The Holy Spirit draws us each Sunday to this holy place. We gather together as the body of Christ to celebrate the Eucharist. We pray that we may be made worthy of the call we received in baptism to witness to God’s saving power in what we say and what we do. As we hear from the author of Hebrews today, we have been consecrated in the Lord, and in fact have been made the Lord’s brothers and sisters. Let us raise our voices in song and prayer as sisters and brothers of our Savior.
Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
Today we travel back in time to when God created humankind. Realizing that the first human needed a suitable partner, God formed a woman out of the man’s own body. In the Gospel, Jesus quotes the line that ends the first reading—that husband and wife are formed as one flesh—to speak of this new entity. He follows this lesson by welcoming children, telling the disciples that one must accept the kingdom of God like a child. Listening to scripture today, let us embrace the innocence and wonder of a new being.
Reflections
• In today’s passage from Genesis—the second story of creation—the first woman is created out of a combination of the human and the divine. She is created from the rib of the first human and built up by the LORD God. Many generations later, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (the divine) and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the human). The church, upon whom Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, is the bride of Christ, the human joined to the divine. Jesus speaks to the Pharisees about a husband and wife, but let us apply this lesson to Jesus and the Church. “What God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mark 10:9).
• God can be found in relationships, in the kind and selfless love that we express with those with whom we are closest. It is found in relationships between wife and husband, between parent and child, between two close friends. When we sacrifice our own needs and desires for the needs and desires of another, we mirror Jesus’ mission to us. Like Jesus lowering himself to wash his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, we marry the divine and the human when we lower our own needs below the needs of those we love.
• Human nature is imperfect, and so are human relationships. Marriages can become painful and traumatic, often because one partner neglects or even hurts the other when they no longer care for the other’s needs. Children can become uncared for and even unloved, which is especially tragic since they have so many needs. May our awareness that we all stand in need of God’s love and care make us sensitive to others’ needs.
Question of the Week
What can I do to put the needs of those I love, of those who depend on me, above my own needs this week?
READINGS OF THE MASS
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, October 3rd, 2021, Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, October 3rd, 2021, Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
reflections
“So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” Genesis 2:19
Our Responsibilty
The creation story reminds us of two important points.
First, since the start, God has put the entire world into our care.
Second, stewardship has been around since the beginning of mankind, it isn’t something recently invented by the Church. Just as past generations built our Church, it is now our responsibility to continue to nurture and develop these gifts for future generations.
"What are you looking for?", Christ asked of his disciples.
Are you new or have been away from the Church? Are you Catholic and have not received the Sacraments?
We welcome and invite you to LEARN MORE about the faith that Jesus Christ founded.
