Catholic TV Mass Online September 21, 2025: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Presider: Fr. Chuck Hanel Parish: Queen of Apostles Choir: Gaudete Text from the Gospel & Homily The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, o Lord. Jesus said to his disciples, "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon." The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ. So, the basic question I think that's raised for us in our readings today is how does a Christian manage how does a Christian live in a world that is dominated by Mammon? Power, hierarchy, wealth, that's what makes the world go round. That's what allows people to be in control. Does it not? It's true in Jesus' time. It's just as true if not more so today. And Jesus says you've got to choose one or the other. You can't have both. Now that doesn't mean that one is chosen, and the other is rejected. It simply means that one needs to be first because there's something that happens every time. Regardless of which one of those two you choose. You choose one and the other is going to end up being an instrument that you use to try and get what you've chosen as first. So, if you play the game of the world and choose mammon you will become what the prophet Amos excoriates in the first reading. If mammon is your goal, if that's your primary thing about life you are going to use God, not to mention the poor, you're going to use God to try and get more mammon. That's how it works. And at the very least, at least at the beginning you will see God as an obstacle to your good to what you want. So, one of the things that Amos is complaining about is those who say when is my, when is the sabbath over? When is the day of no work over so that I can get back to work and make bigger profits. I don't want to give God anymore time. When is it going to be over? Boy that sabbath day lasts forever. I can't do my business or whatever it is before it becomes a way of oppressing the poor. But what about someone who chooses God? Same thing is going to happen. If you choose God, it doesn't mean you reject Mammon. It doesn't mean you reject possessions and money. What it does mean is you use possessions and money and the goods of the earth in order to become closer to God. We know that if we do not have God on our side, if we do not choose to have God as the center of our life, we're doomed. We're condemned. But we have right now we have the things that God has entrusted to us. Including our money and possessions. How we use those as an instrument of our becoming closer to God. How we use the gifts that have been entrusted to us to help others. It's a tradition in the church that our best friends when it comes to people advocating for us in heaven isn't our mother or father or other relatives. It's the poor they're the ones whose good word to God is what we will truly depend on and hope for when it comes our time to enter into the heavenly kingdom. Entrance: Lift Up Your Hearts Text: Based on Psalm 66. Text and music © 1981, 1993, Robert F. O’Connor, SJ and OCP. All rights reserved Psalm Praise The Lord Who Lifts Up The Poor Copyright © 2010, Brian McLinden Preparation: Earthen Vessels Text: Based on 2 Corinthians 4:6–7; 1 Corinthians 1:27–29. Text and music © 1975, 1978, 1991, John B. Foley, S.J., and OCP. All rights reserved Communion: The Body of Christ © 2019, 2020, Sarah Hart. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Sending Forth: Lord Whose Love In Humble Service Text: Albert F. Bayly, 1901–1984, alt., 1988, © Oxford University Press Tune: BEACH SPRING, 8 7 8 7 D; The Sacred Harp, 1844 Mass Setting: Mass of Christ The Savior Refrain text: Caroline Maria Noel, 1817-1877. Verses text based on Philippians 2. Music and verses text © 1995, Christopher Walker. Published by OCP Publications. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591. www.HeartoftheNation.org