October 23-24, 2010
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 35:12-18 Second Timothy 4:6-18 Luke 18:9-14
It is a sadness well understood by those of ‘golden years’…with the passing of old friends, portions of their lives become unknown to anyone but themselves. Stories shared, remembered momentous events, kindnesses exchanged and struggles endured…with the death of those to whom we entrusted those treasures…the number of those who truly know and understand us measurably shrinks.
Speaking as we have in recent weeks regarding the urgency of developing ‘depth of relationship’ with God, a hallmark of depth and intimacy is a broad awareness of each other’s life. When we are in intimate connection with someone, we know things about each other, we have background stories that do not need to be retold, we understand what makes each other tick…and we can usually start to presume how someone will react in varying situations. In this weekend’s Scripture selections from both Sirach and Luke, we have a reminder that God does indeed hear those who call out to him, that his attention is not gained by multiplicity of words…but through sincerity and honesty.
In the ‘wisdom writing’ of Sirach we are counseled to understand and accept that God does indeed hear us…and will respond: ‘the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds, it does not rest until it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds…’ In Luke we are reminded that we do not need to ‘re-state’ our resume or curriculum vitae in order to garner God’s notice…the simple penitent is praised over the self-righteous blowhard. With depth of relationship our conversations with God become simpler, easier, more comfortable. There is no need to re-present ourselves or come up with justification for what we seek or having to posture as a way of ‘explaining ourselves to God.’
Like with any relationship of depth….if we already have a clue as to what is going on with each other, we can quickly understand the background behind our joys and our upsets. So it is with God….he already knows what is occurring in our lives. Those who have developed a relationship of trust and depth will live their lives within that awareness, sparing themselves the wasted time of having to start from scratch every time they want to petition God under the false presumption that he has forgotten or perhaps does not remember them. God does not forget…nor does he die…the things we entrust to him are entrusted for all eternity…even the ‘golden year’ sadness’ of a shrinking world…and someday all will be well again, when every tear will be wiped from our eye and then…and perhaps only then, we will understand the sweetness of joys presumed lost but eventually re-found and treasured forever.
On this late October weekend, thank you for joining with our Corpus Christi Community in prayer and worship….if you are visiting us for the first time…welcome! Next weekend, even though it is Halloween, we will still be collecting non-perishable food items for South County Outreach Food Pantry…please bring your items and drop them in the hamper on the courtyard. This coming Thursday, October 28th….why not TREAT yourself to a lunch or dinner OUT at the Elephant Bar in the Laguna Hills Mall?
If you bring the coupon in today’s Bulletin our Building Fund will reap a 20% rebate on food purchased throughout the ENTIRE day! See you there. With the approach of All Saints and All Souls Day, if you desire to have your own deceased loved ones remembered in the special series of November Masses, make sure you complete one of the All Souls envelopes available on the Concierge Shelves. Lastly, and MOST importantly….remember, you are loved. FKB
