Sunday, July 31
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Reflection
Our readings this weekend challenge us to consider our higher calling in life, turning aside especially from selfishness or self-serving greed in order to live in the way that God calls us to live. The reading from Ecclesiastes talks about the “vanity of vanities” and the emptiness of toil and labor when such work is undertaken simply to profit ourselves. Jesus’ parable in the Gospel reinforces this point, reminding us that there must be more to our lives and pursuits than simply self-aggrandizement and personal profit.
Saint Paul, in our second reading, describes both what we must leave behind (immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, deceit) and what we must strive for instead (“put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.”)
This exhortation applies to all different aspects of our lives, including relationships at home with family, at work and school with peers, in our local community and our larger society. It applies to our own personal relationship with God, and also to our relationship with God’s creation - the natural world around us. I’d like to draw your attention especially to this notion of living selflessly and generously as we strive to be good stewards of God’s creation.
This fall, our parish will have various resources and opportunities offered especially by our Care for Creation group. I am so grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the natural world, whether just taking a walk locally on the Erie Canal or hiking up in the Adirondacks, and so I hope you will prayerfully engage with these initiatives in order to grow in your own efforts of stewardship.
Our psalm exclaims, “Prosper the work of our hands for us!” As we set about doing the Lord’s work, seeking to serve others and to be good stewards of that which has been entrusted to us, may this line be our prayer as well. We can and must entrust all our efforts to the Lord. Through his grace we will be able to persevere in our efforts, as well as in the face of challenges or setbacks. O Lord, prosper the work of our hands!
God bless,
Dc. James Buttner
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