May 27, 2013

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Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 347

Reading 1SIR 17:20-24

To the penitent God provides a way back,

he encourages those who are losing hope

and has chosen for them the lot of truth.

Return to him and give up sin,

pray to the LORD and make your offenses few.

Turn again to the Most High and away from your sin,

hate intensely what he loathes,

and know the justice and judgments of God,

Stand firm in the way set before you,

in prayer to the Most High God.

God is merciful and forgives our sins as long as we repent without deceit in our heart.  As long as our repentance is sincere.  We prove this sincerity by producing good works which reflect what is in our heart:

Acts 26:2  But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. 

Who in the nether world can glorify the Most High

in place of the living who offer their praise?

Dwell no longer in the error of the ungodly,

but offer your praise before death.

No more can the dead give praise 

than those who have never lived;

You who are alive and well 

shall praise and glorify God in his mercies.

How great the mercy of the LORD,

his forgiveness of those who return to him!

All live unto God:

Luke 20:38For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

Therefore, when this verse speaks of the dead, it is a reference to the dead in hell.  It is they who do not praise God because they have no love in their hearts.   

Those who are alive are they who believe in God and live even though they die:

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

Responsorial PsalmPS 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

R. (11a) Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.

Those who are righteous rejoice in God because they recognize His mercy.  They understand the Wisdom of His Laws and are grateful for the gift of His Son, who is salvation onto us.

GospelMK 10:17-27

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,

knelt down before him, and asked him,

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother.”

He replied and said to him,

“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” 

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

“You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

At that statement, his face fell, 

and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

It can not be emphasized enough.  The Commandments are indispensable for one to enter eternal life.  The Church and the Sacraments are helps along the way.  But if a man does not keep the Commandments, the Church and the Sacraments will not put him in heaven.  One must commit from the heart to obedience of Christ in order to be saved.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

“How hard it is for those who have wealth

to enter the Kingdom of God!”

The disciples were amazed at his words.

So Jesus again said to them in reply,

“Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,

“Then who can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said,

“For men it is impossible, but not for God.

All things are possible for God.”

This is also important to remember.  God did not give us anything which we are to keep for ourselves.  All that we have we are to share and to use to gain souls for Him, that they may be saved:

James 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.