My brothers and sisters in Christ, our readings today, particularly our 1st reading and Gospel, challenge us to take personal spiritual responsibility of our lives. Our 1st reading comes from the end of chapter 18 of the Prophet Ezekiel, but in order to help you understand what I mean by Personal Spiritual Responsibility, we need to recall the beginning of the chapter. The beginning of Ezekiel 18 starts with God asking Ezekiel to recite the ancient proverb: “Parents eat sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge”. What that proverb means is that the children paid for the sins of the parents. I encourage you to read Ezekiel 18 for yourselves to get the full meaning.
READ MOREOn September 14th every year we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross, this year it just happens to fall on a Sunday. Some might think how can we celebrate something so gruesome, or how can we exalt something that is so negative as a crucifixion. Through these readings, I would like to remind you about a truth that that we probably have heard a thousand times, it has probably been drilled into most of your minds by your CCD teachers: Jesus Christ died upon the Cross to take away our sins. We have heard that many times, but do we really know that in our lives?
READ MOREOur Lord and the Church, always wanting us to grow closer to God and to each other, gives us our practical but challenging readings today. In order to be convicted, let us open our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to inspire us concretely in our lives. Each of these very practical readings answer a very important question in our interaction with other people, and that question is whether we should, and if so just how to engage in fraternal correction, which is a term meaning to give constructive criticism to others.
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