God has been good to you. What have you done for him?
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C (23 October 2016)
1st Reading
"Give to the Most High according to his gifts to you, and act with a good eye toward the creations of your hands. For the Lord gives recompense, and he will repay you seven times as much. Do not be willing to offer corrupt gifts. For he will not accept them.
The Lord will not accept favoritism against the poor, but he will heed the prayer of one who has been harmed. He will not despise the prayers of the orphan, nor of the widow, if she utters a lamenting complaint. Do a widow’s tears not run down her cheek? And will her outcry not cause their downfall?" Sirach 35:12-14,16-18
Lesson: God has been good to you and he expects you to share your gifts with those in need. He promises a great reward to those who heed his voice.
The Lord does not play favorites, but he is especially attentive to the prayers of the oppressed, for they are without resource. Mistreatment of the innocent will lead to punishment of the ones who abused them.
Meditation: When we appear before the Judgment seat of Jesus, he will ask us, "Did you feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, provide shelter for the homeless, visit prisoners, comfort the sick, and bury the dead?" What will your answer be?
Lord Jesus Think on Me
by Synesius of Cyrene, Bishop of Ptolemais; translated from Greek to English by Allen Chatfield
Lord Jesus, think on me
And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
With many a care oppressed;
Let me Thy loving servant be
And taste Thy promised rest.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Amid the battle’s strife;
In all my pain and misery
Be Thou my Health and Life.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me
When floods the tempest high;
When on doth rush the enemy,
O Savior, be Thou nigh!
Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see
And share Thy joy at last.
Lord Jesus, think on me
That I may sing above
To Father, Spirit, and to Thee
The strains of praise and love.
And purge away my sin;
From earthborn passions set me free
And make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
With many a care oppressed;
Let me Thy loving servant be
And taste Thy promised rest.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Amid the battle’s strife;
In all my pain and misery
Be Thou my Health and Life.
Lord Jesus, think on me
Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity
Point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me
When floods the tempest high;
When on doth rush the enemy,
O Savior, be Thou nigh!
Lord Jesus, think on me
That, when the flood is past,
I may th’eternal brightness see
And share Thy joy at last.
Lord Jesus, think on me
That I may sing above
To Father, Spirit, and to Thee
The strains of praise and love.
Scriptural texts: Ronald L. Conte Jr., translator and editor: The SacredBible, Catholic Public Domain Version, Original Edition.
Song retrieved from GodSongs.net.
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Here is Psalm 18 from my book, "Praying the Psalms for the Unborn Child."
Psalm 18
The LORD Praised for Giving Deliverance.
"I love You, O LORD, my strength."
2The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
4The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
5The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
10He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
13The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.|
15Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16He sent from on high, He took me;He drew me out of many waters.
17He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my stay.
19He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
20The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
21For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25With the kind You show Yourself kind;
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
26With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
27For You save an afflicted people,
But haughty eyes You abase.
28For You light my lamp;
The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
29For by You I can run upon a troop;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
30As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
32The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
33He makes my feet like hinds' feet,
And sets me upon my high places.
34He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
36You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
37I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
38I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise;
They fell under my feet.
39For You have girded me with strength for battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
41They cried for help, but there was none to save,
Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
42Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
43You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
44As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners submit to me.
45Foreigners fade away,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.
46The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,
47The God who executes vengeance for me,
And subdues peoples under me.
48He delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the violent man.
49Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
50He gives great deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.
Jesus, the Messiah-King and descendant of David, thanks His Father, a tower of strength (horn of salvation), for helping Him defeat the devil (18:2-5). Surrounded by evil, He cries for assistance to the Father (18:6). God explodes with anger, summoning the very forces of nature to procure the deliverance of His Son from danger (18:7-18). Jesus was saved because of His holiness, innocence, faithfulness, kindness and purity (18:19-30). God prepared Him for battle (18:31-35) and, under His Father's protection, Jesus destroyed His enemy with sure-footedness and strength (18:36-42). His foes fled in fear and God made Him King of all nations (18:43-45). Jesus will praise His Father who, in His great mercy, freed Him from the evil one (18:46-50).27
Prayer for Life: Dear Lord, I feel overwhelmed by the culture of death that puts convenience and license above the sacredness of life. Come to my aid and help me to deal with the rejection by those who are offended by my decision to have my baby. They feel that I am naive and misguided. They do not understand my need to do the right thing, my need to accept this baby as a gift from God to be nurtured and protected. But You are my rock, Lord, the source of all my strength. You will always be by my side to support me during the difficult times ahead. And I will I praise You for it all the remaining days of my life. Amen.
John
27Kleist, James, and Thomas Lynam. The Psalms in Rhythmic Prose. 1st ed. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1954. 20. Print.
Copyright © 2010 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material must be done in its entirety with the copyright notice intact. This book is not for sale, but is offered to the public free of charge in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for the glory of God.
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