Sunday, 5 September – XXIII Sunday of Ordinary Time
Judging
Isaiah 35:4-7 James 2:1-5 Mark 7:31-37
As humans we have the fault (only rarely, I hope) of prejudging others. Sometimes we may not even give a person a chance for no real reason. They’re wearing and Angel’s shirt instead of a Dodger’s shirt, so we write them off. We meet someone who comes from Fresno or Bakersfield or Mississippi and we think “ugh!”, and we disregard them. Someone belongs to a different political party then we do and we think that there’s something seriously wrong with them. We can become blind or deaf to what a person is because we prejudged them.
In our second reading this Sunday James scolds the Christian community for their prejudice: fawning over a well-dressed (and important?) person and treating a poor person badly. They have a form of spiritual blindness and are deaf to what may be the truth. This type of hypocrisy has no place among us. We cannot be blind to the dignity of others or deaf to the truth of the Gospel.
There are certainly times in our lives when we must make good judgments, when we must make a correct choice or discern rightly what needs to be done. But let us not be smug, prejudiced or pompous.
–Fr. Edwin
St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish Sacramental Preparation for Adults
- Are you a Catholic adult who needs to be prepared for the Sacrament of Confirmation? Register in the pastoral center, classes begin on 14 September, Confirmation is in November.
- Do you wish to become Catholic or need to complete you Sacraments of Initiation? Join the RCIA.
Parents…
Do you have a high school student (grade 9-11) who needs to be prepared for the Sacrament of Confirmation?
Stop by our Religious Education Office to register them for the Confirmation program (begins Sunday, 19 September).
