Celebrate Sunday Mass - 11.8.20

Join us for Sunday Mass.

Photo by Annie Theby on Unsplash

11/8/2020 (4 years ago)

By Deacon Keith Fournier

32nd Sunday of the Year

Dear Catholic Online Community and Catholic Online School students...

I AM HAPPY TO OFFER EACH OF YOU AN INVITATION TO ONLINE SUNDAY MASS ON THE 32d Sunday of the Year from the Catholic Diocese of Tyler, Texas. The response to offering these beautiful liturgies online has been overwhelming. The readings from the Scriptures, as always, offer so much for us to reflect on. It is helpful to pray through them and reflect upon them.

In our first reading we will hear an excerpt from the 6th Chapter of the Book of Wisdom. This Book, attributed to Solomon, the wisest of all men in the Hebrew Scriptures, is a beautiful book. It presents wisdom as a person and was a favorite for reflection by the Church Fathers.

Wisdom is given to us by the Lord, who is its source. It is communicated to us to reveal His providential plan. As this passage encourages us, we should awaken early every day to seek wisdom, and meditate upon it once it is obtained.

This entire sixth chapter of the Book of Wisdom is addressed to leaders. All of us participate in leadership. Whether it is in the family, the civil society, our work or in the Church. We need the wisdom of God to be able to live our lives in accordance with His will.

Are we seeking His wisdom as we live our daily lives? Do we really ask the Lord for wisdom?

In the New Testament Letter of St. James, we read "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." (James 1:5,6)

Our Second reading for Sunday Mass is an excerpt from the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians. One of the challenges which the Apostle Paul was dealing with in that early Church community was a misunderstanding about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

This misunderstanding had crept into the early church through the influence of some false teachers. In this letter and elsewhere, St. Paul, as a good spiritual father, keeps his readers - including each one of us - focused on staying in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Some in this community were beginning to grow slothful in their work and failing to live up to their daily duties because of this mistaken notion of the second coming.

Yes, Jesus will return. He will come to judge the living and the dead, as we profess in the Creed and read in the Sacred Scriptures. He will usher in the Kingdom of God. But. until then, we should live in the knowledge that He is with us now.

He comes to us every day, in His Word, in prayer, in the Holy Eucharist and all the Sacraments, and in other people. However, to live this way, to be always ready, requires that we have the eyes of living, which makes it possible to recognize Him.

We grow in that kind of living faith the more we pray and read the Word of God. The more we receive the Holy Eucharist and take full advantage of the Sacrament of Confession.

The Gospel we will hear proclaimed by a Deacon or a Priest this Sunday is taken from the 25th chapter of Matthews Gospel. That entire chapter is stunning! I encourage everyone reading this letter to read the 25th chapter in its entirety. At the end of it, Jesus speaks of His Second Coming and the judgment of all the Nations.

In the beginning of the 25th chapter Jesus uses parables to explain to his disciples - that includes you and me - how to live in such a way that we are ready for His final coming and the Last Judgment. How do we do this? By living our lives as though He believe that He is coming, but that He is also truly present among us right now.

In the parable of the wise and foolish maidens or wedding attendants which we will hear this Sunday, we are reminded to stay filled with the Holy Spirit. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. We are called to remain in a state of grace, to live our lives in the light, to keep the oil in our lampsJesus is the bridegroom; the Church is the Bride. We are always to live our lives "at the watch" because Jesus Christ is truly coming. Do we believe this? Does it affect the way we are living right now? Are we keeping our lamps filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and lit?

Have a wonderful Lords Day. Seek heavenly wisdom. Do not fear the coming of the Lord, but live your life looking forward to it. Be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord bless you, your families, the Church, and the Nations of the world on this Lord's Day.

Deacon Keith Fournier
Dean of Catholic Online School
Chaplain of Your Catholic Voice Foundation

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