Just Social or is it More?

Just Social or is it More?

  Today was my parish’s picnic and it was an amazing time. A lot went into the planning and set up for today and it was beyond worth it. For three days there was physical labor for the set up from tables, chairs, fences, games, drinks, food etc.. For months there was the planning and then selling tickets. Over 600 people came and it was a great success. 

    So, Why am I sharing this? Well, to be honest, it is because some people do not see the importance of events like this or see them as a lesser part of a spiritual life of the parish and the person who attends. I will go on record and say this has never been my idea or perception at all. I have always felt and said it is so vital to the parish and the individual person. There is more to this then just some good laughs and fun times. Yes, for some it is just that but lets not limit the impact this may have on people either. 

    Some people will say these kinds of events, while are nice and fun, are not as important, not ministry, or that it fills peoples social aspects of life but that is it. Yes, is it the ultimate of events, no. The Holy Mass, the Sacraments, Prayer are the staples that hold our spiritual lives together but these kinds of events impact us still in a way that fills our souls with joy. 

     First, lets look at why this is ministry. One of the definitions of “ministry” is the act of serving and the definition of “serving” is to render assistance, be of use, help. These events do not happen on their own. There is no miracle with setting up or breaking down these kinds of events. It takes people who are taking time out of their lives. People decide to help to serve so others can have a good time and be able to gather together. To say to these people that it is not a ministry is to down play their role and makes it come of as no big deal. It is a big deal. Coming together to build up a parish, build up its members, is what these people are doing. When people help, they feel even more vested in the parish and with that come the faith as well. 

     Second, lets see why these events are important. These kinds of events foster a sense of community. At these events people meet each other, make connections and sometimes friendships start. At my church there are six different masses and with that most people go to one set mass each week and do not have a clue to who is going to other masses. Here, we have a mix of the parish. People get to meet each other both during the set up and the event it self. It is a way for new people to meet others and even help out. People are able to share their talents and gifts with each other. These kinds of events also allows us to invite others to come and meet people or even a nice way to introduce people to the parish, to other people and yes the Catholic Faith. The Catholic Faith? Yes. Let us face facts the Catholic Church does not get great press so if you know someone who is hesitant about coming to church or feel like this is not for me, then invite them to an event where they do meet other Catholics, meet the Clergy and let them see the “people” who are there. We can not discredit the “Holy Spirit” and what can occur. Will it always work? No, but why not try and see. Those who have been away from church or think church is not for them, need to see the full spectrum of the Church. It is easier to get someone to go to a picnic then a mass. We need to meet people where they are and serve them in the way that we can show them Jesus. Like I said earlier, We can not limit the impact of events or people. 

      Third, as I thought about this idea for the blog two stories from the bible came to mind. The first being the story of “Mary and Martha” and the second being the “ Wedding at Cana”. The first story of “Mary and Martha” shows both the ministry aspect and the social aspect. Martha, worked and worked while Mary, sat and listened. Martha being the ministry aspect and Mary the social aspect. I know some will say, “Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, so it wasn’t as much as social as He ministered to her and others”. Yes, I agree but only to a point and here is why. We are not able to do as Mary did per say because Jesus is not in physical form working before us and sitting down to speak to us in a physical human form. Yet, does it not say in the bible “Where two or there are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Here we are gathering as the church body in His name. Another point with this is that I know I have had conversations with people at these events that really shaped my life. Something they said created a spark in me or something they said I needed to hear. Ok, no not every conversation is about church, God, religions etc or even a majority of them but still those conversations are being had among people there. We are all to be Jesus in the world and that does not stop in social settings. If we are in Christ Jesus, He is in every aspect including social in our lives. Now the second part. Yes, it is a stretch but humor me, the Wedding at Cana. The first miracle of Jesus happened at a social gathering. Not at a time when Jesus gathered people together to show what He can do but at a social event that He, Himself was attending. At these social gatherings miracles can happen. People who fell lost or not apart of things can feel that. People who are invited can start to have a flicker of wanting more. People who want to belong can help and feel they are needed. We do not know why everyone are there or what they need in the life, but God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit do. This gives people an opportunity to experience something positive in their lives that involves the Church. Again, we can not limit the Trinity and how the Trinity works in us and through us. 

      At one point today I stopped and took a deep breath and just looked around and thought to myself.. “ We did good today”. I do not mean this as a pat on the back but because good memories were being made for kids that involve church, people got the chance to help out and share their gifts and talents, people got to catch up with people and share whats going on in all areas of their lives, and people gathered on church grounds and showed that their faith and the church are important to them. I have always said that the one thing I want to hear after this life on earth is done for me is that God says to me “ You did good”. Just three words that means so much to me and I really feel that today God said “ You all did good”. 

     We do not know what can change a person and give them a new lease on life but what I do think we know is that since we do not know, we need to try it all and hope and pray that whatever is needed is given. It may just be something that happened at a social event. I hope that people who feel that the social aspect of the church does not matter have a change of heart and see that it is just another opportunity for us to gather and show who we are, the Catholic Church. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and let us always remember to use every opportunity to share the love of Jesus in the world. 

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 449

Reading 1

PRV 3:27-34

Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim

when it is in your power to do it for him.

Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once.

Plot no evil against your neighbor,

against one who lives at peace with you.

Quarrel not with a man without cause,

with one who has done you no harm.

Envy not the lawless man

and choose none of his ways:

To the LORD the perverse one is an abomination,

but with the upright is his friendship.

The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,

but the dwelling of the just he blesses;

When dealing with the arrogant, he is stern,

but to the humble he shows kindness.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 15:2-3A, 3-BC-4AB, 5

R. (1) The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

He who walks blamelessly and does justice;

who thinks the truth in his heart

and slanders not with his tongue.

R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Who harms not his fellow man,

nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;

By whom the reprobate is despised,

while he honors those who fear the LORD.

R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Who lends not his money at usury

and accepts no bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things

shall never be disturbed.

R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Gospel

LK 8:16-18

Jesus said to the crowd:

“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel

or sets it under a bed;

rather, he places it on a lampstand

so that those who enter may see the light.

For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,

and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.

Take care, then, how you hear.

To anyone who has, more will be given,

and from the one who has not,

even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 133

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 133

Reading 1

IS 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found,

call him while he is near.

Let the scoundrel forsake his way,

and the wicked his thoughts;

let him turn to the LORD for mercy;

to our God, who is generous in forgiving.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

As high as the heavens are above the earth,

so high are my ways above your ways

and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

R/ (18a) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Every day will I bless you,

and I will praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.

R/ The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and of great kindness.

The LORD is good to all

and compassionate toward all his works.

R/ The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

The LORD is just in all his ways

and holy in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

R/ The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Reading 2

PHIL 1:20C-24, 27A

Brothers and sisters:

Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 

For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. 

If I go on living in the flesh,

that means fruitful labor for me. 

And I do not know which I shall choose. 

I am caught between the two. 

I long to depart this life and be with Christ,

for that is far better. 

Yet that I remain in the flesh

is more necessary for your benefit.

Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Gospel

MT 20:1-16A

Jesus told his disciples this parable:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner

who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. 

After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,

he sent them into his vineyard. 

Going out about nine o’clock,

the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,

and I will give you what is just.’

So they went off. 

And he went out again around noon,

and around three o’clock, and did likewise. 

Going out about five o’clock,

the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,

‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’

They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’

He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’

When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,

‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,

beginning with the last and ending with the first.’

When those who had started about five o’clock came,

each received the usual daily wage. 

So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,

but each of them also got the usual wage. 

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,

‘These last ones worked only one hour,

and you have made them equal to us,

who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’

He said to one of them in reply,

‘My friend, I am not cheating you. 

Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 

Take what is yours and go. 

What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? 

Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? 

Are you envious because I am generous?’

Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs Lectionary: 448

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, MartyrsLectionary: 448

Reading 1

1 COR 15:35-37, 42-49

Brothers and sisters:

Someone may say, “How are the dead raised? 

With what kind of body will they come back?”

You fool!

What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be

but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.

It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.

It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

So, too, it is written,

“The first man, Adam, became a living being,”

the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

But the spiritual was not first;

rather the natural and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, earthly;

the second man, from heaven.

As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,

and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.

Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,

we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 56:10C-12, 13-14

R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Now I know that God is with me.

In God, in whose promise I glory,

in God I trust without fear;

what can flesh do against me?

R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

I am bound, O God, by vows to you;

your thank offerings I will fulfill.

For you have rescued me from death,

my feet, too, from stumbling;

that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Gospel

LK 8:4-15

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another

journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. 

“A sower went out to sow his seed.

And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,

and the birds of the sky ate it up.

Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,

it withered for lack of moisture.

Some seed fell among thorns,

and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,

it produced fruit a hundredfold.”

After saying this, he called out,

“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

Then his disciples asked him

what the meaning of this parable might be.

He answered,

“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God

has been granted to you;

but to the rest, they are made known through parables

so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.

“This is the meaning of the parable. 

The seed is the word of God.

Those on the path are the ones who have heard,

but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts

that they may not believe and be saved.

Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,

receive the word with joy, but they have no root;

they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.

As for the seed that fell among thorns,

they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,

they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, 

and they fail to produce mature fruit.

But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,

they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,

embrace it with a generous and good heart,

and bear fruit through perseverance.”

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 447

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 447

Reading 1

1 COR 15:12-20

Brothers and sisters:

If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,

how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead,

then neither has Christ been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;

empty, too, your faith.

Then we are also false witnesses to God,

because we testified against God that he raised Christ,

whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;

you are still in your sins.

Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,

we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 17:1BCD, 6-7, 8B AND 15

R. (15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;

attend to my outcry;

hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. 

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; 

incline your ear to me; hear my word.

Show your wondrous mercies,

O savior of those who flee 

from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hide me in the shadow of your wings,

But I in justice shall behold your face;

on waking, I shall be content in your presence.

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Gospel

LK 8:1-3

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,

preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Accompanying him were the Twelve

and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,

Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,

Susanna, and many others

who provided for them out of their resources.

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 446

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 446

Reading 1

1 COR 15:1-11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,

of the Gospel I preached to you,

which you indeed received and in which you also stand.

Through it you are also being saved,

if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,

unless you believed in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;

that he was buried;

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;

that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once,

most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

After that he appeared to James,

then to all the Apostles.

Last of all, as to one born abnormally,

he appeared to me.

For I am the least of the Apostles,

not fit to be called an Apostle,

because I persecuted the Church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am,

and his grace to me has not been ineffective.

Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;

not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.

Therefore, whether it be I or they,

so we preach and so you believed.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 118:1B-2, 16AB-17, 28

R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his mercy endures forever.

Let the house of Israel say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

“The right hand of the LORD is exalted;

the right hand of the LORD has struck with power.”

I shall not die, but live,

and declare the works of the LORD.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

You are my God, and I give thanks to you;

O my God, I extol you.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Gospel

LK 7:36-50

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,

and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.

Now there was a sinful woman in the city

who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.

Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,

she stood behind him at his feet weeping

and began to bathe his feet with her tears.

Then she wiped them with her hair,

kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,

“If this man were a prophet,

he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,

that she is a sinner.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;

one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.

Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.

Which of them will love him more?”

Simon said in reply,

“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”

He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,

“Do you see this woman?

When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,

but she has bathed them with her tears

and wiped them with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss,

but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.

You did not anoint my head with oil,

but she anointed my feet with ointment.

So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;

hence, she has shown great love.

But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The others at table said to themselves,

“Who is this who even forgives sins?”

But he said to the woman,

“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

St. John Vianney

Saint John Vianney

     I must say that I can not believe I have not posted about Saint John Vianney before this since he is the patron saint of Priests. Rather shocked I must say. Knowing about saints helps us because we see real people going through real issues and over coming them. I feel that we all need to search for Saints that we can learn and grow from.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and St. John Vianney pray for our Priests. 

Information:

Feast Day:

August 4

Born:

May 8, 1786, Dardilly, France

Died:

August 4, 1859, Ars-sur-Formans, France

Canonized:

1925, Rome by Pope Pius XI

Major Shrine:

Shrine of St. John Vianney; Ars-sur-Formans, France

Patron of:

parish priests; confessors

Curé of Ars, born at Dardilly, near Lyons, France, on 8 May, 1786; died at Ars, 4 August, 1859; son of Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze."

In 1806, the curé at Ecully, M. Balley, opened a school for ecclesiastical students, and Jean-Marie was sent to him. Though he was of average intelligence and his masters never seem to have doubted his vocation, his knowledge was extremely limited, being confined to a little arithmetic, history, and geography, and he found learning, especially the study of Latin, excessively difficult. One of his fellow-students, Matthias Loras, afterwards first Bishop of Dubuque, assisted him with his Latin lessons.

But now another obstacle presented itself. Young Vianney was drawn in the conscription, the war with Spain and the urgent need of recruits having caused Napoleon to withdraw the exemption enjoyed by the ecclesiastical students in the diocese of his uncle, Cardinal Fesch. Matthieu Vianney tried unsuccessfully to procure a substitute, so his son was obliged to go. His regiment soon received marching orders. The morning of departure, Jean-Baptiste went to church to pray, and on his return to the barracks found that his comrades had already left. He was threatened with arrest, but the recruiting captain believed his story and sent him after the troops. At nightfall he met a young man who volunteered to guide him to his fellow-soldiers, but led him to Noes, where some deserters had gathered. The mayor persuaded him to remain there, under an assumed name, as schoolmaster. After fourteen months, he was able to communicate with his family. His father was vexed to know that he was a deserter and ordered him to surrender but the matter was settled by his younger brother offering to serve in his stead and being accepted.

Jean-Baptiste now resumed his studies at Ecully. In 1812, he was sent to the seminary at Verrieres; he was so deficient in Latin as to be obliged to follow the philosophy course in French. He failed to pass the examinations for entrance to the seminary proper, but on re-examination three months later succeeded. On 13 August, 1815, he was ordained priest by Mgr. Simon, Bishop of Grenoble. His difficulties in making the preparatory studies seem to have been due to a lack of mental suppleness in dealing with theory as distinct from practice -- a lack accounted for by the meagreness of his early schooling, the advanced age at which he began to study, the fact that he was not of more than average intelligence, and that he was far advanced in spiritual science and in the practice of virtue long before he came to study it in the abstract. He was sent to Ecully as assistant to M. Balley, who had first recognized and encouraged his vocation, who urged him to persevere when the obstacles in his way seemed insurmountable, who interceded with the examiners when he failed to pass for the higher seminary, and who was his model as well as his preceptor and patron. In 1818, after the death of M. Balley, M. Vianney was made parish priest of Ars, a village not very far from Lyons. It was in the exercise of the functions of the parish priest in this remote French hamlet that as the "Icuré d'Ars" he became known throughout France and the Christian world. A few years after he went to Ars, he founded a sort of orphanage for destitute girls. It was called "The Providence" and was the model of similar institutions established later all over France. M. Vianney himself instructed the children of "The Providence" in the catechism, and these catechetical instructions came to be so popular that at last they were given every day in the church to large crowds. "The Providence" was the favourite work of the "curé d'Ars", but, although it was successful, it was closed in 1847, because the holy curé thought that he was not justified in maintaining it in the face of the opposition of many good people. Its closing was a very heavy trial to him.

But the chief labour of the Curé d'Ars was the direction of souls. He had not been long at Ars when people began coming to him from other parishes, then from distant places, then from all parts of France, and finally from other countries. As early as 1835, his bishop forbade him to attend the annual retreats of the diocesan clergy because of "the souls awaiting him yonder". During the last ten years of his life, he spent from sixteen to eighteen hours a day in the confessional. His advice was sought by bishops, priests, religious, young men and women in doubt as to their vocation, sinners, persons in all sorts of difficulties and the sick. In 1855, the number of pilgrims had reached twenty thousand a year. The most distinguished persons visited Ars for the purpose of seeing the holy curé and hearing his daily instruction. The Venerable Father Colin was ordained deacon at the same time, and was his life-long friend, while Mother Marie de la Providence founded the Helpers of the Holy Souls on his advice and with his constant encouragement. His direction was characterized by common sense, remarkable insight, and supernatural knowledge. He would sometimes divine sins withheld in an imperfect confession. His instructions were simple in language, full of imagery drawn from daily life and country scenes, but breathing faith and that love of God which was his life principle and which he infused into his audience as much by his manner and appearance as by his words, for, at the last, his voice was almost inaudible.

The miracles recorded by his biographers are of three classes:

* first, the obtaining of money for his charities and food for his orphans;
* secondly, supernatural knowledge of the past and future;
* thirdly, healing the sick, especially children.

The greatest miracle of all was his life. He practised mortification from his early youth. and for forty years his food and sleep were insufficient, humanly speaking, to sustain life. And yet he laboured incessantly, with unfailing humility, gentleness, patience, and cheerfulness, until he was more than seventy-three years old.

On 3 October, 1874 Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney was proclaimed Venerable by Pius IX and on 8 January, 1905, he was enrolled among the Blessed. Pope Pius X proposed him as a model to the parochial clergy.

[Note: In 1925, Pope Pius XI canonized him. His feast is kept on 4 August.]

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 445

Reading 1

1 COR 12:31-13:13

Brothers and sisters:

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues

but do not have love,

I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy

and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;

if I have all faith so as to move mountains,

but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own,

and if I hand my body over so that I may boast

but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It is not jealous, love is not pompous,

it is not inflated, it is not rude,

it does not seek its own interests,

it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;

if tongues, they will cease;

if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.

For we know partially and we prophesy partially,

but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,

think as a child, reason as a child;

when I became a man, I put aside childish things.

At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,

but then face to face.

At present I know partially;

then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 33:2-3, 4-5, 12 AND 22

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;

with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.

Sing to him a new song;

pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

For upright is the word of the LORD,

and all his works are trustworthy.

He loves justice and right;

of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,

the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us

who have put our hope in you.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Gospel

LK 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:

“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?

What are they like?

They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.

We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,

and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,

‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,

a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Who We Are

Who We Are....

 

     I know I have posted this video before when I first began the blog but I came across it today and feel that I should post it again. This videos shows Who We Are... The Catholic Faith & The Catholic Church.... To many people have a twisted view and perception of the Church. It is time that we show people Who We Really Are and not the Media version of Us. Over the next few weeks I plan on taking on some of the different ways people and the media sees us and comparing it to Who We Really Are. Yes, we all know we have our stains and sins within the Body of Christ the Church but we are more then that. 

     Start showing Who We Are. Start being that person who the Church and Faith is seen as. Be Bold. Be Joyous. Be Love. Be Peace. Be Caring. Be Faithful. Be Christ.....

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and remember and show Who We Are.