The LORD appeared to Abraham
by the terebinth of Mamre,
as he sat in the entrance of his tent,
while the day was growing hot.
Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby.
When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them;
and bowing to the ground, he said:
"Sir, if I may ask you this favor,
please do not go on past your servant.
Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet,
and then rest yourselves under the tree.
Now that you have come this close to your servant,
let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves;
and afterward you may go on your way."
The men replied, "Very well, do as you have said."
Abraham hastened into the tent
and told Sarah,
"Quick, three measures of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls."
He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer,
and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it.
Then Abraham got some curds and milk,
as well as the steer that had been prepared,
and set these before the three men;
and he waited on them under the tree while they ate.
They asked Abraham, "Where is
your wife Sarah?"
He replied, "There in the tent."
One of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year,
and Sarah will then have a son."
R. (1a) He who does
justice will live in the presence of the Lord. One who walks
blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue. R. He who does justice will live in the presence of
the Lord. Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
by whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD. R. He who does justice will live in the presence of
the Lord. Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
One who does these things
shall never be disturbed. R. He who does justice will live in the presence of
the Lord.
Brothers and sisters:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his body, which is the church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God's stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,
to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles;
it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.
It is he whom we proclaim,
admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
Jesus
entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."
Two young
teenagers were involved in a relay race for their respective schools. There
were thousands of people looking on. Each was the last runner on their relay
team in this particular event. Jason had his eyes fixed on the finish line and
blocked everything else out of his mind. Leon was amazed at the crown, the
cheering, the refreshment stand, and especially the high school cheerleaders.
Upon receiving the baton from his fellow teammate, Jason ran as fast as he
could, again eyes fixed on the finish line. Leon, on the other hand, was so
distracted by what he saw around him that he dropped the baton as it was handed
to him from his teammate. Jason crossed the finish line confident of the
victory for his team and school. Leon never quite recovered from his
distractions and the disappointment of his teammates for losing the race.
Today’s gospel is
NOT about winning or loosing. It’s about focusing. It’s about putting Jesus
first in our life and not letting anything else distract us from him and our
mission on this journey of life. And although we may strive to do just that,
often times we do get distracted by the things, the events, and people that take
our eye off what is most important, and thus loose sight of our Lord.
Martha didn’t do
anything bad because she wanted to have a clean house and prepare a good meal
for Jesus. She just wasn’t focused on Jesus as was Mary. If you are somewhat
like me, we get so consumed at times by things, like sports, our jobs, on
material things, on our children and grandchildren, on hearsay, and schedules
and what have you, not that al of this is bad, but when it is of too much
concern. And then perhaps we loose focus on our Lord. Well, I can’t speak for
you all, but I certainly do sometimes. We are only human!
Perhaps we should
ask ourselves if we are as focused on prayer (and is there a need for that these
days), on going to church, on attending to the needs of the poor, the homeless,
the abused, the sick, the shut-ins, the widows or widowers. Am I, are you as
focused on the needs that are not important? To really care, to really put
Jesus first in our lives, is too emerge our will to his, and sometimes that may
require some change in our daily plans. Do we put all the effort we can into
being responding to the call by our Lord to be his disciple? To becoming a new
person, a focused person?
Jesus has to be
the ALL in our lives. All he ever ask of us is to “Come follow Me.” To let
everything else go and to follow him he says, and “I will give you eternal
life. Stay focused on me and you shall see greatness in your life. I will take
care of your needs.” We go to church each Sunday, that is if we are able (and
belong to one), to be fed by the word of God and by the Body of His Son, Jesus
Christ. That is what we are given for our faith journey. That is all we really
need.
Our journey in
this life is not always smooth, maybe hardly ever. It is not always so clear
cut as we might think. Sometimes we are filled with uncertainties and doubt.
Sometimes there is pain and suffering illness, and we wonder how that fits into
God’s plan of salvation for us. Yet, sometime we are just lazy and
indifferent. We just don’t care. However my friends, myself included, we have
a decision to make everyday of our lives, the decision of whether or not to
follow Christ, to let him be the focus of our life, supported and strengthened
by each other, to meet the challenge of each day with him at the helm. Or, is
it going to be the world, with it’s empty promises? We either choose to love or
we choose not to love. It is never easy. It never will be, but the choice of
love, the choice to focus on Jesus, is the choice of eternal life or the choice
of eternal damnation, and there are people who will choose the latter. God
grant us the wisdom to choose wisely!
It is my hope that
this message has been meaningful to you. I wish you great week ahead, and will
keep you in my prayers that you might enjoy good health and that all of your
needs be met. May the peace and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all.
