-the Scriptures for this coming Sunday are at USCCB.org->
-I will be preaching at the Sat. 4pm and the Sun. 12:30pm Masses
Don't forget!
When I was in college I remember my Grandmother( who lived out of town) saying to me that she really would just like a phone call once in awhile to let me know that I remembered her. How could I forget her? How did I demonstrate that remembrance?
Today, God reminds us that He never forgets us....even if we forget Him and one another. What does it mean to be forgotten by someone that you love?
Today's Catholic Charities Appeal has the theme "I will never forget you" from our first reading and it is a reminder to all of us that we ought not forget the least among us - the needy.
The poor are just one of the people we need to work at remembering. Do we forget God? Even though the heart of the Eucharist is "remembering", we can even weekly celebrate Mass and still forget God. Too often our lives and even our worship can become about us, our problems, our needs, our hurts and resentments. That is to forget God.
The gospel says it another way..."seek first the kingdom of God" . We could say today, "remember God's Kingdom and call FIRST and everything else will fit together."
How do you know that someone is remembering you? How do we indicate to God, others, the poor that we have not forgotten them?
2 comments:
“I will never forget you.”
That is one of the great comforting lines from Scripture. And as the Matador’s reflection suggests, we are all called to remember – that’s part of living out our lives of faith. We remember the good of the past so that we have hope and faith in the future – when the fullness of life with God will be attained. I just spent time with a friend who asked me to scroll through her many and very old voicemail messages as she was driving. It seems she keeps a number of messages from her mother who is now over 90 years old and living out of state. She said she kept them so that she could always hear her voice. I, too, have kept old handwritten notes from my mother who passed away five years ago – I just love to see her writing. I don’t think those types of memories are simply about nostalgia – they are about believing that something still greater lies ahead. There is promise in them.
For whatever reason there are times when phone calls and other types of personal communication are just not possible. Our relationship with Jesus is one of those examples! Of course the Eucharistic Liturgy, in and of itself, is supreme connection and remembrance of Him. But I also put great stock in His words that stay with me through the week - “this is my Body, given up for you,” and “to do this in remembrance of me.” They remind me that my self-sacrifice and other charitable actions in the world beyond the church doors are also connection with Him – a way of communicating and showing my mindfulness of Him even though we are not in “direct” conversation. And I think that’s true for others we love in our lives, too. Once we open our eyes to the communion we share with others as well as the important responsibility of preferential treatment of the poor – which includes remembering them, being mindful of them, letting them “count” in our lives – there are ways we can make association with them and be in solidarity with them even when physical contact isn’t possible.
I do not think St. Albert's the Great is going to forget the people in need... we will give until it hurts!
We love God very much!!
Gitana
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