Cycle A - Year I:  

18 June 2023: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Exodus 19:2-6

Second Reading:   Romans 5:6-11

Gospel:  Please Read  Matthew 9:36--10:8 

A compassionate and caring God!

The Sunday liturgy resumes the celebration in Ordinary Time after a series of solemnities following the Easter Season. Today is the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In Ordinary Time the focus of the liturgy is the mystery of Christ in all fullness or totality. The color assigned is Green, which is most associate with growth.

The Gospel from St. Matthew tells us about our compassionate, caring and loving God. At the opening of the Gospel proclamation, when Jesus sees the crowd following Him, His heart was moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.  So our Lord said to His disciples: "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest." (Mt 9:37-38)   

As Jesus summoned the twelve Apostles, He commissioned them to become shepherds of the flock and proclaim to the lost sheep of Israel that the "kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Mt 10:6)  

In St. Matthew's recounting of the calling of the twelve Apostles, he also provides us with the names of the men chosen by Christ Himself to be His most intimate friends and to whom He would give the authority to lead the Church.  These were ordinary men. None of them were wealthy, nor did they have academic degrees or social clout. Most of them were working class - they were fishermen.

 

This calling to minister to the flock and lead the Church continues today. Jesus calls us, as He first called the twelve, to continue the loving ministry of Jesus in the world.

At baptism, we received the water of God's love and the oil of service, completed in our confirmation, marriage and ordination. The needs of God's people are as great today as then. Jesus calls each of us, male and female, young and old, into His service.

Jesus entrusts us with His gifts and talents to continue His saving work in our times. As followers of our Lord, we are called to be missionaries and compassionate, too. That means, to have a strong urge to respond to the needs of others with love and selflessness, to make ourselves available to the needs of the Church, to be instruments of God's saving power, and to be our Lord's mouthpiece to deliver the message of His kingdom everywhere.

Let us pray in the Eucharist at Mass: Lord, make me a channel of  Your grace and healing love that others may find life and freedom in You. Free me from all worldly attachments that I may pursue the things of heaven without distraction. May I truly witness the joy of the Gospel, both in word and in deed. Amen.

Today is also Father's Day. Let us give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the gift of life and wonder of creation. Let us also greet all Fathers in the world, biological and spiritual, a Very Happy Father's Day. Thank You, God for the gift of Fatherhood.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!