Deacon Greg 10-31-21
Homily (10-31-21)
We have a great high priest, and He is Lord!
He is Savior!
He is our strength!
Happy All Hallows’ Eve!
As we approach the beginning of the last month of our liturgical year, I’d like to break open today’s readings via the Psalm: “I love you, Lord, my strength.”
The lives of the Saints are usually shared with at least these two qualities in mind… Love & Strength. But they achieved their Sainthood not just because they possessed these qualities… No, they lived lives that allowed the love and strength of Christ to flow through them! Take the story of any Saint and you’ll see how and when they fell in love with the Lord, and how that helped them to love others. Look at the life of any Saint, and you’ll see the strength that they possessed that helped them endure the various challenges that came their way, and how the strength of the Lord flowed through them, and empowered them far beyond their expectations! Finally, reflect on the Martyrs and you’ll see the ultimate combination of God’s love and strength helping them to be loving and strong enough to offer their very lives for the goodness of the Lord!
Now, take a second to think about your own life, and the blessings of love and strength, as they blossom each day within your journey of faith! And before you say that you can never compare your life to that of the Saints, the response you just sang with today’s Psalm is the same prayer prayed by every Saint who ever lived, and like with their lives, your life to grow in the same way, empowered by these words:
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
In our First Reading, Moses called upon the people to hear God’s command and celebrate his promise, saying, “Fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life.” He goes on to say that we can love the Lord with GREAT STRENGTH; that is with everything we’ve got, for the Lord gives us the firm foundation that we need, knowing that his promise is meant to be fulfilled… A promise to DELIVER us to a “land flowing with milk and honey,” which I think you know by now, is our eternal place at the Lord’s table!
The song of the Psalmist continues, proclaiming our God as our “rock of refuge,” as we seek to recognize him in our day to day walk, as protector and “shield, the horn of [our] salvation, [and our] stronghold, keeping us safe from our enemies.”
But this faith journey towards the promised land isn’t along a “yellow brick road” where we just walk along until we reach a dreamy castle at the end. No… It’s a journey that calls for our complete participation on the way, and the use of the gifts that we’ve been given because, as Moses said to the people of Israel (and us), we must “be careful to observe [these statutes and commandments], [so] that we may grow and prosper…” And like Jesus said to the inquisitive scribe in today’s Gospel, “there is no commandment greater than these”, that one must love the Lord with all of one’s heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself!
You might have noticed that during these past two months our Sunday Gospel readings have focused on our call to discipleship and mission, calling on our lives to be changed, living each day with an active faith… Since the middle of last month, listen to how the Lord calls us to serve…
(9/12) “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."
(9/19) “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
(9/26) 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.
(10/3) Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."
(10/10) Jesus, looking at [the man who followed all of the commandments] loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
(10/17) "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized…
Leading up to last week (10/24) as Jesus asked the Blind Man, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.”
My friends, the Lord is asking you the same question:
What do you want him to do for you?
Like many a Saint before you, have you reached that moment in your life where want to see, or want the Truth, or want to know, love and serve the Lord? Are you ready to respond with the same faith and follow Him on the way?
Like the Saints praying the Psalms before us, we too just proclaimed our own love for the Lord with great high praise as we prayed today’s Psalm: “The LORD lives! And blessed be our rock! Extolled be God our savior.”
So today we have the opportunity to say YES to giving it our all, and say YES to loving our neighbor, for as our Psalm concludes, we lift up those “who give great victories to our king and show kindness to the anointed.”
Tomorrow is All Saints Day and I would like to invite you to strive to become Saints, following God’s Law so as to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength!
I, for one, think you can do it!
We have a great high priest, and He is Lord!
He is Savior!
He is our strength!
Happy All Hallows’ Eve!
As we approach the beginning of the last month of our liturgical year, I’d like to break open today’s readings via the Psalm: “I love you, Lord, my strength.”
The lives of the Saints are usually shared with at least these two qualities in mind… Love & Strength. But they achieved their Sainthood not just because they possessed these qualities… No, they lived lives that allowed the love and strength of Christ to flow through them! Take the story of any Saint and you’ll see how and when they fell in love with the Lord, and how that helped them to love others. Look at the life of any Saint, and you’ll see the strength that they possessed that helped them endure the various challenges that came their way, and how the strength of the Lord flowed through them, and empowered them far beyond their expectations! Finally, reflect on the Martyrs and you’ll see the ultimate combination of God’s love and strength helping them to be loving and strong enough to offer their very lives for the goodness of the Lord!
Now, take a second to think about your own life, and the blessings of love and strength, as they blossom each day within your journey of faith! And before you say that you can never compare your life to that of the Saints, the response you just sang with today’s Psalm is the same prayer prayed by every Saint who ever lived, and like with their lives, your life to grow in the same way, empowered by these words:
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
In our First Reading, Moses called upon the people to hear God’s command and celebrate his promise, saying, “Fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life.” He goes on to say that we can love the Lord with GREAT STRENGTH; that is with everything we’ve got, for the Lord gives us the firm foundation that we need, knowing that his promise is meant to be fulfilled… A promise to DELIVER us to a “land flowing with milk and honey,” which I think you know by now, is our eternal place at the Lord’s table!
The song of the Psalmist continues, proclaiming our God as our “rock of refuge,” as we seek to recognize him in our day to day walk, as protector and “shield, the horn of [our] salvation, [and our] stronghold, keeping us safe from our enemies.”
But this faith journey towards the promised land isn’t along a “yellow brick road” where we just walk along until we reach a dreamy castle at the end. No… It’s a journey that calls for our complete participation on the way, and the use of the gifts that we’ve been given because, as Moses said to the people of Israel (and us), we must “be careful to observe [these statutes and commandments], [so] that we may grow and prosper…” And like Jesus said to the inquisitive scribe in today’s Gospel, “there is no commandment greater than these”, that one must love the Lord with all of one’s heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself!
You might have noticed that during these past two months our Sunday Gospel readings have focused on our call to discipleship and mission, calling on our lives to be changed, living each day with an active faith… Since the middle of last month, listen to how the Lord calls us to serve…
(9/12) “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."
(9/19) “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
(9/26) 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.
(10/3) Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."
(10/10) Jesus, looking at [the man who followed all of the commandments] loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
(10/17) "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized…
Leading up to last week (10/24) as Jesus asked the Blind Man, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.”
My friends, the Lord is asking you the same question:
What do you want him to do for you?
Like many a Saint before you, have you reached that moment in your life where want to see, or want the Truth, or want to know, love and serve the Lord? Are you ready to respond with the same faith and follow Him on the way?
Like the Saints praying the Psalms before us, we too just proclaimed our own love for the Lord with great high praise as we prayed today’s Psalm: “The LORD lives! And blessed be our rock! Extolled be God our savior.”
So today we have the opportunity to say YES to giving it our all, and say YES to loving our neighbor, for as our Psalm concludes, we lift up those “who give great victories to our king and show kindness to the anointed.”
Tomorrow is All Saints Day and I would like to invite you to strive to become Saints, following God’s Law so as to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength!
I, for one, think you can do it!
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