Chore Chart, Line 5

From the readings for today, Sunday, September 4, 2011, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

From the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
"Thus says the Lord: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. (33: 7)

From Psalms
"Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord;
          let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
"Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
          let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
"Come, let us bow down in worship;
          let us kneel before the Lord who made us." (95: 1-2, 6)

From the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
"Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law." (13: 8-10)

From the holy Gospel according to Matthew
"Jesus said to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (18: 19-20)

Then Father Louis gave a homily that started off asking how would you know if you were an introvert or an extrovert; the answer can be found in how you "recharge your batteries." He pointed out that our spiritual lives are often more introverted than extroverted, but today's readings do call us to be extroverted in our faith as well, by witnessing to others and praying together, to live our lives dynamically & connected in a personal way to "another," both those neighbors we recognize and the neighbors we might encounter once in our lives as strangers to all but the heart of God.

I was pleased to see that my daily blogging would have "Pray Aloud with Someone" to happen on a Sunday, then tickled to know that it would be the same Sunday when I would be the second reader.

I am absolutely awed that today's readings and homily were about this. God puts it forth best; there is nothing I can add, but I can witness and say, "Amen, I'm trying, Lord."