meeting Christ in the liturgy library

Ordinary Time, Sundays 13-22, Year C

Select liturgy here

SUNDAYS 13 - 15
SUNDAYS 16 - 18
SUNDAYS 19 - 22

 

 SUNDAYS 13 - 15



THIRTEENTH Sunday



FOURTEENTH Sunday


FIFTEENTH Sunday

Deuteronomy 30, 10-14; Psalm 69; Colossians 1, 15-20; St. Luke 10. 25-37

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our burden and privilege as Christians is to be held to the very highest standards of conduct in thought, word and deed: the standard of the virtue of charity. Christ has given us his own life, his own grace, and so we must be as Christs for one another. "To whom much is given, much is expected." The charity of the Samaritan made him pleasing in God's eyes. though to Jews he was a heretic and an outcast, judged to be condemned. The priest, a leader and holy man among the Jewish people fell short in God's eyes, for he was without charity.

Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." (Romans 5:10) The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself. (Cf. Matthew 5:44; Luke 10: 27-37; Mark 9:37; Matthew 25:40, 45.) (CCC 1825)

We must love all, including our enemies, and must pray for them or we are without charity and therefore without God's love. Let us begin now the regular practice of prayer for our enemies that the doors of heaven may not be shut against us.

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy"---Father Cusick

See also CCC 1293, 2083, 2603, 2822

( Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/

SUNDAYS 16 - 18


SIXTEENTH Sunday




SEVENTEENTH Sunday



EIGHTEENTH Sunday


SUNDAYS 19 - 22


NINETEENTH Sunday


TWENTIETH Sunday

TWENTY-FIRST Sunday

TWENTY-SECOND Sunday

Sirach 3, 17-18. 20. 28-29; Psalm 68, 4-5. 6-7. 10-11; Hebrews 12, 18-19. 22-24; St. Luke 14, 1. 7-14

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Lk 14:11)

Jesus dines with the Pharisees "were watching" him in order to trap him breaking the laws and so discredit him, but he observes them as well. When he sees them rushing to occupy the best seats, he offers this wisdom. In order to open the kingdom of heaven to men, Christ humbled himself, becoming like man in all things but sin. In order to put sin behind us and live the new life of the kingdom we must embrace the virtue of humility in imitation of Christ.

To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. (Cf. Mt 18:3-4) For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God." (Jn 3:7; 1:13; 1:12; cf. Mt 23:12) Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. (Cf. Gal 4:19) Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous exchange":

O marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity. (CCC 526)

Humility is now a divine virtue, an attribute of God himself!! We will never reach the heights of divinity, to become one with God forever, without humbling ourselves as Christ did in becoming man.

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick

(See also CCC 575, 588)

(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/