Gospel Reflections for September 18 2016
Do you like the way the world is now?
Not many do. There are continual crises in the Middle East and North Korea, the constant debates and controversies in the Presidential campaign, and so many other issues. The future does not look good!
The Gospel also presents a man facing a dismal future. People often blame others for their problems or deny any wrongdoing at all, however, this man appropriately recognizes his problems are precisely due to his own sinfulness, greed, and dishonesty. He contemplates his future carefully, and decides to come clean and finally do the right thing. He had been grossly overcharging his clients, so he decides to rewrite all bills back to their actual true amounts. He acknowledges his dishonesty for a good cause, and hopes that will help him in the future. Good thinking!
He was successful because he had a clear view of the future he wanted, and took just the right steps to make that happen. That is our task as well. We must have a clear view of what the future Kingdom of God looks like, or else we will not know how to get there!
This is the mission of St. Bruno Parish. Everything we do is designed to showcase what this Kingdom of God is and to help us experience it for ourselves and our family.
We catch a glimpse of this Kingdom at every Mass, when Jesus says, “This is My Body and My Blood, given for your happiness!” Every Mass is a kind of “school of love” that teaches Our Lord’s path to true and lasting happiness. This kind of total self-giving love that Jesus lived is the place to look for wisdom in making our world a better place, and what will guide all our parish programs. I want to make sure that our whole parish effort is to join in that mission of Jesus.
I am glad to welcome back to St. Bruno’s parish Mr. Richard Lane. Once again he will lead us in coming to know Our Lord even better than ever before, how to live out that relationship in our daily life, and even how to share our faith with others. He will speak at 9am, Monday through Thursday, repeated at 7pm each night. Don’t miss out on this remarkable opportunity for your whole family.
Together, we can live the Kingdom of God …just the way the world should be.
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Father Dave, we can only hope to have the time and courage to correct our wrongs and make better choices from this time on and serve only one master that is God our Father, his Son our lord Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks for your message. Fortunately, Our Lord give us many chances to correct our wrongs. He is very patient!
Thank you for this inspiration, Fr. Dave. I had a beautiful example of this self-giving love in my mother who truly used all her human energy and resources giving unconditionally to others with joyful ease and as a simple matter of daily fulfillment. She went home to God a couple days before her 107th birthday, and I believe that she always replenished her energy by giving it to God through using it for others.
What an inspirational example of your mother! I am glad God granted her so many years to live such a wonderful life.
Thank you for the inspiration, Father Dave. Now you say the steward came clean about his previous cheating of his boss’s debtors. That is a new angle on the parable for me; I thought the rewriting of the bills was the dishonest act. I thought that, since he was being discharged, the steward wanted to have friends “outside”. Then the debtors would love him for reducing their debts–maybe give him a new job.
In either case, the steward was dishonest and clever. I guess Jesus is saying that we should be honest and clever in our attempts to help the poor and deprived.
You are also correct. He reduced all the debts to their true levels in an act of honesty, and also as a way of hoping to ensure future employment as a newly minted honest man. We will never know his interior motives, but the gospel does indicate that honest behavior is the best policy to present to future employers.
Thank you Fr. Dave for your prayerful reflection on what our world should
look like, and how each of us have a part to play in making it better.
With our allegiance to Jesus, we need to focus our attention
on what we have to do to reach His kingdom.
Absolutely!
Your reflection really made this scripture clearer. Also, are you going to tape Mr. Richard Lane?
Unfortunately, there are no plans to tape his talks.
Father Dave, Love your words that every Mass is a school of love that teaches the path of true and lasting happiness!!! Receiving the gift of our Jesus in Holy Communion fills our hearts with soooooooooooooooooooo much love!!! To grow and touch the world with Jesus’ love is soooooooooooooooo beautiful!!! We have to make the world beautiful for Jesus came into our world to teach us the meaning of love and gave His life so that we could live His love and return to our God!!! Loveeeeeeeeeeeeee our precious Jesus!!! and Dick and I love you for showing us the precious meaning of life and in love touch the world with our Jesus’ goodness and with love bring our selves, our family, friends and others to our God, our Jesus,our Mary’s embrace of love in Heaven some beautiful day!!!!!!
Loveeeee, Franca and Dick
Thank you!
Father Dave:
I always enjoy your reflections. I also very much enjoy your sessions with Joe Sikorra. You two are an amazing combo.
Thanks for your message. I am glad you enjoy our 5-6pm time on Immaculate Heart Radio. He is an old friend of mine, and I am glad we are the radio together.