YA BETTER WATCH OUT!!! By Sam Miller

YA BETTER WATCH OUT!!! By Sam Miller

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then, your wives will be widows and your children orphans. “If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him, for I am compassionate.” Exodus 22:20-26

R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,

and I have been delivered from my enemies. Psalms 18:2-3

[Y]ou became imitators of the Lord and us, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, For from you, the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, band how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath. 1 Thessalonians 1:5C-10

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40

Piety

“You Are Near” by The St. Louis Jesuits

Yahweh, I know You are near, standing always at my side.

You guard me from the foe, and You lead me in ways everlasting.

Lord, you have searched my heart, and you know when I sit and when I stand.

Your hand is upon me, protecting me from death, keeping me from harm.

Where can I run from Your love? If I climb to the heavens, You are there;

If I fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea, still I’d find You there.

You know my heart and its ways, You who formed me before I was born.

In the secret of darkness, before I saw the sun, in my mother’s womb.”

Study

Okay, I can already hear the “Boos” and “Ughs,” so I’m just going to get it out of the way. Did anyone, besides me, think of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in the first reading?! (Anyone?!)

Upon deeper reflection, I got from the first reading Psalm 139, which brought to mind the Piety song, “You Are Near.” A still shorter version, GOD SEES ALL AND KNOWS ALL!!!

In general, the first reading tells us how to live, the difference between right and wrong, or good and evil, so we can become imitators of those who bring us the Good News to follow Christ and live His commandments!!

Peace, Out!!!

Action

“God, I stand beaten and battered by the countless manifestations of my inadequacies. Yet, I must live with joy…Aid me in this quest, O God. Help me find satisfaction and a deep, abiding pleasure in all that I have, in all that I do, in all that I am.” Rabbi Nachman of Breslau

AND may all that I do follow Your will and Your commandments! Amen!!

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