22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Prayer
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
to You I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying You. Amen.
Commentary
1st Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 28-29
This is the fifth session of our retreat for the heart. Giving our heart a retreat requires an openness to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Opening our heart to God is the beginning of true wisdom.
The Book of Sirach comes from the Wisdom literature in the Old Testament. Sirach offers our spiritual hearts concrete example of how a godly person should live. For example, Chapter 3 of Sirach gives us a lesson on humility. Rather than reaching for the stars and accomplishing “things beyond our strength,” Sirach advises us to “conduct our affairs with humility.”
Many Christians whose hearts are on fire for the Lord run the risk of burning out. The Christian life is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. It requires taking small and deliberate steps to carry our daily cross.
St. Francis of Assisi invited his followers to “do few things, but do them well.” He went on to say, “Simple tasks are holy.” St. Therese reminded us to love the Lord in “little ways.” These two humble saints are examples of how Christian hearts should be molded.
Question:
Are you a person who tries to accomplish too much?
2nd Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24
We must remember that Saints Francis and Therese patterned their hearts on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They did not try to be messiahs and saviors of this world. There is only one Savior and one Messiah in the world and these Saints knew it. Moreover, they knew that their Savior himself lived a life of humility. He did not seek lofty goals, nor did he seek to be exalted.
The point of Christ becoming one with us was to show us an imminent (rather than transcendent) God who humbled himself for our sake. Rather than a superman-styled Messiah, he was a crucified king.
It is from this angle that Hebrews invites us to approach Jesus. If we desire to follow the Lord, we must first see Christ as humble and approachable. We do not approach our God who is a “blazing fire and gloomy darkness.” Rather, we approach a life-giving City of God, with a sacrificed Lord in the middle. His blood speaks out more than that of Abel who was slain by his brother Cain.
If we want our hearts to conform to the Heart of Christ, we must approach him with equal humility.
Question:
Do you see Christ as lofty or humble?
Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
Jesus is meek and humble of heart. He lived a life of humility and he taught us how to do the same.
In our Gospel, Jesus seizes an opportunity to speak on humility. He commands that we not “recline” at places of “honor.” Rather, we are called to take the lowest place.
On more than one occasion, Pope Francis has spoken on humility. Often his message is delivered to priests, bishops, and theologians who may be caught up in their offices and lose sight of the Heart of Christ.
In one instance, he said, “Many can know science, theology as well. But if they do not do this theology on their knees, that is, humbly, like the little ones, they will not understand anything. They will tell us many things, but they will not understand anything.”
In order for the Christian heart to understand anything, we must pattern our lives on the life of Jesus Christ, who humbled himself and obediently accepted death on a cross for our sake. If our eyes are fixed on places of honor and not on the cross, then we are looking in the wrong direction.
Question:
Is your heart patterned on the humble heart of Jesus?
This Week’s Task
Say the following morning prayer each day this week.
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.
Group Prayer
The group offers the following prayer by St. Ignatious of
Loyola:
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours;
do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.
The prayer continues with Psalm 68.
Psalm
Response: God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
The just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
Sing to God, chant praise to his name;
whose name is the LORD.
R: God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
The father of orphans and the defender of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
R: God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance;
you restored the land when it languished;
your flock settled in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.
R: God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
Conclude with an Our Father