040 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings

Cycle B 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hosea 11:1,3-4, 8-9; Isaiah 12: 2-6; Ephesians 3: 88-12, 14-19; John 19: 31-37

Homily Theme

Nothing

I read the Holy Scriptures several times before I received the Word I chose for this weeks Liturgy. Most of us have gone to restaurants and taken forever to choose something from a very large menu. We read the same menu but we all choose something different from it. Each Catholic Church has the same readings on any given Sunday, yet every priest or deacon, will preach something different from it. Nothing is the word that struck me in today’s Spiritual Menu. In the first reading Amos, has nothing to recommend himself to the priest Amaziah when challenged by him. He was just a simple shepherd chosen by God to be a prophet. In the second reading, Paul tells us how we, who are nothing, have been chosen and blessed by God, and have been adopted by Him as His children before the world began. In the Gospel Jesus sends the apostles forth with the instruction to take nothing with them.

Many years ago I made a retreat and was much impressed with a particular meditation about today’s theme. I thought of my talents and I would offer those to God for his Glory but He reminded me they were His Gifts to me. No matter how long I prayed and thought of what I could give to God, the answer was always the same. Finally, I asked God what was mine that I could offer Him and the answer was nothing but my sins. They were the only things that were not a gift from Him. The only thing that is ours, that is not a gift from God is our sins. Without His gifts we all have nothing. Even martyrs, who gave their lives to Him were merely giving back to God what He had given them: their lives.

Our world is full of people who want to have, and when they have it, they want more. Even the very wealthy still want more. Only the poor, who have nothing, are truly blessed because they must rely on God for their very needs. That is the message of the Gospel this week. Take nothing for the journey. Then we too must rely on God for all our necessities and know that we are nothing without Him.

For those of us who live in a Country that has been truly blessed by God., where our standard of living is way above millions of those who truly have nothing but the clothes they wear. Where the poor have to beg for every morsel of food they eat. Let us give thanks and remember.

We are nothing without God