Fr. Paul's Homily - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (2-20-2022) at St. Mary's

give and lend to others without expecting payment back jesus is pointing out something obviously well wouldn't sit well with most uh financial consultants for certainly banks do not do that we know in fact they don't even you don't even get the same amount back when you borrow from a bank no they tax you on more and you get more and more tax the longer you take to pay it off but jesus is not talking about finances he's talking about understanding how to live as a child of god in our first reading we hear how david anointed after saul was anointed king and that david would become the king is being sought by saul and his army as general abner they have gone down to the desert zip where david is thought to be hiding so he brings down his troops and in the midst of the night they fall asleep and even though they have barricades up david and his associate stumble upon saul sleeping face down with his sword in the ground next to him his advisor says let me grab the spear and one thrust i will take him out but david realizes that the power he receives is in his own but comes from god and he considers if i have saul's life taken from him so might mine be taken from me for he was anointed and then i was anointed so now he grabs the spear and the water and proceeds to the other side of the wadi big area in the ground he's on one side the others are camped in the other and david screams out to anyone who might hear hopefully abner and he says i have here the sword of saul the spear of saul and he's almost taunting abner the general of saul and he's trying to figure out who it is but saul recognizes david's voice and says obviously you had the time and the ability to take my life you chose not to you chose to spare me i do admit and this is what saul says it's not in that reading but in between he says i admit i was wrong in seeking your life and since you saved mine i will no longer seek yours so david says have one of your attendants come and receive back your spear the symbol of his power and he says may no one take the life of the anointed one it is a tribute that jesus that david understands that god is the one who gives the power to rule and when you when he gives practices true justice along those lines recognizing the importance of saul and who saul is for others it may indeed be reciprocated in fact later on in that same book of samuel david himself does what god does not want and he too seeks forgiveness and it's a something we need to appreciate and understand that god's mercy is what we're called to expand upon what we're called to be part of that's why at the beginning of mass we all recognize even though each and every one of us at our baptism were baptized priest prophet and king that we're called to bring god's mercy and forgiveness and act in true justice and give god and each person their due it is something we need to appreciate that that power comes from god it's funny because in teaching the kids who are about to receive their first penance this coming saturday i talked to them about the sacrament i said to them when you go to the sacraments you're not they're going there to be punished you're not there just to make up for what you've done wrong it's not just about reparation and getting even no you go there asking for a blessing the power of god to bring about unity instead of division to bring about forgiveness instead of hate and i told the children you will have this power in your family if you practice and exercise it it's something that we need to appreciate and teach our children not to create the vision not to cancel out not to do any of the crazy things that are going on in our world jesus appears only on the scene and like david whoever has ears listened to this you should love your enemies you should give what you have for others you should understand the gifts that you give will be given back to you the whole reciprocation that is there is meant for us to understand i've said before and i said last week even in the presentation of the gifts the gifts represent the work of people's hands the work of you know the labor to make bread bread from wheat and which god gave us and then to make wine from grapes it takes human labor to make it happen and that gift of human labor and the gift of the people are brought forward and god perfects it not only does he perfect it but he gives it back to us anew he forgives us he restores us just as we hear about adam being restored into a child of god so too are we we are transformed whenever we're willing to as a child of god we go through the eucharist prayer we stand up we dare to say we're children of god just practicing forgiveness as god taught we look past the faults of others and offer them to sign a peace and wish them everlasting life we give another there too we give them that much more even if we don't like them it's something we're called to do just as david did and just as christ did who while being crucified especially in luke's gospel forgive them for they know not what they do and then the thief that was being also crucified with him he accepts him into his kingdom are we really willing to forgive everyone or to be horrible grudges in our family do we no longer talk to anyone because we gotten an argument do we cancel people out like so many in our media do we create the vision or do we seek unity do we truly act as children of god and return to god what is god's and to others what we would like to have returned to us don't underestimate try to appreciate there's crazy things going on our world you know about you know what we hear as insurrections and actual you know rumors of war where people's lives will be lost has anyone here prayed for putin is anyone taking the time to think about the animosity between china and the united states has anyone taken the time to pray for g or better yet biden we need to appreciate that god has entrusted us this power this power to be able to forgive a power to allow god to change the minds and hearts of those who have difficulty hearing him but nevertheless as we said nas the beginning of our service beginning mass we ask not once not twice but three times for his mercy allow yourselves to have god work within your minds and hearts so that you can bring about a transformation in all people from being earthly to being spiritual moving from being an earthly person to a child of god for our reward indeed will be great not here just here on earth but more importantly eternal in heaven

Channel: St. Mary Catholic Church Cherry Hill NJ

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Length: 12min 5sec (725 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 20 2022