We gather together this week, singing ‘Gather us in, the lost and forsaken; gather us in, the blind and the lame. Call to us now and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.’ (Gather Us In, M. Haugen, © GIA Publications) We come to worship together, being called by our God as we hear in both our first and second readings. As we continue to read from the Gospel of Matthew, as we near the end of our liturgical year, we hear another lesson from Jesus’ public ministry.
This week we hear: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” (Mt 22:21) Have we been giving to God what is God’s? How does this tie into the words we have been hearing for the past few weeks in the Gospel to “produce fruit” or “many are invited, but few are chosen” or even “forgive your brother from your heart”? How does this tie into our focus these past few weeks regarding the stewardship of our time, talent and treasure? As we are reflecting on these words of the Gospel, we are learning that it’s only through our actions that we can do His will. Once again, we are called to act in this world to give to God what belongs to God. The culmination of the Gospel for this litur-gical year will be on the Feast of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (commonly referred to as ‘Christ the King’). That week-end we will hear: “what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me”. Let us start working towards that end today! Our song at Communion, “Speak, Lord” (Tim Schoen-bachler, Marienne Uszler © 1979, OCP), is inviting Christ to speak to us as we listen to what He has to say to us. “Speak, Lord, I love to listen to your voice. See, Lord, here I am.” Are we really listen-ing? Are we really giving Him what is His? In conclusion, it’s up to us to take Christ out into our world through the sharing of our time, talent and treasure. As our closing song sends us forth, re-member to give to God what belongs to God throughout the week.
Take the word of God and go out to every land; shine the light of Christ for all to see!
May the lives of those we touch sing praise to God above. Let us sing, we’ll sing:
With one voice, we’ll pass the word along; with one voice, bring justice to the world.
And with all the angels we’ll spread the goodness of God.
With all power and glory the Word of God shall reign.
(With One Voice, Ricky Manalo ©1998, Published by spiritandsong.com, a division of OCP.)