Word:        Those who trust and serve God are open to His will.

Order:    “Be opened!”(Mk 7:34)

Reflection:

The miracles of Jesus are not ends in themselves.  They point to Jesus as the Anointed One, God’s own Son. They invite people to have faith in Him, to trust Him and to see Him as the one who saves, not just by His authority and power, but by the offering of His own life. His statement, “nothing will be impossible with God” demonstrates His unconditional love for us in any situation or circumstance.  But openness to His will and a close relationship with Him are essential.  What we need is not great knowledge but a great commitment; not great power but great faith and openness to the will of God, as expressed in the weekly community Themes for the month of September.

For the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Theme is: We are open to God’s will when we show no partiality in adhering to our faith.Like the deaf-mute of the gospel, mankind without Christ cannot hear and cannot speak.  The healing of the deaf-mute is a parable for another kind of deafness and speech impediment – that which need to be healed by grace. Deafness closes our hearts to the Word of God, and speech impediment hinders us from proclaiming God’s salvation. In our day-to-day relationships, do we help open the ears, eyes and hearts of others to the will of God, and by the same token allow others to open our ears and hearts to enable us to hear, see and respond to God’s will in our life?  Do we listen to the cries of the poor, the suffering and the lonely among us?  Do we hear the voice of Jesus calling us to live our lives according to God’s will?  Are we spiritually active and receptive to the message of God and to the signs that we receive through our neighbors?

The Theme for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time is: We are open to God’s will when we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Christ.  To follow Jesusas the Messiah involves suffering and carrying our own cross to walk with Him through the paths of Calvary to the glory of the Resurrection.  “For whoever wishes to save his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it” (Mk 8:35). The reality of our faith journey is that we meet Him in the ordinariness of our daily life. To be Christian means to be a follower of Christ crucified.  And we see Him more clearly when we follow Him on the road to Calvary. To die for Christ means to confess Him before men, and to be ready to make the necessary sacrifices that following Him through Calvary may demand from us.  To refuse to take up one’s cross is to deny the Lord.

Let us pray for the grace not to be afraid to carry the crosses of our life, but to have the strength and the courage to take them up and walk with Jesus – the only way to glory. The hurts, the pain others inflict upon us, and those we inflict on ourselves and others, the uncertainty of the future, the challenges of life, are all crosses that unite us to one another and to the passion and death of Jesus.

The Theme for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time is: We are open to God’s will when we are the least of all and the servant of all.In community, there is only one the Master – Jesus Christ. Yet He comes to us, not as Lord, but as a servant. Service for the least, the last and the lost are Christ’s definition of leadership. We are to show not great mind but great heart; to share not great knowledge but great dedication, not great power but great faith. And Jesus gives us the example of a child to emulate, a child who instinctively responds to and relies solely on God’s unconditional love and provisions.  With the same openness and humility we should put our trust in God.

Finally, for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are given this Theme: We are open to God’s will when we do not allow sin to separate us from the love of God and of one another.God has given us the gifts and the opportunity to be of service to Him and to the Community.  But let us guard against an exaggerated sense of self-importance and avoid measuring ourselves against others.  Love without action cannot relieve the suffering of another.  In the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.  It is not how much we give but how much love we put in the giving”, that counts.

We must be ready to separate ourselves from those who will lead us to sin, and must never allow ourselves to be a reason or occasion of sin for another. The gospel challenges us never to be the source or occasion for sin or scandal, and never be the reason for others to fall or fail.

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