Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Readings: Gn 12:1-9; PS 33:12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22; Mt 7:1-5
Remember: God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
First Reading
Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
I am sure Abram was a naturally good man.
But Abram was 75 then he was called and started this very long journey on the promise of the benevolence of the Lord.
Difficult times:
- Fear of the Egyptians even so far as to abandon his wife to them.
- Difficulty with the clan and the separation from his nephew Lot.
- The war of the four Kings.
- Unhappy wife.
- Unhappy wife and servant wife.
- And this is just the beginning!
But Abram dusted off the mistakes and miscalculations and kept moving forward.
Forward in faith and forward in the growth of moral character.
Responsorial Psalm
Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
It is always important to remember the Lord has chosen you.
The Creator of the Universe has picked you to be loved, to love and to work together with Him to bring consolation to the world.
Alleluia Verse
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
In the secret of your heart, speak to the Lord and share your worries.
Gospel Portion
Jesus said to his disciples, that is, speaking to all of us:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
Some worthwhile notes from the NABRE
- The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one’s fellows and God’s conduct toward the one so acting.
- Jesus is against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, being forgetful of one’s own faults.
- Hypocrite: the designation previously given to the scribes and Pharisees is here given to the Christian disciple who is concerned with the faults of another and ignores his own more serious offenses.
But thanks be to God, we are chosen and we can…
Start over.
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry
Deacon Gerry Palermo 