{"id":2317,"date":"2017-11-05T11:59:51","date_gmt":"2017-11-05T16:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2317"},"modified":"2017-11-05T11:59:51","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T16:59:51","slug":"31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/31st-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

31st<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A<\/a>
\nMalachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10
\nPsalm 131:1, 2, 3
\n1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13
\nMatthew 23:1-12
\nNovember 5, 2017<\/p>\n

The Lord said to his priests through the prophet Malachi, \u201cYou have turned aside from the way and have caused many to falter by your instructions<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 The priests were chosen by God to help the people in their quest to follow God.\u00a0 The priests were not following what God asked of them.\u00a0 Even worse, they were causing others to falter.<\/p>\n

That was in the 5th<\/sup> century B.C.\u00a0 The same problem existed in Jesus\u2019 day.\u00a0 The scribes and the Pharisees are not doing what they are supposed to.\u00a0 \u201cThey tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people\u2019s shoulders but they will not lift a finger to help them.<\/em>\u201d They, like their predecessors before them, are falling short of what God asks of them.<\/p>\n

In fact, they did things just for the honor.\u00a0 They looked for seats of honor where they went.\u00a0 They wanted to be called by titles because of pride in their hearts.\u00a0 They were more concerned about their status than helping others.<\/p>\n

Does this mean the people should stop listening to them?\u00a0 No, as Jesus said, \u201cThe scribes and the Pharisees have taken seat on the chair of Moses.\u00a0 Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you but do not follow their example.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the Pharisees was a man named Saul who would become Paul the Apostle.\u00a0 At first, he rejected Jesus as a false messiah and persecuted those who follow him.\u00a0 But God did not give up on him.\u00a0 Paul encountered the risen Jesus and underwent a conversion.<\/p>\n

After his conversion, he continued to serve the Lord bringing the gospel to many people but he was not like those who wanted honor for themselves. \u00a0Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, \u201cwe were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Paul was not looking for status for himself.\u00a0 He was not just doing a \u201cjob.\u201d\u00a0 He gave of his very self to help others know the gospel.<\/p>\n

So, where does this leave us today?<\/p>\n

Do we have good priests or bad priests?<\/p>\n

Of course, I have a bias in answering this.\u00a0 I like to think that most priests see their role as priests not just as a job but as a calling from God.\u00a0 I like to think most priests are trying<\/em> to do the right thing.\u00a0 Some are more ambitious than others.\u00a0 Some are closer to being all that Christ calls a priest to be.<\/p>\n

Yet, none are perfect.\u00a0 At least I know I am not perfect.\u00a0 I try to do my best but I have to admit I can fall short.\u00a0 Sometimes I try too hard and overwork myself.\u00a0 Then I weaken or lose my connection to God.\u00a0 I lose the sense of peace that God offers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that connection to God that is so important to each of us.\u00a0 We come to Mass each week but is that really enough if we want to stay connected to God?\u00a0 For me, it is not enough.\u00a0 I need to pray more frequently.\u00a0 In fact, I try to pray multiple times in a day.<\/p>\n

You might say, \u201cWell, Father that is good for you but we don\u2019t have that kind of time.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes, I don\u2019t either.\u00a0 I am going here and there, preparing for this meeting or that visit.\u00a0 Honestly, even when I do pray, sometimes it is rushed and disconnected.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I try to take a retreat each year.\u00a0 Just a few days ago I went on retreat at the Abbey of the Genesee.\u00a0 Retreats there are silent.\u00a0 You can join the monks for prayer and Mass.\u00a0 The rest is quiet.\u00a0 I read.\u00a0 I walked, I prayed.\u00a0 I get back in touch with God.<\/p>\n

Why am I saying all this?<\/p>\n

Well, looking at today\u2019s readings, I want you to know I do my best to be your priest and your pastor but I am human.\u00a0 I can fall short.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t do this for the honor.\u00a0 I don\u2019t do it for the title.\u00a0 Quite honestly, being an engineer was easier than being a priest.\u00a0 Please pray that I serve you in the way that God wills<\/em><\/strong> and I will pray for you and do my best to serve you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10 Psalm 131:1, 2, 3 1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13 Matthew 23:1-12 November 5, 2017 The Lord said to his priests through the prophet Malachi, \u201cYou have turned aside from the way and have caused many to falter by your instructions.\u201d\u00a0 The priests were chosen by God …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[362,363],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Bn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2318,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317\/revisions\/2318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}