Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Scripture Readings

Moments of grace, the presence of God, the call from within, are natural occurrences of the life the Spirit. If we are in tune with the Holy Spirit, we expect the Lord to communicate with us constantly and we practice listening to the silence and what it speaks to us.

Paul tells us that we are in constant conflict between the flesh, which desires earthly things, and the spirit, which seeks only God. If we allow the flesh to dominate our thoughts, words, and actions, then we never hear the silence and movement of the Spirit of God within our hearts.

Silence is the language of God and through silence we are tuned out to all the distractions of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and we open ourselves to a life changing event. For each time we notice the Lord in our midst, we grow and become more like the one who is speaking.

Good people do not always react in simple supplication to the prompting of the Spirit. Instead, they remain bound to all that is vanishing and temporary. There is no freedom from the wages of sin, when one choses to hold back from the grace that will transform them and make them a new creation and holy. These good people chose the things of earth over the things of heaven.

In those sacred moments, when God blows kisses to show His love and affection, if we do not respond in love, then we begin a spiral into mediocrity. Saints are not mediocre. They love and serve with passion and love and risk all that is earthly for all that is eternal, namely, to live forever in the presence of the Blessed Trinity.

Today, we are called into the community of the Blessed Trinity, to be one with Him and one with each other. Today, our God is present to us in Word and Sacrament. Experience the freedom that God has bestowed upon the adopted sons and daughters that He has loved into existence. Today, let us turn to the Lord with our whole heart and soul. Today, let us chose not to be mediocre.

Deacon Phil