Catholic TV Mass Online August 30, 2020: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Presider: Fr. Justin Lopina Parish: Sacred Heart and Saint Matthew Choir: St. James TEXT FROM THE GOSPEL AND HOMILY The Lord be with you. And with your spirit A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew. Glory to you o Lord. Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter "Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the son of man will come with his angels in his father's glory and then he will repay all according to his conduct." The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to start with the second reading today because we heard one of my favorite quotes from Paul. "Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." There's a critical lesson for us here because all of you, all of you are more than whatever statistic or demographic you happen to fall into. The world wants you to conform, the world wants you to fit into whatever stereotype they've assigned you. And there is absolutely nothing that is directly forcing you to do so. What Saint Paul is getting at is that we can be better than that through the renewal of our mind, through the power of the holy spirit and that means allowing ourselves to continue to grow. First of all, we need to grow in scientific knowledge and awareness of current events. That stuff is important. We cannot ignore that but even more importantly we need to continue to grow emotionally, to nurture our sense of empathy and compassion, our connection to one another. I've got plenty of people in my life who are very intelligent, highly educated but they conform to this world because they don't have a scrap of mercy or compassion so they're highly intelligent but emotionally stunted. And in addition to that, of course, we also need to grow spiritually to conform not to this age, but to mold ourselves more and more into the image of Christ. And that brings me to the gospel reading. If you want to be a disciple there's no getting around it, you need to take up your cross and follow him. And yes, that means that there is a very fine chance that you will suffer greatly and possibly even lose your life in service to him. But that is exactly what we are called to do for one another. Because the renewal of your mind does not make you more egotistical or self-absorbed. If anything, the renewal of your mind strengthens your humility and increases your compassion for the needs of others. And so, in that way, you will find your life and you will transcend the conformity of this world when you offer your very self in service of the gospel and when you take up your cross not for yourself but for him. Entrance: The Summons Text: John L. Bell, b. 1949 ©1987 Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. agent Tune: KELVINGROVE, 7 6 7 6 777 6; Scottish traditional; arr. By John L. Bell, b. 1949 © 1987 Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. agent. All rights reserved Psalm 63: Your Love Is Finer than Life Text: Psalm 63; Marty Haugen Music: Marty Haugen © 1982 , GIA Publications, Inc. Preparation: Instrumental Communion: Take Up Your Cross Text: Charles W. Everest, 1814 – 1877, alt. Tune: ERHALT UNS HERR, L.M’ Klug’s Geistliche Lieder, 1543; harm. By J.S. Bach, 1685-1750 Sending Forth: Come and Follow Me Text: Tom Franzak, b. 1954 Tune: Tom Franzak; b. 1954; acc. By Gerard Chiusano, b. 1953 © 1997, GIA Publications, Inc. Mass Setting: Mass of Saint Ann Text © 2010, ICEL Music: Ed Bolduc © 2011 WLP Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591 www.HeartoftheNation.org
