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Contents: Volume 2 1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP - < lanie@leblanc.one>2. -- Fr. Jude Siciliano OP - <FrJude@JudeOP.org> 3. -- Elaine H. Ireland <ehireland@gmail.com>
4. --
Carmen Mele OP <cmeleop@yahoo.com>
****************************************************** The Gospel reading according to Matthew for this Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time is particularly aimed at those of us who feel a bit weary, burdened, and/or in need of rest. Actually, I think that means all of humanity, those who know they need a rest and those who will need one shortly. Life in today’s world is just not easy, physically, financially, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, or in any other way.
Jesus can give us any strength and rest we need, however. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We just need to listen to him as “little ones”, not “know-it-alls”, not arrogant or prideful, and then follow the path he took himself and left as a legacy for his followers.
Our other readings this day give us more information. The first reading from the book of Zechariah is a glimpse of this Jesus, our King and the Savior of the World who would enter Jerusalem on a humble ass/donkey, not in any extravagant way that we might imagine now, about two thousand years later. There is a huge gap in Jesus’s humbleness and the extreme showmanship of many of today’s “leaders” who are not exactly leading in the direction of equality and peacefulness.
What is it that we can “do” to live in greater humility and peace as starters? I think the answer is to accept the way of Jesus, a little at a time, each day. Alice Camille in This Transforming Word Cycle A encourages us to leave the “do-it-yourself life” of the past and trust “the alive-and-present God “ Who dwells within us now, as we are reminded in the Letter to the Romans. One doesn’t have to be extremely wise to weigh that living for what will surely disintegrate one day is not “better” than living for the promise and grace of Jesus’s yoke that is ultimately an easier and lighter burden. Each of us do need to take that to heart, however, and begin to live more of this “new life” in Christ, a little at a time.
Blessings, Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP Southern Dominican Laity
****************************************************** From today’s Psalm Response:
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom. R. Alleluia,
alleluia. Jesus praises the Father because the deepest truths of God's kingdom are not grasped by power, status, or intelligence alone, but by hearts that are humble and open. Like little children, we are invited to trust God and receive his wisdom as a gift.
So, we ask ourselves:
Fr. Jude Siciliano OP - <FrJude@JudeOP.org>
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Elaine H. Ireland <ehireland@gmail.com>
****************************************************** 4. ******************************************************
Carmen Mele OP <cmeleop@yahoo.com>
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A service of The Order of Preachers,
The Dominicans. (form revised 10/13/2025) |
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