Reading 1
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.
Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,
your gold and silver have corroded,
and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;
it will devour your flesh like a fire.
You have stored up treasure for the last days.
Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers
who harvested your fields are crying aloud;
and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure;
you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
You have condemned;
you have murdered the righteous one;
he offers you no resistance.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
"Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,
with what will you restore its flavor?
Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."
Reflection
Throughout the ages, God has revealed Himself to His People. This Sunday’s Gospel reminds us: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Even though we cannot know everything about God, we know that He is with us and that He is inviting us to draw near to His Heart and follow His commands.
Through Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church, God has revealed Himself to us as a Trinity of Persons. This dogma, our Catholic belief that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share one Divine Nature, is truly a mystery. Our human reasoning cannot fully grasp it.
This mystery, though, is not meant to complicate our understanding of God or leave us in doubt. Instead, our capacity to reason and our heart of faith work together to meditate and reflect more deeply on what this means. We are invited to open ourselves to the love that is shared between these Persons and that is poured out for us. We are invited to stand before a mystery.
Remember, too, that our Blessed Mother did not fully understand the mysteries of God that were shared with her. Her mind and heart were united with God, but she did not receive all the answers of how His plan would unfold. Nonetheless, she received what God desired for her life and pondered the mysteries of Who her Son was. We, too, are called to do the same.
Each time we make the Sign of the Cross, confess the Nicene Creed at Mass, or offer the Glory Be at the end of a decade of the Rosary, we pray in the name of the Triune God. When we participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are entering into the very mystery of the love of the Trinity. We offer God praise and thanks, and we ask for blessing, strength, and help. At Confirmation, our souls were enriched with “wonder and awe” as a gift of the Holy Spirit. As we behold this mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, we ask for the grace to ponder more deeply what God has revealed to us — and to enter into a deeper relationship with Him.
Please be assured of my prayers for you before Our Lord, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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