20th Sunday in Ordinary Time(Cycle C, YearI)

Community Word:To be with God is the greatest treasure of all.

Theme:We store heavenly treasure when we rid ourselves of sin and fix our eyes on Jesus.

Promise:“The Lord heard my cry. He drew me out of the pit of destruction; he made firm my steps.”(Ps 40:3)

Reflection:
The 2nd Reading of the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Times tells us that we can build up heavenly treasures by running our race of faith with endurance and focusing our eyes and hearts on Jesus. In taking this path, we are exhorted to forsake our sinful past and put away all sins. This entails confessing our sins and leaving behind a life that is sinful. This is made clear in 1 John 1:19, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”Our sins have been buried in the grave of Jesus Christ and therefore, we should no longer cling to them – jealousy, pride, ill-temper, evil speech and many others. When we rid ourselves of sin and fix our eyes on Jesus, it helps us to give up bad behaviour that burdens us.

Our life needs to be re-directed towards the Kingdom of God. People who are attuned to this world will remain in conflict with those who are racing towards God’s righteousness. St. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:8 – 10 to dispose the “old man” of unrighteousness once and for all: “But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.” This is the time for freedom and be safe in the holiness of Christ. Jesus bids us to run with patience the race set before us. He is our Frontrunner who is always before us, setting the pace and leading us on.

It is hard to follow Jesus with a worldly baggage behind our backs. This slows down our journey and distracts us from concentrating on the goal, the Prize of our life,who is Jesus Christ. Our heart is where our treasure will be. Those who are greedy and anxious about stuff rely on earthly things. If we look at our belongings or attachments and decide that there are things we can never part with or give away, then we are being possessed by those things. Our possessions own us and they become our idols. Ezekiel 20:7 admonishes us: “Get rid of every idol” and sin. But those who trust in God’s provisions and plans store heavenly treasures.

“The Lord our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”(Dt 4:24). Fire is a symbol of God’s cleansing, purification or transformation of a person to a perfect state. In the Gospel, Jesus refers to the fire of the Holy Spirit, the fire that comes not to destroy but to refine and empower His people to be God-centered rather than self-centered. On Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit descended in tongues fire which transformed the apostles from fearful men to courageous missionaries and preachers of the Gospel.

As we store our treasures in heaven, Jesus wants His “fire” to come to us so that we may be renewed and become fully committed Christians who are willing to follow and imitate Him, to die to self and serve Him as disciples in the world. Jesus perfects our faith in this journey and continues to give us the grace of fortitude in this promise: “The Lord heard my cry. He drew me out of the pit of destruction; he made firm my steps,” (Ps 40:3).

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come to You to seek Your guidance in the decisions I have to make for my future. I ask for the grace to follow the right path Youset before my life and to focus on the direction to enable me to gather my treasures in Your heavenly Kingdom. Keep me away from selfish motives and from earthly things that prevents me from getting rid of my sinfulness and fixing my eyes on Jesus. May I live a godly life in Christ, guided by Your Holy Spirit who gives me strength to persevere in running the race that lies before me. Amen.

Reflection Guide Questions:
1. In your life today, what are the things that prevents you from “storing treasures in heaven?”
2. Are you “on fire” with Jesus in serving Him through mission works? If not, what do you plan to do?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
August 18, 2019 (Sun) – Jer 38:4-6, 8-10/Ps 40:2-4, 18/Heb 12:1-4/Lk 12:49-53
August 19, 2019 (Mon) – Jgs 2:11-19/Ps 106:34,-37, 39, 40, 43, 44/Mt 19:16-22
August 20, 2019 (Tue) – Jgs 6:11-24/Ps 85:9, 11-14/Mt 19:23-30
August 21, 2019 (Wed) – Jgs 9:6-15/Ps 21:2-7/Mt 20:1-16
August 22, 2019 (Thu) – Jgs 11:29-39/Ps 40:5-10/Mt 22:1-14
August 23, 2019 (Fri) – Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14-16, 27/Ps 146:5-10/Mt 22:34-40
August 24, 2019 (Sat) – Rv 21:9-14/Ps 145:10-13, 17, 18/Jn 1:45-51

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