26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year II)

Community Word: Honoring God’s commandments bring peace to our hearts.

Theme: There is peace in our hearts when we do not allow sin to separate us from the love of God.

Promise:“… because you belong to Christ …you will surely not lose his reward.”(Mk 9:41)

Reflection:
Sin is described in the Holy Scripture as a transgression of the law of God (1Jn 3:4). Sin is simply doing what is wrong (or sin of commission), or not doing what is right (sin of omission) according to God’s laws. The Ten Commandments was expanded into 613 Jewish laws. In contrast, Jesus simplified it in Matthew 22: 37-40: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” This is the law of love. Those who transgress these commandments go against the love of God.

The law of love is the foundation of the doctrine of the Cross. A cross is formed by two lines. The vertical line corresponds to our relationship with God and the horizontal line corresponds to our relationship with man. Our relationship with both God and man must be our way of life. John 14:16 states, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”The Holy Spirit is our Helper who enlightens us to know what is good and what is bad. The Holy Spirit enables us to obey God’s laws and experience the joy of living in accord to God’s will. In our faithfulness to Him, we experience true happiness of being filled with peace and surrounded with His love and mercy. The law of love is the centerpiece of life.

We are all invited to experience God’s love. But there are times that we reject this invitation and we choose to live in sin. The reality is that God does not separate Himself from us. In fact, God patiently offers His forgiveness to those who ask for it. He wants us to reconcile with Him. Regrettably, knowing that we sinned against God, we are filled with shame, guilt, anger, or pride that we do not see His loving mercy and hear His call for us to repent. We are so consumed with the effects of sin that we separate ourselves from God even more.

God constantly reminds us to avoid sin at all times so that we might feel His love. Most of all, God strongly warns us not to be the cause for others to commit sin. He asks us to reflect on our life and identify the things that cause us to sin. He exhorts us to leave these things and cut them off, for they are not worth keeping if they cause us to lose our chance of being in God’s loving and holy presence. Keep yourself pure, live holy lives and resist evil. “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good,” (Rom 12:21).

In the gospel reading this Sunday, the disciples are envious of the one who drove out demons in the name of Jesus because he is not part of the inner circle of Jesus. But even if he is not a disciple, he already has a strong faith and relies in the power of Jesus. Doing mighty deeds is not exclusive to a person or certain group. Jesus does not want others to be treated as “outsiders” and exhorts us to look beyond ourselves and realize our mission to bring more people to Him. Doing good to others assures us of His promise, “Anyone who gives a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward,” (Mk 9: 42). We will surely experience peace in our hearts when we remain pure of hearts and do what is right in God’s presence.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, open the eyes of my soul that I may see my weaknesses and my sins. Convict me of my sinful nature and guide me to avoid sin at all times. I desire to be holy like Jesus, totally obedient to Your Holy Will. Restore me to be your child that I may always feel Your peace and presence in my life. Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1. What do you do when you are tempted to sin, especially sin that you have difficulty overcoming.
2. What are the obstacles that hinder you from doing good deeds? How steps can you take to overcome these challenges?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
Sept 30, 2018 (Sun) – Nm 11:25-29/Ps 19:8, 10, 12, 13, 14/Jas 5:1-6/Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47, 48
Oct 1, 2018 (Mon) – Job 1:6-22/Ps 17:1-3, 6, 7/Lk 9:46-50
Oct 2, 2018 (Tue) – Ex 23:20-23/Ps 91:1-6, 10, 11/Mt 18:1-5
Oct 3, 2018 (Wed) – Jb 9:1-12, 14-16/Ps 88:10-15/Lk 9:57-62
Oct 4, 2018 (Thu) – Jb 19:21-27/Ps 27:7-9, 13, 14/Lk 10:1-12
Oct 5, 2018 (Fri) -Jb 38:1,1-21,40:3-8/Ps 139:1-3,7-10,13,14/Lk 10:13-14
Oct 6, 2018 (Sat) -Jb 42:1-3, 5, 6, 12-17/Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91,125,130/Lk 10:17-24

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”