November 15-16, 2008
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Proverbs 31:10-31 First Thessalonians 5:1-6 Matthew 25:14-30
Near the end of a dinner party guests will start to stretch, visit the powder room, fetch coats, bag up any left-overs for next-day enjoyment…and prepare to bring to a close the evening’s festivities. Next weekend is the conclusion of this liturgical year, ‘the Solemnity of Christ the King’. It is our equivalent of New Year’s Eve when we pause to consider that another year has come and gone and to recall how we have rendered service to our King. This weekend’s Scripture passage from Matthew is a direct and blunt challenge for us to consider what we have done with our gifts and abilities (modern-day talents) that are of benefit for God. Have we invested them, taken a few risks, gone out on a few limbs? Have we participated and helped to build up a stronger community of faith? Have we questioned and pondered, have we used our minds and our hearts to render decisions, regardless of what the strident voices of assorted groups would have us do? OR…have we burrowed down deep where we can hold on to whatever we think is ours? Have we treated our gifts and abilities selfishly and always found reasons to never take a risk? When opportunities arose for us to become involved with an event, an endeavor, a goal…did we find numerous reasons to be ‘too busy’ and to turn away? There is a saying in our culture that ‘the future belongs to the bold (and sometimes reckless). The discernment of the mind of God sometimes requires an embrace of seemingly reckless choices. While we celebrate scientific discoveries, new cures and improvement-of-life opportunities….most of these come about on the heels of repeated failures, experiments that go awry, efforts that lead no where. What is important is that AT LEAST SOMETHING IS BEING TRIED!!! If nothing is ever ventured, nothing is ever gained. So, how have we ventured since late 2007 when this present liturgical year began? How have we risked? What have we learned or discovered? How are we different today than last year….or the year before…or the year before that? Take a stretch, visit the powder room, fetch your coat, this liturgical year comes to a close next weekend…and then…we start to hear the story again like we have never heard it before…ADVENT is just around the corner. But every new beginning needs a previous ending…and now is the time to start closing up shop and take inventory as this year comes to a close.
Thank you for joining with our Corpus Christi Catholic-Christian Community as we celebrate coming together in worship and as family. Our HAVEN Youth are on retreat this weekend, please keep them in your prayers. Next weekend will be busy and full, Paulist Press Bookstore will be on site, after all the Masses, offering an array of ADVENT appropriate books and potential Christmas gifts for purchase. Next weekend will also be TURKEY ADOPTION Weekend, when our 50 turkeys are adopted by families to be cooked and returned for our BIG Parish Thanksgiving Dinner on Monday, November 24th. Please read all the details about our upcoming THANKSGIVING dinner in the Bulletin….it is a mildly chaotic, wonderfully festive, tremendously blessed evening….and YOU ARE INVITED. Please sign up on the Thanksgiving Tables outside for the assorted food items that are needed to make our feast complete. A reminder that before you start your shopping for Thanksgiving or Christmas….how about stocking up on SCRIP certificates that can be used for your purchases (or as gifts themselves?) With the elections behind us, our enthusiasm for the holidays begins to grow….as you make your plans, remember, you are loved. FKB
