21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands. [Pslam 138]
Our responsorial psalm bids praise and thanks with the holy angels and holy church. It also exalts our Lord recognizing his affection for the those who are poor (in spirit!) and how little he is impressed with those who place their trust in themselves (the proud). Simply put, God has made a world which will glorify him, in heaven and earthly church, above all things. There are no exceptions, God would not be God if there were. This psalm is saying, “God cannot forsake the work of his hands.”
Our Lord has given the Catholic Church authority through its infrastructure. Peter, our first Pope, answered to the truth regarding the work of God’s hands that Jesus Christ was the son of the living God. Jesus Christ responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” [Matthew 16:13-20].
A pillar of our Catholic faith is we are blessed as a church build on truth and we need to respect the authority which our Lord himself established on Earth to accomplish his will. This authority, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is clearly established with our Pope and our Bishop(s). We are ‘bound’ by holy scripture, the sacraments and interpreted traditions sanctioned by the Magisterium. What a beautiful gift for we are not owed this blessing that the work of God’s hands would be revealed to us and die on a cross for our sins.
Lord, all glory, honor and praise be given to you above all things. We are grateful you have revealed your truth and the path we must follow established with your Catholic Church. Jesus Christ, beautiful Savior, daily you purify and unify the Church through your body and blood. Please forgive us our sins, especially those we hold in pride against others. May we be poor in spirit. We are grateful you protect us from the evil one. Amen.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.