Short message from Fr. Lawrence R. Brito

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time:​

God give us ideals that are achievable. In the first reading we see that God creates Man and after creating him make the statement: “it is not good for man to be alone”.

Man is made in the image and likeness of God. God has never existed in aloneness. God is Love and to be love one cannot be solitary. Yes there is but one God who exists eternally as trinity. The Father loves, the Son and the Son loves the Father, and the Spirit is the eternal personification of that love. When God creates man, man is not complete. Man is perfected in his likeness to God only in communion with another. So God creates from the man another whom he called woman.

When a Man loves a Woman and a Woman loves a Man and the two are joined together in marriage, this marriage is considered as an unbreakable bond.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is challenged about the ideal way of God’s commandments. “Moses allowed divorce”, what do you have to say on the matter? Jesus knows that we must be presented with the perfect. He even challenges us to be perfect as God is perfect; to be holy as God is Holy. This seems like a lofty goal. God believes in us, the question is, do we believe in God.

Little children are held up by Jesus as an example to us of how we are to accept the kingdom of God.

How does a little child accept the kingdom of God and the teachings of Jesus. The child is humble. A child’s mind is pure and new. The little child is most broken by the divorce of his or her parent. The little child is not afraid to ask why. We know that all marriages do not work out and that many end in divorce. Marriage is something established by God and instituted by Christ. That is why marriage must always be opened to children. One of the purposes of marriage is the begetting rearing of children. The teaching of Jesus are new and they are old, but they are always new. And unless we humble ourselves like a little child can we embrace and accept those perfect ideals which are the teachings of Jesus Christ.

 

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time:​

"With God everything is possible." In today's Gospel, the young man asked Jesus this most important question: "Good teacher, what should I do to achieve eternal life?" With great love, Jesus responded: "keep the commandments" The young man is excited because He thinks he has kept them since he was a child. However, Jesus challenges him to think more deeply about the commandments and his obligation to be generous with others, especially the poor. Keep the commandments with the correct perspective. We are made to serve others. Remember how Jesus summed up the commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

 

Therefore, what the Lord is challenging the young man to do is for him to change his focus. See, this young man was focused on himself. He is egocentric (selfish). The Lord calls him to be a man of communion. "It's not good for the man to be alone". Jesus calls us to become people of compassion for others, especially the poor.

 

We are called to imitate Jesus. Jesus was the one who loved others very much. He gave himself in service to others, even to the point of dying for them; for us.

 

In the first reading we hear about wisdom. If we have wisdom we can understand the truth and continue on the path of truth and life. We need to pray for wisdom so we can be able to act like Jesus. Pray that we will have the wisdom not to put anything before our service to the Lord and our brothers and sisters.

Amen