11th August my take on the Sermon

1. Story told of  Priest who was newly installed at a Parish. The Priest preached a sermon that the parishioners were excited about & gave him a standing ovation. The parishioners discussed it through out the week and were all eager to come to Church
2. Next Sunday a lot of them came with high expectation, but to their surprise the priest he preached the same homily, word for word. They were disturbed & also discussed and complained bitterly. Next Sunday they came expecting something new. He preached the same homily. Because he was new & they did not know him by name. The parishioners were unable to confront him. The repetition continued  for the next 5 weeks.
3. The parishioners  went to complain to the Bishop, and Bishop called the Priest to explain his strange behaviour. The Priest explained that the reason was because since he came to the Parish he observed something about the parish & preached about it for the people to change but the people did not change. He has preached it week aft6er week  but there has been no change. He said till the people change, he will continue to preach same homily. Fr. Minta said he will continue to preach the message of we parishioners asking each others name & finding out about new people in the parish, making new friends every week  till  we changed.
4. The first reading last week was from Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21–23 & was about vanity upon vanity everything is vanity.
5. In Jews Talmud it is written man is born with the fist cringed together – coming into the world, man’s intention is to grab. But when we die our hands are open – Lord look at me, I leave with my hands open.
6. Why do we labor & toil night & day when we know vanity on vanity, all things are vanity
7. FIRST READING from last week, Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21–23
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune. For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest. This also is vanity.
8. In today’s 1st reading we hear that all the things will pass, only one thing will stay. Lets preoccupy ourselves with things that are holy, for we don’t know when The Lord will come. FIRST READING Wisdom 18:6–9 The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned. For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.
9. What is Important is seeking for The Lord.
10. It is not to say we should not work, but even if we work, it should be to God be the Glory.
11. The Gospel says we should seek treasures in heaven.
12. Know that where we are standing someone has been before. Nothing is permanent only God is. Now people are preaching only prosperity & claiming that suffering is not part of us. It cannot be when He calls us to carry our cross to follow Him.
13. May God help us so that our focus will be on God & not on worldly things.
14.

FIRST READING Wisdom 18:6–9 The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned. For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 33:1, 12, 18–19, 20–22 (12b)

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Exult, you just, in the LORD; praise from the upright is fitting. Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

SECOND READING
Longer Form Hebrews 11:1–2, 8–19

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age — and Sarah herself was sterile — for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
ALLELUIA
Matthew 24:42a, 44

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stay awake and be ready! For you do not know on what day the Son of Man will come.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL
Longer Form Luke 12:32–48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

or:

Shorter Form Luke 12:35–40

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

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