Collect for 30th Sunday of Year A

The Collect for the 30th Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

 

Almighty ever-living God,

increase our faith, hope and charity,

and makes us love what You command,

so that we may merit what You promise.

 

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

 

1. What is faith and what does my faith mean to me?

2. How will I increase my faith this coming week?

3. What is hope and what does it mean to me?

4. How will I increase hope in my life this coming week?

5. What is love and what does it mean to me?

6. How will I increase love this coming week in my life?

7. What does God command?

8.  What does God promise and how will I merit it?

 

In the first reading we are reminded that if we are harsh with the widow or orphan, God's anger will rage against you.  In other words, we are to treat those who are experiencing difficulties in their lives with respect and the more vulnerable their position is, the more we need to treat them as well as we can.

 

In the second reading, we are reminded to turn away from idols and to serve God.  We need to examine therefore what our idols are as awareness of them is the first step. If we are not aware that they serve as an idol, it is impossible to make the decision freely to turn away from them.  If we are not aware of the idols in our lives, then pray to the Holy Spirit to enlighten us- to show us the areas of our lives that need  changing- that possess some sort of idol in it.

Idols can be in themselves harmless but it is what we make them, what we do with them that makes them an idol.  For example- watching TV can be an enjoyable activity. However when we watch too much of it and neglect our duties or our families or God, then it has become an idol. We consider it to be more important than God, our family or our duty. It is out of whack with what is healthy.

Food can become another idol- we all need food but as we know some food is not good for us in extreme amounts. Food for some people can become an addiction and/or an escape from the troubles in their lives.  It can replace God in this sense because they go to food as their comfort and guide rather than seek God and His guidance.  I know- it is my weakness and something I have to watch carefully.

 

The Gospel outlines the commandment of love- the two fold one- to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

From a counselling perspective it is
difficult to give and receive love if we do not love ourselves in a healthy manner first.  Note I say a healthy manner. 

God expects us to love ourselves- He does not consider it to be selfish. It can be if we only think of ourselves but healthy love of ourselves involves  respecting ourselves in our body, in our mind and in our souls. It means to give balance to our relationship to God, to oneself and to other people. It means to be aware of our shortcomings and be prepared to work on these areas so that we can become a stronger, healthier version of ourselves- to be made in the image and likeness of God. It is us who, through original sin and our contribution of sin mar God’s image. We need to love God that we wish to restore that likeness of God’s image  and do whatever it takes to live a healthy balanced and respectful life  by being the best version of ourselves- the version God intended.

Loving our neighbour can only occur effectively if we, ourselves love God.  We cannot fully love our neighbour and ourselves if we fail to spend time with God, if we do not pray and enter into relationship with Him.  We cannot love God if we do not give Him worship at Sunday Mass or we ignore His commandments. 

God must be number ONE  in our lives.  Then and only then, will our quest for loving ourselves in a healthy way and our neighbour be possible.

                      

 

 

 

 



 



29 Sunday of Year A Collect

The Collect for the Twenty Ninth Sunday of the Year reads as follows:

 

Almighty ever-living God

grant that we may always conform our will to Yours

and serve Your majesty in sincerity of heart.

 

 

In making this prayer tangible the following reflection questions emerged:

 

 

1.What is my will?

2. What do I understand God's will for me?

3. What areas of my life conform to God's will and which areas do not yet conform?

4. Why do these areas  do not yet conform to God's will?

5. What changes could I make to ensure that these non confirming areas move towards conforming to God will?

6. How will I serve God in sincerity of heart this week?

 

 

The gospel reminds us today that we are not only heirs to the kingdom but we are citizens of God on earth.  In that regard, we must behave accordingly and ''give to Caeasar the things that belong to Caesar and those that belong to God''.

So what does this gospel mean for me then?  We belong to God in body, mind and spirit- we need to put Him first in our lives in every way. The catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that our purpose in life is to know love and serve God in this life and be happy with Him for ever in Heaven. How are you doing with this purpose in your life?  I know I am struggling in my life right now.

 

It follows then that if we belong to God and are wholeheartedly knowing, loving and serving Him in in sincerity of heart that we would do all that is right and just  towards the world we share.   Many people justify cheating on their tax- they feel they are being put upon and being treated unfairly and so, take the next step of dishonesty to ''balance the scales'' in their favour.   However, they are not only being dishonest financially but dishonest to the society in which they live and more importantly, dishonest in the sight of God.

 

This does not only apply to financial matters but to time as well.  Time wasting at work is another way of being dishonest and not giving to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar.  I am not talking about here where people are expected to work long hours and given insufficient breaks as if they are a machine- the so called human resources which takes the humanity out of the workforce. 

 

If you are an employer and do not give your employees genuine breaks, then you are treating your employees unjustly and are not serving God. For example an half hour for lunch is disgraceful when the employee often has to spend 5 minutes each way to get to/from lunch room- they may have 15 minutes to hurry down food causing digestion problems, more stress and not building any collegiality amongst staff. It does not give them enough rest to renew themselves before they begin again.  It is short sighted as well as staff will find other ways when they feel put upon to get the time they need to work effectively.   So then the employee becomes dishonest in time by necessity ( still wrong) and cycle of dishonesty of time is rife in no time.  

 

Then there are issues of wages and contracts. It is unjust to treat someone as a casual when in fact they are working a regular shift for years.  Are you as an employer being just to your staff- are you being just in the sight of God to your staff? Do you treat your staff as people not machines?  Is money your god not God Himself?

 

There are so many ways that we as employers and employees can give to Caesar the things that are Caesar and the things that belong to God.

 

We may ask ourselves what belongs to God as we hear this gospel?  Remember what the catechism says'' We must love God with our whole heart, soul and mind and our neighbour as ourselves''. Our whole being belongs to God  so give Him everything. Know love and serve God in this life so you can be happy with Him for ever.

 

Part of knowing, loving and serving God then is to know and carry out your affairs in honesty and justness (whether you are an employee or employer) or regardless what you are doing in your life.   Remember the way you treat another person is the way you are treating God as God lives in the other person.


 

 

 





Collect for 26th Sunday of Year A

The Collect for the 26th Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

 

O God, who manifest Your almighty power

by pardoning and showing mercy

bestow we pray, Your grace abundantly upon us,

and make those hastening attain your promises

heirs to the treasures of Heaven.

 

 

In making this prayer tangible for during the week the following reflection questions emerged:

 

 

1. What does it mean to me to be pardoned by God?

2. How does God show mercy to me in my life?

3. What grace do I want God to bestow on me this coming week?

4. What does it mean to me to be an heir to God's kingdom?

5. What difference being an heir to the Kingdom make in my life this week?

6. What are the treasures of Heaven and how will these treasures manifest themselves this coming week in my life?

In today's Gospel we have 2 sons response to the father- one says yes straightaway but does not go into the vineyard and the other says no but later thinks the better of it and goes.  It should be pointed out here that in the Jewish tradition that elders were respected, especially parents. So, to say no to the parent was indeed disrespectful and hurtful. The son who initially said no to his father was therefore being incredibly disrespectful and hurtful to the father. 

Today's gospel is therefore about lip service and heart service.  How do we respond to God?  Is it lip service- do we go to Mass or say our prayers with our lips whilst our heart is lukewarm at best?
Do we respond to God with our whole heart, soul and mind? Hopefully it is the second one.!!

Still, we are human, so we can get distracted,  we can become lukewarm and we can even offend God by our sins.  Jesus, through the sacrament of reconciliation/penance or confessions provides us with the remedy of confessing our sinfulness and being absolved. When we say no to God, in its many forms, we can be absolved and start again if we are truly sorry.  We can also receive healing and grace from the sacrament through regular reception of the sacrament.  So whether we have received the sacrament yesterday/today or it has been the ice age since we used this sacrament, we can say yes to God again with our whole heart and mind and through the sacrament be refreshed, renewed and forgiven.

                                         Will YOU say YES to God?