Saturday September 11

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 BUILT ON ROCK

 

Introduction

Christ came to call sinners, and of this fact Paul himself is the perfect example. Persecutor as he had been, God in his patience showed mercy to Paul, who had been a persecutor of Christians.

Luke makes two main points today. Christians will be recognized for what they are worth by their Christian living. The faith that is in their hearts overflows in their deeds. God’s word has sunk in into their hearts and only goodness in accordance with the Gospel: will have to come from them. In such people faith is solid; it is built on rock, it does not waver. The rains and the storm of trials cannot blow that faith apart.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
let the word of your Son sink into our hearts
so deeply and so firmly,
that all of our life is marked by it.
Let no trial or doubt or fad or fear
be powerful enough to shake that faith;
for in you we trust
and on you we rely
on account of him, who is the living proof,
that you love us and want us to be happy,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Reading 1: 1 TM 1:15-17

Beloved:
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 113:1B-2, 3-4, 5 AND 6-7

(2)Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Who is like the LORD, our God,
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.

 

Alleluia:  JN 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: LK 6:43-49

Jesus said to his disciples:
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

 

Intercessions

– That we may not just hear and know the Word of God but live by it consistently and enthusiastically, we pray:

– That the Lord may be our rock in whom we put our trust and on whom we build our lives, we pray:

– That our friendships may be firm and reliable, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
you offer us the bread and the cup
of your Son, Jesus Christ.
We are eager to share his food
that unites us, in all our diversity,
in one community of service and love.
We are also willing to drink his cup,
even when it is at times a cup of suffering.
Accept our offering
on account of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, our Father,
your Son has been here with us
and this is enough for us
to keep our faith and hope alive
and make it as solid as rock.
Let this faith bring forth
fruits of goodness that come from the heart:
compassion with those who grieve,
justice, kindness and service.
Keep us all in your love
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

Scripture often calls God our Rock. Our faith becomes rock-solid when it is built on him and also when it shows what we are in what we do. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Trees don’t tell lies; only human beings tell lies. There is a scientist who has been working for many years at teaching a chimpanzee to use language. One day he knew he had made a breakthrough: the chimp told a lie! (He tried to blame someone else for breaking a mug.) That lie showed that the chimp now had a sense of being a separate self; he had stepped aside from the truth; he had an ego, like us. The ego is the fundamental lie. We are the only creatures on this earth who tell lies: we and one chimp! We settle our very identity on a lie. That is why it is so hard—even for the world’s greatest teachers—to dispel it: it’s not just a puff of nothing; it’s the self-assertion of intelligent beings. 

Jesus faced this fundamental lie in his adversaries, “You are from your father the devil. He does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (Jn 8:44-45). I have to imagine these words addressed directly to myself.

But the truth emerges eventually. “The work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it,” wrote St. Paul (1Cor 3:13). One day we will be completely truthful. Perhaps that is the attraction that trees have—and nature generally: those are being that are already true to the core. Sit under a tree for an hour, and it will become harder to tell a lie afterwards!