September 11, 2013

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Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 439

Reading 1COL 3:1-11

Brothers and sisters:

If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,

where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

All who are baptized, die with Christ and are raised to a new life in Christ.  Therefore, St. Paul is saying that all of us who are baptized should seek to enter heaven by doing the will of God, by doing good deeds until the end.

Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.

We should keep our minds on heaven and leave earthly things behind.  Jesus Christ said:

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

We have died, Christ now lives in us.  

When Christ your life appears,

then you too will appear with him in glory.

And when Christ comes back again, we will be with Him, arrayed in His glory.

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:

immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,

and the greed that is idolatry.

Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.

By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.

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

Put away sin and disobedience.  We have nothing to do with them any longer:

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

and have put on the new self,

which is being renewed, for knowledge,

in the image of its creator.

We are new creations in Christ:

2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

Here there is not Greek and Jew,

circumcision and uncircumcision,

barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;

but Christ is all and in all.

God is not a respecter of persons.  All who are in Christ must be righteous and no matter if you are Greek, Jew, rich, poor, man or woman, if you act righteously, you are acceptable to God:

Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.  12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;  13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Responsorial PsalmPS 145:2-3, 10-11, 12-13AB

R. (9) The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.

God loves all which He created.  And He gives all men the opportunity to come to Him and be saved.  Let us all turn to God in good faith and do His will and He will save us.  This is a trust worthy saying.

GospelLK 6:20-26

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.

Those who humble themselves and understand that all in this world belongs to God, whether they be materially rich or not, all those who know they are poor before God will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.

Those who hunger for love, mercy and truth, they will seek God and be rewarded in heaven.

Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.

Those who are saddened by the sinful condition of their souls and of mankind, they will rejoice in heaven with the righteous people of God whose spirits have been made pure.

Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.

Those who are hated and persecuted because of their love of God and Christ, will be rewarded for their faith in the Son of Man, in heaven.

Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets
in the same way.

Therefore rejoice because your name is written in the book of life.

But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

Woe to all those who are satisfied in their own material wealth, their own accomplishments and do not yearn for justice.  Woe to those who are held in high esteem in this world.  They have received their reward here on earth and can anticipate nothing but punishment in the next world.