Peace be with you as we begin the 13th Week in Ordinary Time this Sunday!

These weekly messages will be replacing the daily messages. Sorry to all of you daily message fans!

I hope and pray that you and your ohana are staying safe and practicing safety measures now that we are beginning inter-island travel.

This 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time presents to us some challenges. Jesus always finds a way to challenge his disciples!

It can be a challenge sometimes to be inviting! It is a challenge sometimes to give thanks! It is a challenge sometimes to be hospitable! It is a challenge sometimes to be welcoming! Maybe I’m too busy or too focused on one thing or too scattered and overwhelmed with things!

But, if we are true believers, we have been called and chosen by Christ to do these things! It is not an option! No matter how busy we are, if we do not appreciate what God has given to us and what God has given to others, we are missing the presence of God in the world. This is what it means to be inviting, hospitable and welcoming. It is through appreciating the goodness within and all around us! Saying “Thank you, Lord!” to everything in our lives.

Why is it that, for some people, myself included, the struggle is to stop and smell the roses among the thorns?

Sometimes, we don’t do that! We fail to take to heart Jesus’ words that to give of ourselves is to be in solidarity with Him and with our brothers and sisters in the world. It is to give thanks that all of us are wonderfully made! That to lose means to find when it comes to our spiritual well-being.

During this time of COVID-19 and search for equality and respect, God is giving us an opportunity to look more closely at ourselves and others in a way that maybe we have not even imagined. I believe that a newness of life will emerge from these challenging times! A time of greater appreciation for life, for ourselves and for one another.

In this week’s Sunday Scriptures, we are reminded that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and that the Lord calls us out of darkness and into His wonderful light! Amen!

Sunday’s Scriptures:

“For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord. The promises of the Lord I will sing forever, through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.” (Psalm 89)

“Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Romans 6)

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation; announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2)

“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10)

A Reflection by Fr. Brian:

Sometimes we need to think twice about the daily happenings in our lives as we deal with others.

A couple of examples:

“Today, when I witnessed a 27-year-old breast cancer patient laughing hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter’s antics, I suddenly realized that, I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again.”

“Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back malignant. When I got home, I opened an e-mail that said, ‘Thinking of you today. If you need me, I’m a phone call away.’ It was from a high school friend I hadn’t seen in 10 years.”

We have to stop our lives sometimes to step back and take in the big picture of what is going on with ourselves and with others, to realize what condition my mental, physical and spiritual health is in. God indeed, has ways to do this for us if we don’t do it for ourselves!

So, take good care of yourself first, then you can care for others like you care for yourself! Amen!

Blessings! Pono! Pule!

Fr. Brian Guerrini, ss.cc.
Priest
Molokai