<TW>Weekend of 26 and 27 September 2009
- From: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:42:14 -0500
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D :=.
from Father Pat Umberger
__________________________________________________
.=: V O L U M E 2 0 0 9 , Number 09-27 :=.
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D ' S S C R I P T U R E S :=.
The Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
Weekend of 26 and 27 September 2009
.=: R E F L E C T I O N Q U E S T I O N S :-.
"But Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the
people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his
spirit on them all!" Who are the prophets of our time? Why is it difficult
for us to listen to prophets? Why are they so often persecuted and
discredited?
"The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart." In what way can God's law
give joy to our hearts?
"Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth
has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver
have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will
devour your flesh like a fire." In what ways is wealth seen as a shelter
against things that could harm us? Where does true wealth come from? Does
it corrode or become moth-eaten?
"You have stored up treasure for the last days." What good will our
possessions do us in the last days? What are the riches we need to store
up?
"Whoever is not against us is for us." How would our lives be different if
we lived as though we believed this? Would they be better?
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would
be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were
thrown into the sea." How can we scandalize the little ones around us by
our words? By the things we work for? By the things we say? How would we
live in order to set the best possible example for them to follow?
How are these Scriptures comforting? Challenging?
.=: S P I R I T U A L R E F L E C T I O N :=.
We can be very proud of what we have been given. As we grow up and develop
our gifts and talents we can be very proud of our accomplishments. We can
be very proud of our bodies too, taking good care of them and try to look as
good as we possibly can. As we grow a little older we strive to protect and
care for those we love. We try to provide a nice home and accumulate the
resources necessary to provide and protect our families.
Sometimes we can go a little overboard. We can begin to judge our value by
what we have accumulated. If somebody else has something we can want to
have the same thing. Rather than bringing joy to our lives our possessions
can begin to possess us. We can work longer and harder to accumulate even
more. We can search for satisfaction and happiness and become dismayed when
advertising and marketing don't deliver, when we don't find the peace and
love we seek.
We need to open our hearts and open our hands. Sometimes it's helpful for
us not to take ourselves so seriously. It is rare to hear someone facing
death say that they wished they had worked more hours or accumulated more
things. Life takes on a different perspective. We come to see that the
things of this world will never satisfy. After they corrode and become
useless, our love, faith and friendships will bring us the peace and
happiness we need. It doesn't cost anything at all.
This weekend's Gospel encourages us to get rid of anything that causes us to
sin. Our Scriptures also remind us that those who are not against us are
with us. We can look for what we have in common with those around us. We
can seek common ground. We can be generous with our gifts and talents and
find that we are happier and more peaceful when we share with others than
when we try to accumulate for ourselves.
We're called to set the best of examples! We have many opportunities to do
that. We can teach the young people around us to respect by the respect we
show them and others around us. We can teach them the value of sharing by
being generous with our own gifts and talents. We can teach them a
reverence for God and God's Church by the words we speak and they way we
look out for the needs of the Church. We can be sure they understand that
the negative talk they sometimes overhear is sinful and divisive. We
certainly don't want to lead them to disrespect, greediness or bitterness
through our example. And we don't have to!
This week we can look for the good in all those around us and affirm it. We
can take a look too, at the things we work for and try to accumulate. We
can look for some opportunities to invest more time and energy into the
things that last. We can think too, of the things we may have already said
and done that have set a poor example for young people to follow. We can
apologize and tell them about the lesson we've learned. What a powerful
example that can be.
God has given us another week to live. Let's make great use of it by
working for things that last and helping the young people around us see and
appreciate the things that matter most. Have a good week!
(c)MMIX Fr. Pat Umberger. This Spiritual Reflection is found each week at
the Web Site www.frpat.com. Feel free to link to this page or reproduce them
for parish use as long as this credit remains.
__________________________________________________
<TW>This Weekend is free, and comes from:
Father Pat Umberger, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse
in Wisconsin U.S.A.
Web Site: www.frpat.com
Evangelization (reaching out): www.cmonback.com
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