located at the...
Church History – Part 12
According to tradition, St. Linus was appointed by St. Peter and St. Paul as the successor of St. Peter. In 2 Timothy 4:21 St. Paul writes about a Linus passing on his greetings to Timothy. It is generally believed that the Linus that Paul writes about is the same...
Church History – Part 13
In last week’s article we saw one of the internal issues that the early Church fathers had to address was Christianity’s relationship with Judaism. While reflecting on the disputes between different group of Christians on various practices and interpretations of...
Church History – Part 13
In last week’s article we saw one of the internal issues that the early Church fathers had to address was Christianity’s relationship with Judaism. While reflecting on the disputes between different group of Christians on various practices and interpretations of...
Church History – Part 14
The Church in the second century was made up of local communities from the Mediterranean Sea to the Middle East. They had a strong sense of unity even though they were loosely organized. This is when another controversy arose. This controversy is called Gnosis. ...
Church History – Part 15
Around A.D 285 Diocletian became the Roman emperor. He realized that the empire had grown too large to be governed by one person. He divided the kingdom into two (East and West). He kept the ultimate power and appointed governors and assistants. In the West, they...
Church History – Part 16
In my last article on Nov 6th bulletin, we had reached a point in the Church history where emperor of Rome, Constantine had made Christianity as an official religion of Rome. For Emperor Constantine, to become a Christian was one thing, but to deal as an emperor with...
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