27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
This week we hear of the man who inquires of Jesus how to obtain eternal life. He rejects Jesus’ invitation to sell his goods, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. Mark tells us this devastatingly sad line, “At this saying, his countenance fell and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:22). The man’s heart wasn’t centered on Jesus, but on his possessions. Perhaps Jesus intuited this. Now, we don’t know if Jesus intended to actually make him go through with it, like God’s call to test Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac. But sadly, in this case the willingness was not there to entrust everything to Jesus. And this made the man deeply sad. For most of us, the literal dispossessing of our goods is not our call. But as Christians, a consistent renouncing of them is. This week, especially if you’re noticing a persisting sadness, I invite you to hear Jesus calling you to acknowledge that none of your possessions are finally yours. They are God’s and on loan to you. We get so addicted to that stuffy and sad word, “mine.” At Mass, we rehearse this attitude of joyful detachment by giving bread, wine, and money to the Lord, as if to say, “Lord, all I have is yours.” And what we get back is a sadness-defeating joy beyond all description: knowing that He is ours, and we are His. What possessions are pre-occupying you at the moment? Write them down. Intentionally offer them to the Lord at the next Mass you attend. — Father John Muir
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Continuing the article I started last weekend in regards to bad things happening and why God allows them to happen, the second part of the answer is free will. There are two kinds of free will. The first is what I call the conscious free will and the second is what I call natural free will. The conscious free will is the choices we make freely in life in regards to what we do, say etc. The role of this kind of free will in regards to bad things happening in life is the fact that sadly there are bad people in the world that choose to do bad things. For example, Adolf Hitler chose to kill millions of people. Any time there is a murder, theft, assault etc. it is a matter of people using their free will to choose to do bad things/evil things. This also applies to good things happening for people also use free will to choose to do good things in life. The second form of free will, the one I call natural free will, is just that; it applies to nature like storms, animals, disease, it is the things in this world that run on their own. It does not involve thinking for the wind does not decide that it will become a hurricane or a tornado, for example, it just happens for it is part of nature. In regard to disease, for example would be cancer for it is cells reacting to something that turn into cancer cells, there was no thought, the cells did not decide to become cancerous it just happened. I have often said God does not interfere with free will for it was His gift to us, so that we could make our own choices in life. I have had some ask me if this is true that God does not interfere with free will what is the point of praying for miracles cannot happen. So, I must add to the statement above. God does not interfere with the free will that is the conscious free will. He allows us to make decisions, whether good or bad, without interfering. For example, God called me to be a priest but it was my choice to become one for I could have and for many years did say no. He did not force me to be a priest. He does not and will not force people to do things or not do things. However, He will at times interfere with the free will that I call natural free will. There are miracle cures of diseases, there are natural disasters that are avoided and/or survived due to prayer. In the end let us always remember we would not be happy if God interfered with the good things that happened in our lives and made them not happen thus, we should not get angry with God when he does not stop the bad things from happening. We need to have Job’s attitude and count our blessings not our losses.
God Bless you and have a wonderful week, Fr. Michael
SCRIPTURAL REFLECTIONS ON STEWARDSHIP
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus uses tough language that we may not want to hear. However, we are all called to be generous with all of our gifts. Not just the ones we pick and choose, but all our gifts, and especially the one that means the most to us! That includes our time in prayer to God, our talent in participating in parish ministries and our treasure supporting our local parish and other charities.
PRAYER REQUESTS
That God will relieve their suffering and restore them to health. Please pray for Please pray for:
Kellie Salata, Kelly Chinchar, Jessica, Daniel Breslin, Stanley, Helen Traina, Joseph Marrone, Bill Marshall, Anthony, Michael, Joseph, Jessica Esopo, William, Steve, Audra, Bernadette, James Weiss, Baby Ford, Rosemary Malangone, Elizabeth Malangone, Sue West, Danny, Colleen Emery, Richard, Joan Russo, Christina Martin, Mornia Evans, Valerie Valverde, Diana McGuckin, Pat Peterson, Jim Wylie, Manny Scarangella.
Please consider sponsoring our Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, and the oil for the Sanctuary Lamp.
The gift of the Sanctuary Lamp for month of October has been given in memory of Anthony & Josephine DeGrosa by Joann DeGrosa.
Opportunities for Parish Support
There are several ways you can help support our parish and honor loved ones at the same time. As you may have noticed on the first Sunday of every month in our bulletin, we thank the donors of our Altar Gifts. You can donate the Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, or the Sanctuary Lamp in a two-week block for $50 in someone’s memory. We have blocks open for this year. We also need to purchase a new Easter candle each year (the tall candle on the altar) for $300-$400 which can also be donated in someone’s memory. You do not have to fund the entire amount, anything you wish to donate towards the purchase of our Easter candle is appreciated. We also have masses available for your intentions. If you wish to honor someone in any of these ways, please call the rectory.
Prayer for our Nation
God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded. You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people. Send your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation’s leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will. Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the “culture of death.” Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Praying the ROSARY
The Rosary is a meditation, a time to recall and think about the life of Jesus as seen and experienced by Mary. As the model of faith, Mary’s life sets a pattern that we strive to follow: saying ‘yes’ to God’s will in our lives and sharing His love and message with others. The Mysteries of the Rosary form a mini lesson of faith, using the highlights and significant moments of the life of Jesus. Like paging through a family scrapbook, we see in brief the events of salvation history that are the core of our belief and the hope of our eternal life.
OUR ADVERTISERS OF THE WEEK
WE NEED BULLETIN ADVERTISERS!!
We would like to thank all the advertisers who have supported us throughout the past year. Our parish benefits greatly from the ads you see in the bulletin. The revenue pays for the printing which is an important means of communication for the parish. If we do not have enough advertisers, the cost of our bulletin goes up. We thank the local businesses that advertise with us especially in these tough economic times. We have some spaces on the back of our bulletin that need filling so if you would like to advertise your business as well as benefit your church, please contact John Patrick Publishing at 1-800-333-3166.
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