Alleluia - Ps 119:135
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
and teach me your laws.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel - Lk 14:25-33
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
Homily for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
“I should have been a monk!” That is what I often think about. It would have been a great fit for me. I could pray in the monastery morning, noon and night, 7 times a day — no distractions.
I would have my meals with the other monks in silence, no idle talk. I would do my work of course with the other monks — growing wheat, baking bread from scratch or making cheese or jelly to sell for our livelihoods. I would have no worldly desires, but only center on God, take up the Cross, and follow Him without any distractions. I should have been a monk.
Oh yes, I tell myself this, but like you, I do not live in a monastery. As a diocesan priest, as a pastor, I cannot deny my responsibilities. I assumed the burden of pastoral care; my mind is concerned with many matters, and it can be very distracting. I must be a good administrator lest there is neglect. I must worry about wolves who love to invade the flock entrusted to me, wolves that would pressure and isolate and frighten us away from Christ. Sometimes torn utterly to pieces by so many problems, I must even talk to the enemy with charity so that I can even win them over to Christ. Christ does, in the right moment, often give me the grace not to give up but to bring me to a higher life. He gives the right word to win a soul over for Christ. I love Him, and I must not spare myself when speaking of Him. In the Gospel today Jesus teaches us with a hyperbole — hate your mother, He says! Not at all but rather let only God, only Jesus and only the Cross be the center of life: the safest pasture where you place all that you love so much. In such a way You will love mother, brother, sister even more!
Oh yes, I should have been a monk. Maybe we all should have been monks or Carmelite cloistered nuns, praying all day with worldly distractions, all for God.
But we are not. We are in the world and have often many, many worries. Let us ask Our Lady and St. Anthony to help us place and keep the Cross and Christ, God, as the Center of our life.
Monsignor Michael J. Cariglio, Jr., Pastor & Rector, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica and Saint Anthony Parish
First Reading - Wis 9:13-18b
Who can know God’s counsel,
or who can conceive what the LORD intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
Responsorial Psalm - Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Second Reading - Phmn 9-10, 12-17
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
I should have liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave
but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
Spiritual Communion
It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.
Spiritual Communion Prayer
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,
Come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there
And unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you.
Amen.
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica 343 Via Mount Carmel, Youngstown, OH 44505 Ph. 330-743-4144 | Office of Religious Education: 330-743-3508
Saint Anthony of Padua Church 1125 Turin Avenue, Youngstown, OH 44510 PO Box 1256, Youngstown, OH 44501 Ph. 744-5091
