"Good Neighbors" ~ Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) ~ by Ronnie Archer

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Deu 6:2-6

Ps 18:2-4, 47, 51

Heb 7:23-28

Mk 12:28b-34

On this Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, we were blessed to have Malcolm Whitfield, (Frances Pope's grandson) read the biography of Blessed Isidore Bakanja of the Congo.  Malcolm's 3rd grade class at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School chose Blessed Isidore as their "saint" for All Saints Day, and Malcolm was asked to "represent" him and read the bio at Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes on November 1st.

In the homily today, we were told how appropriate it was to have that read, because Blessed Isidore showed love and forgiveness to the person who beat him beyond medical help.  Before he died, he told the missionaries that he forgave his assailant and promised to pray for him.

The theme of today's scriptures was love of Jesus and our neighbor as ourselves.  We each have our own struggles in life, and at times it is difficult to keep in mind that, which Jesus calls us to do.

We sometimes have a hard time reaching out to others, but God wants us to push aside our doubts and fears and recognize that He is always with us, to help us along our way in providing help to our neighbor in need.

We have to die to ourselves and rise to Christ.  Recognize the Lord calls us to lift each other up in good times and bad.

The Sacraments continue to challenge us as to who we are.  If we believe, then it needs to be shown to others.  If we stumble along the way... we cannot give up.  The Responsorial today from Psalm 18 describes God as our STRENGTH, our ROCK, our FORTRESS.  He will be with us always to help us as we lift each other up.



 ~ Photo credit: A Christian's Journey