"Anyone who does the will of God is My brother, My sister and My mother”

Choosing to follow Jesus means some hard choices in life. A true disciple loves God above all else.

St. Benedict, abbot 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Isaiah 1:10-17

 Hear the warning of Yahweh,

Rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah.”  “What do I care,” says Yahweh “for your endless sacrifices? I am fed up with your burnt offerings, and the fat of your bulls.

The blood of fatlings, and lambs and he-goats I abhor.

 When you come before me and trample on my courts, who asked you to visit me?  I am fed up with your oblations. I grow sick with your incense. Your New Moons, Sabbaths and meetings, evil with holy assemblies,

I can no longer bear. I hate your New Moons and appointed feasts they burden me.

 When you stretch out your hands I will close my eyes; the more you pray,  the more I refuse to listen, for your hands are bloody.  Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from my sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness  and learn to do good. Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow.”

 

Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 & 23

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 10:34-11:1

 Do not think that I have come to establish peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.   For I have come to set a man against his father and daughter against her mother; a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  Each one will have as enemies those of one’s own family.

 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And whoever does not take up his cross and come after me is not worthy of me.   One who wants to benefit from his life will lose it; one who loses his life for my sake will find it.

 Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.   The one who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man because he is a just man will receive the reward of a just man.   And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple of mine, I assure you, he will not go unre­warded.”

When Jesus had finished giving his twelve disciples these instructions, he went on from there to teach and to proclaim his message in their towns.

     

Gospel Reflection：

Necessary Conflicts

Pedro Casaldaliga (1928-2020), the late bishop of the Amazonian territorial prelature of Sao Felix do Araguaia in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil, grew up in Catalonia in Spain, during the years of the revolution and religious persecution of the 1930.

He knew what it meant to be a persecuted Church. Later, as a bishop fighting against the land mafia and the military government in order to protect the rights of the indigenous people, he observed:” I understood better to what extent conflict must be an essential part of the Church and of the life of Jesus.”

A non-negotiable, unconditional choice for Christ will invite persecution; sometimes even from one’s most intimate circle of family and friends. Sometimes even from within certain sectors of the Church. But any compromise to win the world will result in loss of Christ. There are no ifs and buts in the following of Christ. It must be Christ, all the way.