by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
… ‘… What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.'”
“‘… The seed is the Word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the Word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the Word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”
“Jesus journeyed …
Preaching and Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Accompanying Him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene …
Joanna …
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.”
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’
And he got up and followed Him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and His Disciples.
… [Jesus] said,
‘Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice. …'”
“… John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
“…a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
… [Jesus] stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and He said, ‘Young man, I tell you, arise!’
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother. …”
“Even though signs of death have removed all hope of life … at God’s Voice, corpses on the point of decay rise up and speak again. The son is restored to his mother; he is called back from the tomb and snatched out of it. What is this tomb? Your own! Your evil habits, your lack of faith: this is the tomb from which Christ delivers you, from which you come back to life if you hear the Word of God. …”
Catholic TV Mass for Tuesday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Sept. 19, 2017, from Our Lady of Loretto Abbey in Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]
“‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
… ‘… What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.'”
“… Peter approached Jesus and asked Him,
‘Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
As many as seven times?’
Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. …'”