Humbling Myself to God Always, Asking for His Mercy and Refuge in Him Alone! Racing to Heaven!

 

We are more blessed when we humble ourselves to God always! We need to always ask for His mercy and protection. We can always find refuge in Him! We are not always perfect and sin sometimes, most people do. We need to recognize this and ask forgiveness for our sins and also ask God for His mercy in our lives. God loves us so much! He wants to forgive us and also be merciful towards us! He is a good God filled with so much love and compassion. God is our just judge. He has love, forgiveness, and mercy for us. We need to exalt ourselves to Him and not be proud, but recognize we sin and are not always perfect. God wants to know us and hear our sins, He knows our thoughts and intentions anyway, so all we need to do is come to His level and be honest with Him always. Ask for forgiveness and mercy. We need to live our lives upright, holy, living by God's commandments and the teachings of Jesus Christ, do the best we can, make it our objective in life to get into Heaven and live our lives the best we can so to make sure we are ready for the Lord, like in the readings this week! What a blessing! 

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1
Sirach35:12-14, 16-18
The LORD is a God of justice,
 who knows no favorites.
 Though not unduly partial toward the weak,
 yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.
 The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan,
 nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint.
 The one who serves God willingly is heard;
 his petition reaches the heavens.
 The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
 it does not rest till it reaches its goal,
 nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds,
 judges justly and affirms the right,
 and the Lord will not delay.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23
R. (7a)  The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Reading 2
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Beloved:
I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.
At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Alleluia
2 Cor 5:19
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of salvation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --
greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.'
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."