Catholic TV Mass Online July 30, 2023: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Presider: Fr. Matthew Widder Parish: Catholic Community of Waukesha TEXT FROM THE GOSPEL AND HOMILY The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew. Glory to you o Lord. Jesus said to his disciples: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pears. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ. Growing up on the farm every Sunday morning had a similar cadence that sense that we had to get the farm chores done quick and then as the chores were getting done we run back in shifts to hop in the shower get our church clothes one, brush our teeth, then there was one last part of it, the step of getting ready for church. And that was we had to fill out our church envelope. Each of us 3 kids we had a little tiny little envelope for the kids offering. And when we do that it, usually we would go to the drawer, get our envelope and then we would just, kind of, we knew there were certain spots where my parents kept their change. And so every time was opening up certain drawers, looking in certain cups and seeing, ok is there some change that we can take and take what was theirs, and then give it away. We won't give what we had. We were taking what someone else had and just passing it along. As I think back, I have a feeling my parents probably knew like each week, we probably should put some change in these certain spots... Probably the joke was on us really in the end. But the point of taking what's not yours, what's not yours, and passing it along. I think of that with the gospel today when Jesus gives us that parable of the person selling all he has to buy a field, and then the merchant selling all he has to find, to buy that pearl of great price. We think of that reality in our own lives. And sometimes it gets intimidating, like o Lord you're calling me to give up this or that or all these other things. There's another way of looking at it. Every gift that we have, everything we have in our life, is a blessing from God. Is a blessing from God. And so, in fact when we give away to get the treasure of heaven to follow God's will, we're not actually losing anything that's ours. What we're doing is we're giving back to God, what is God's. And that's that element of discipleship, that all of our gifts are God's to start with. And so, when we give them away, we're giving them back to what is God's. So, what are the gifts that God has given us? Perhaps they are the financial treasures. Perhaps it's the gifts that we have, and certain talents that we have, that we keep them in circulation. And so, we're not giving away anything that’s not ours in the first place. We're giving back to God what is God's and we think of that other element of it. There is something that is ours that the Lord also asks for. Every good gift is from God but our sins our sins are ours. Our sins are ours. So, what do we ask the Lord, the Lord when we give that stuff away? We give the Lord our sins. Those are in particular ours. And what does the Lord give us back? The Lord gives back peace. Peace. The Lord gives back reconciliation. And so, we also are invited to this treasure. We simply give to God what God has given to us. And then we give God also what God hasn't given to us. Our sins. The Lord gives back peace, gives back mercy. Entrance: Seek Ye First Text: Matthew 6:33, 7:7; adapt. by Karen Lafferty, b.1948 Tune: SEEK YE FIRST, Irregular; Karen Lafferty, b.1948 © 1972, CCCM Music/Universal Music–Brentwood Benson Publishing (admin. CapitolCMGPublishing.com) Psalm 119: Lord, I Love Your Commands (c) 2002, 2011 new refrain/ new verses 2017 - J Honore Preparation: All Will Be Well Text: The Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich; adapt. by Steven C. Warner, b.1954 Tune: Steven C. Warner, b.1954 © 1993, World Library Publications, a division of GIA Publications, Inc. Communion: Where Your Treasure Is Copyright © 2000 by GIA Publications, Inc. • All Rights Reserved Sending Forth: Sent Forth By God’s Blessings Traditional Welsh Folk melody. Omer Westendorf, 1916–1997 Text © 1964, WLP Mass Setting: Mass for Sr. Thea Bowman Words © 2010 ICEL. Published with the approval of the CDW, USCCB. Setting © 2021 GIA. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591. www.HeartoftheNation.org

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