Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 12, 2021
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 131
Reading I
The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?
Responsorial Psalm
- (9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
“O LORD, save my life!”
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ”
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.
Indeed someone might say,
“You have faith and I have works.”
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord
through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.”
Reflection: FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD
One day Jesus was going through Caesaria Philippi. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ. Soon after that Jesus tells the disciples... if anyone would come after me let him take up his cross and follow me. This was a condition that all had to fulfill. Mamma Margaret came along to help her son Don Bosco at the Oratory, a home for the ruffians and poor boys. He needed much help to look after his many orphans. Mamma Margaret started a vegetable garden for them. One day the boys played one of their spirited 'war games!. The whole vegetable patch was destroyed. Mamma Margaret was heart-broken. She said 'enough is enough'. She gathered the little things she had into a bundle and came to meet Don Bosco before she left. When Don Bosco saw her, he pointed to the crucifix in the kitchen just as she used to do when he was a young boy. Mamma Margaret looked at the crucifix. Without a word she went back to the kitchen and carried on working.
All of us have crosses to carry. Who doesn't have them? Jesus had his mission given him by the Father. He was ready to do whatever his Father asked of him. He declared this often enough. The disciples were not happy to welcome that cross in Jesus' life... much less in their own lives. But to follow Jesus this was the only way. 'If anyone would come after me let him take up his cross and follow me'. The suffering servant in Isaiah is fearless. He goes forward bravely in his faith. In the second reading Saint James in his straight forward way tells us that our faith in Jesus is not a matter of admiration or adoration or a profession of faith to be recited at the Sunday service, when we say the creed. Our faith must necessarily proceed into action. A good man gave food to a beggar. He was so good that he wanted the man to say a prayer with him. He began: 'Our father in heaven'. The man answered: 'your father in heaven'. The good man corrected him to say 'our father in heaven'. The response was again 'your father in heaven.' His efforts to correct went in vain. The man said 'Sir, if you really believe that God is our common father then you would have called me into the house and seated me at table and then we would have eaten together as brothers.'