Blessed to Never Be Ignored by God!
We are blessed to know that God honors us, He made us, He loves us, and He will never ignore us! Although human beings do and even priests, God never will! He is Holy, our King, and Savior! We need to live humbly, like the poor, never complacent, or on beds of ivory, we should be upright, righteous, holy people the best we can. Never putting on airs or acting like we are above others. Never judging others or assuming, ignoring, avoiding, and forgetting about this shared community we live in to respect all and include all. The story of Lazarus and the rich old man is eye opening for sure as Jesus explains to the Pharisees, most who are like the rich man, who ignore and think they are better or above others, today priests behave this way too, ignoring their sheep, judging them, avoiding them, not acting at all like Jesus Christ although they are supposed to be the leaders of the Christian church. We see a lot of hypocrisy today. We see people even in church that will not share in peace time, they give you bad looks and are mean looking, they judge you and do not even know you, unwilling to share peace with strangers. It is sad to see so many in power and even priests treating their flock by judging them, avoiding them, denying them, and dismissing them as if they are nobodies. How sad our so called leaders, pharisees, elected, and people in power have become today, as if they are God and have the right to judge or deny. They still have a lot to learn from the Bible that is for sure, life will certainly teach them a lot too! I love the Bible readings from mass this week! They really hit home with all that is going on in my life and in the world right now. All we can do is put all our trust and faith in God, find refuge in Him alone, and know He is there for us and will never ignore us. We have to fight the good fight of faith always, never giving up our faith in the process! We have to lay hold to eternal life! That is key! Like it says in the Bible, "We need to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." All we need to do is live upright, righteous, holy lives following His commandments and the teachings of Jesus and we can too be "carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham" like Lazarus. We are truly blessed when we honor our God and know He will never ignore or forsake us! Feeling very blessed for all of this! Praise the Lord, my soul!
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Thus says the LORD the God of hosts:
Woe to the complacent in Zion!
Lying upon beds of ivory,
stretched comfortably on their couches,
they eat lambs taken from the flock,
and calves from the stall!
Improvising to the music of the harp,
like David, they devise their own accompaniment.
They drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the best oils;
yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph!
Therefore, now they shall be the first to go into exile,
and their wanton revelry shall be done away with.
Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed is he who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
1 Timothy 6:11-16
But you, man of God, pursue righteousness,
devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Compete well for the faith.
Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called
when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I charge you before God, who gives life to all things,
and before Christ Jesus,
who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession,
to keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ
that the blessed and only ruler
will make manifest at the proper time,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
Cf. 2 Cor 8:9
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied,
'My child, remember that you received
what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go
from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers,
so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"
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