Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’ No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Deuteronomy 30:13-14
“Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:36-37
Piety
I pray to you, LORD, for the time of your favor. God, in your great kindness answer me with your constant help. Rescue me from the mire; do not let me sink. Rescue me from my enemies and from the watery depths. Do not let the floodwaters overwhelm me, nor the deep swallow me, nor the mouth of the pit close over me. Answer me, LORD, in your generous love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; in my distress hasten to answer me. Amen. (Psalm 69:14-18)
http://www.usccb.org/nab/071507.shtml
Today in our first reading we are told to heed the voice of the Lord. I would go to the end of the world to have the gift of the secret of happiness and the fountain of youth to enjoy it with. What makes Cursillo such a wonderful experience is the lived expression of what it is like to have arrived at the end of the world and have discovered the fountain of youth. Cursillo is all abut relationship to Christ. Six of the seven people I was doing directed retreats for these last eight days were Cursillo people whose appetites for Christ had been awakened on their Cursillos. They were on their retreats because the word of Christ in their mouths and discovered in their hearts sparks the desire to carry Christ, the prisoner of our hearts, out into the world we live in and are called to convert.
Piety is the strength of our relationship to Christ. Our second reading speaks to the purpose of Cursillo. We are called to find Christ in all that we do ad to bring peace to our world by the blood of his cross in us. Cursillo piety allows us to make Christ preeminent in all that we do. Our lives become our prayer as we become each day more truly Contemplatives in Action.
Some people waste a lot of time and energy worrying about rules and regulations and lose sight of the Christ that lives in their hearts and is present to all the love we share with our world. They are like the scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer of Christ rings down through the ages in a summary of all the Commandments. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself” That is what Cursillo is all about with life beyond the “Weekend”. Sharing Christ gives us Christ. To grow in our Christ life we make room for him by giving him away to each person we are with during the day. Our moments closest to Christ are in our sharing him with others.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is how Christ models for us the life beyond the Cursillo weekend; it is a challenge to share Christ by almost giving beyond our means that our Piety, Study and Action might permeate our lives and we might be like Christ to our world.
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