Building A Relationship With God

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
18 July 2010


We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Genesis 18:1-10
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’
Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.
‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 14:2-5

Second reading Colossians 1:24-28
It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

Gospel Luke 10:38-42
Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

Reflection
By Patty De la Rosa-Paat

TIME… it is something we all treasure. As many people says “We can't buy time" that is why TIME is very important. But how can we relate to this passage? God doesn’t ask much of our time. But do we find time for Him? Or are we too busy with our lifestyle? As time goes by, our busy lives or active life compromised our relationship with God because we don’t spend time for Him.

COMMUNICATION is also is very important. It is one way of expressing ourselves, interacting with others, exchanging our thoughts and feelings. In our modern life, communication is now very easy. We now have various and fast ways of communicating like email (the old style snail mail or electronic email), cellphone which we can use for calling, texting, sending emails, etc. God doesn’t have all these things. He has no computer and internet access and a cellular phone to be able to communicate to us. But He can easily be reached and there is no busy line ever! We can communicate with Him through praying and by attending the Holy Mass.

Praying is one way of communicating and being in the presence of God. We can do it publicly or privately. There are types of prayer:

1. Prayer of Praise and Adoration
2. Prayer of Penitence
3. Prayer of Petition/Intercession
4. Prayer of Thanksgiving

When we pray we believe that God really exist and His presence is with us. We are expressing our faith and love to Him. In praying, we can talk to God dearly, like we are talking to our love ones or best friend that we can tell everything to Him. We pray to God not only to ask favor but we are building a strong relationship with Him. So when we pray, we will make sure that our prayer is sincere, that it comes from the heart, unselfish and not self-righteous and make it very meaningful. Talk to God in a manner that you are comfortably talking to the most trusted person in your life for you are entrusting your life to Him.

Holy Mass as it is said by Pope Paul VI, “It is the perfect form of prayer". In Holy Mass, we strengthen our faith in God and as a believer we are united as one community and children of God. We listen to the teachings of Christ through the Holy Scriptures and receive Holy Communion. We sanctify and glorify God.

During the fourth century, Christians participated in the Eucharist in great risk. Despite the danger of being put to death, thousands attended Masses which were held in secret. Today, there is no such danger. But many of us neglect to take advantage of the opportunity to remember and receive Jesus. Why is this so? Perhaps we are just too lazy to go to Mass. Some claim they are too busy and others think that going to Mass is boring and not worth the effort. They rather stay in the house and watch movie or go out with friends. Still, others feel their prayer at home is just acceptable as prayer in the church. And some think that many sinners go to the church regularly and these people only show their hypocrisy.

But we must understand that Jesus Himself was associated with sinners and hypocrites to show them the way. Besides, we are sometimes hypocritical too. If our reason of not going to Mass is that we don’t get much out of it, let us remember that the cause could be that we don’t put much into the Mass either. We fail to involve ourselves in it.

Some popes and saints have shared with us the Tremendous Blessings and Benefits of the Mass:

“The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer!"(Pope Paul VI)

"The Holy Mass would be of greater profit if people had it offered in their lifetime, rather than having it celebrated for the relief of their souls after death." (Pope Benedict XV)

"The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross." (St. Thomas Aquinas)

"The heavens open and multitudes of angels come to assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is most true that he who attends holy Mass shall be freed from many evils and from many dangers, both seen and unseen." (St. Gregory)

"The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass. He who devoutly hears holy Mass will receive a great vigor to enable him to resist mortal sin, and there shall be pardoned to him all venial sins which he may have committed up to that hour. He [who attends Mass with all possible devotion] shall be freed from sudden death, which is the most terrible stroke launched by the Divine Justice against sinners. Behold a wonderful preservative against sudden death." (St. Augustine)

"Without doubt, the Lord grants all favors which are asked of Him in Mass, provided they be fitting for us; and, which is a matter of great wonder, off times He also grants that also which is not demanded of Him, if we, on our part, put no obstacle in the way." (St. Jerome)

"When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar." (St. John Chrysostom)

"A single Mass offered for oneself during life may be worth more than a thousand celebrated for the same intention after death." (St. Anselm)

“Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God's Goodness and asked Our Lord "How can I thank you?" Our Lord replied, "ATTEND ONE MASS." (St. Teresa)

"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass." (St. Pio)

TIME and COMMUNICATION, these are what we need to build up a strong relationship with God. The busier we are, the more we need to talk to Him. Do not abuse the kindness of the Lord by simply ignoring HIM. We should understand that we are the ones who need HIM.

Dearest Lord, we thank You for being always there, ready to communicate, to listen to us. Help us to spend more time with You so we will be able to fully discern and understand Your will, for Your glory and our salvation. Amen.

Next on God-speak
God Knows Best