August 29-30, 2009
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 4:1-8 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-23
If a notorious drug dealer made a hefty financial donation to Corpus Christi, should we accept it? If someone like Osama ben Laden offered us $10 million cash for our building fund…should we take it and get on with our construction? What was more unsettling about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas…that he would do it…or be paid 40 pieces of silver? How many spouses continue to wear their wedding rings while they are committing adultery? How many people in court swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…and then perjure themselves with lies? How many people say they LOOOOOVE Jesus…but are quick to condemn and turn a blind eye to some of Jesus’ family members who are of a different culture or have different values than themselves. The most perfectly executed ritual can sometimes be the most empty of gestures, as this week’s Gospel says: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…’ How true, how true; haven’t many of us experienced a conversation where we heard words that were comforting and loving….but when we looked in the person’s eyes we found them empty, shallow or cruel? In discovering the emptiness of the ritual or gesture….it cannot be trusted or accepted…like it says elsewhere in Scripture, it must be spat out of our mouths. Rituals can become as routine/empty as putting on one’s make-up in the morning or the adjusting of our car mirrors…without intentionality, they are of little value. And finally, with Labor Day beckoning, it is also interesting to note that Jesus lists a whole bunch of ‘evils’ that come from people’s heart’s: arrogance, folly, envy, licentiousness, greed, malice, deceit, blasphemy, murder, adultery, theft, unchastity…..how come we have a cultural fascination/obsession with sexual/sensual sins? How come we don’t get really bent out of shape with all the other things mentioned by Jesus? Some possible thoughts as you stockpile school supplies and prepare the Labor Day hamburgers?
Thank you for sharing these final August days with our Corpus Christi Community.
If you are traveling for the Labor Day Weekend…please do so safely and come home to us refreshed and renewed. Our Financial Summit is approaching on Thursday, September 10th, special flyers were in last week’s Bulletin and are also available on the Concierge Shelves. While the event is FREE, we need to have RSVP’s so as to prepare suitable refreshments. Thanks. Please take a copy of the Bulletin with you….if you don’t read it…you run the risk of missing out on all the nifty things coming up in the life of Corpus Christi!?!?! Also, please remember that our SCRIP table has a whole bunch of gift cards for the stores you are visiting for school supplies…why not load up on SCRIP and help out our Building Fund…at no cost to you!! As the ‘traditional’ weeks of Summer come to a close, remember, you are loved. FKB
