Gove County
Catholic Parishes

Sacred Heart Parish, Park, Kansas
St. Agnes Parish, Grainfield, Kansas
Immaculate Conception Parish, Grinnell, Kansas

Message from the Parish Priest

- Faith Formation
Today's Readings
- Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
  
  Reading 1 ECCL 3:1-11
  Responsorial Psalm PS 144:1B AND 2ABC, 3-4
  Gospel LK 9:18-22

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time: September 27, 2020

THE TWOFOLD APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE

(1) This parable, found only in Matthew, outlines two responses to God's call. The first son says, "I will not," but changes his mind and does what is needed. The second son says, "I go, sir," but does not go. Verses 31-32 make it clear that the tax collectors and prostitutes are seen in the first son, and the second son signifies the chief priests and elders. When John the Baptist called people to repent, tax collectors and prostitutes repented and were baptized. It was easy for them to repent, because their sins were obvious, even to themselves. The religious leaders, however, were not able, or ready, to admit their need for repentance, and therefore they rejected John and his call. So also, they rejected Jesus. We are reminded of Jesus' words earlier in this Gospel, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven"(7:21). The life-saving difference between the two sons was the fact that one had the good sense to remember the love of his father, to turn from evil and decide to do what was right.(2) Today, the first son, the faithful son, has still another face -- a repentant alcoholic, a small band of worshipers in a storefront, a Church that reaches out to the needy in its community, a Pastor who calls parishioners to true repentance, a Church member who decides to tithe, a young person who decides to remain abstinent until marriage -- all people who, however reluctantly or painfully, obey Christ. The second son is now the person in the pew who refuses Christ entry into his or her heart and life -- a Christian who refuses to obey Christ in the sensitive areas of sex, money, and power; a Preacher whose sermon is designed to please people rather than to please God; a Church that ignores issues of justice and mercy; a Sunday School that neglects to teach children the great Biblical stories -- in short, all people who appear to be faithful but, down deep, are not.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: September 20, 2020

THE PARADOX OF GRACE

What really bothers us in the parable is God’s equal rewarding of latecomers and newcomers. We are tempted to ask the question "Is it fair that we, the hard-working Christians, are going to be treated like these workers? Is the man who lives a life of sin but who converts on his deathbed going to get the same reward that we receive? Surely we must warrant at least a higher ranking in heaven on a cloud with the Apostle Paul or Moses or one of the saints!” But the parable tells us that our Heavenly reward is not something we can “earn” because it is a free gift from God Who has made His rewards available to all who choose to receive His Gift of Faith in Christ Jesus. Is it fair that God offers and gives his grace to all? Fair is the wrong word. God does not deal with us “fairly” and it is a good thing -- we should be thankful God does not give us what we deserve! The word we are looking for is grace. The question should be "What is grace?" And the answer is, it is that "undeserved love" that God has shown us through the death and Resurrection of His only Son Jesus Christ. Robert Browning reminds us, "All service ranks the same with God: With God, whose puppets, best and worst, are we; there is no last or first.” It is not the amount of service given, but the love with which it is given that matters. Those who carry out the will of God with love and humility will be acceptable before the Lord. So, Jesus says, “The first will be the last and the last will be the first.”

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: September 13, 2020

FORGIVENESS DOES NOT MEAN CONDONING EVIL

Neither in God nor in the Christian community, do forgiveness and reconciliation mean the indefinite tolerance of evil and unjust behavior. The king was perfectly ready to forgive the senior official. But how could reconciliation take place when the official later behaved in such an abominable way to a brother? We can be ready to forgive the sinner indefinitely, but we must fight against sin without counting the cost. God and the Church can forgive the repentant sinner, but they cannot condone unrepented behavior that is a source of real evil and suffering. God cannot be reconciled with the sinner who chooses to stay in sin, nor can the Christian community fully incorporate a member who refuses reconciliation and the healing of the behaviors that offend against truth and love. With God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, forgiveness is easily available to the individual Christian, but along with the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we must seek a mutual healing of wounds and a real change of mind and evil behavior.

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: September 06, 2020

ANCIENT JEWISH RULES ON FRATERNAL CORREECTION

Among the preserved writings of the ancient Essenes (a sect of Palestinian Judaism) is a Manual of Discipline, the rules of which governed and safeguarded the integrity and holiness of the community. One section of the manual, concerning communal correction, reads as follows: “They shall rebuke one another in truth, humility, and charity. Let no one address his companion with anger, or ill-temper, or obduracy, or with envy prompted by the spirit of wickedness. Let him not hate him but let him rebuke him on the very same day, lest he incur guilt because of him. And furthermore, let no one accuse his companion before the congregation without having first admonished him in the presence of witnesses” (1 QS 5:24-6:1). Similar guidelines regarding community discipline are found in the rabbinic writings. A consensus of scholars believes that the procedure outlined by the Matthean community in today’s Gospel may have been influenced by these earlier sources. Today’s Gospel passage reflected the early Church’s concern for the spiritual well-being of each of its members and specified that the responsibility for that well-being be shouldered by each believer. As with any important undertaking, the process of communal correction (vv. 15-17) will, no doubt, be exercised more justly and mercifully when it is permeated by prayer and the accompanying Divine presence. In fact, praying for those who have strayed from the truth should probably be the first (but not only) step in any spiritual rescue effort.

Twenty-Second Sundat in Ordinary times: August 29, 2020

THREE CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

After correcting Peter for trying to divert him from what would be his way of the cross in Jerusalem, Jesus declares three conditions for any who would become and live as his disciples: a) deny yourself b) take up your cross and c) follow me. A) Self-denial means evicting selfish thoughts, desires and tendencies from our hearts and letting God fill our hearts with Himself. It also means being cleansed of all evil habits, enthroning God in in our hearts, and sharing Him with others. B) Carrying the cross with Jesus always entails pain and suffering. Our personal sufferings become the cross of Jesus when: 1) we suffer by serving others selflessly; 2) we give ourselves -- our health, wealth, time and talents – to others until it hurts us; 3) we join our physical, mental or emotional sufferings to Jesus’ and offer them with him to the Father in reparation for our sins and those of the world; and we work with the Spirit Who is purifying us through our personal sufferings or penitential practices. C) Following Jesusmeans that, as disciples of Christ, we should live our lives according to the word of God by obeying Jesus' commandment of love. To follow someone who has asked us to "take up our cross" daily seems foolish. But in the words of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, “to be a fool for Christ is the greatest compliment the world can give. You and I are in good company, because most of the saints embraced the Cross of Christ and were considered fools for doing so.” The Catechism teaches, “The way of perfection,” that is, the path leading to holiness, “passes by way of the Cross” (CCC 2015). “There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle” (CCC 2015). “Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes” (CCC 2015).

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 23, 2020

TWO QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS

In Matthew and Mark, Jesus asked certain questions about his identity. This incident took place at Caesarea Philippi, (presently called Banias), twenty-five miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Jesusasked a question in two parts. The first question: “What is the public opinion?” The apostles’ answer was, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” John the Baptist was so great a figure that it might well be that he had come back from the dead. Elijah, the greatest of the prophets was believed to be the forerunner of the Messiah. ["Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes" (Mal 4:5). In 2Esdr 2:18 the promise of God is: "For thy help I will send my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah."] The phrase "one of the prophets" suggested that Jesus had a ministry like that of the former prophets. When the people identified Jesus with Elijah and with Jeremiah, they were, according to their lights, paying him a great compliment and setting him in a high place, for Jeremiah and Elijah were the expected forerunners of the Anointed One of God. When they arrived, the Kingdom would be very near indeed.The second question: “What is your personal opinion? For the first time in their relationship Peter, speaking for the other disciples, declared publicly: “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” Peter was the first apostle to recognize Jesus publicly as the Anointed One (also translated Messiah or Christ. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah). Peter was saying that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one of God, Immanuel, the Salvation of God -- God who became Man to save sinners! It is evident that Jesus was well pleased with Peter’s answer. Jesus first pronounced a blessing upon Peter, the only disciple in the Gospels to receive a personal blessing. "Blessed are you, Simon son of John!" Next, Jesus confirmed Peter's insight as a special revelation from God. "No mere man has revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father." However, Jesus was quick to explain to the disciples that he was not a political Messiah. He was, rather, a Messiah who must suffer, die, and be raised to life again.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 16, 2020

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MIRACLE

The Gospels describe only two miraculous healings Jesus performed for Gentiles: the healing of the centurion’s servant (Mt 8:10-12) in Capernaum, and the healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman which we hear today. The encounter with the Canaanite woman took place outside Jewish territory in Tyre and Sidon, two coastal cities, twenty-five and fifty miles north of Galilee in present-day Lebanon. The story of this miracle is told by Mark (7:24-30) as well as by Matthew (15:21-23). Both stories of the miracle foreshadow the extension of the Gospel, the Good News, to the whole world. The woman in the today’s miracle belonged to the old Canaanite stock of the Syro-Phoenicianrace. The Canaanites were the ancestral enemies of the Jews and were regarded as pagans and idolaters and, hence, as ritually unclean. But this woman showed “a gallant and an audacious love which grew until it worshipped at the feet of the Divine, an indomitable persistence springing from an unconquerable hope, a cheerfulness which would not be dismayed.” By granting the persistent request of the pagan woman, Jesus demonstrates that his mission is to break down the barriers and to remove the long-standing walls of division and mutual prejudice between the Jews and the Gentiles. God does not discriminate but welcomes all who believe in Him, who ask for His mercy and who try to do His will.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 09, 2020
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WHERE CAN WE FIND GOD?
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After Solomon’s death (922 BC), the northern tribes broke away from Judah, from its priests and from the Temple in Jerusalem. They formed an independent country they called Israel, centered in the city of Samaria. As years rolled by, many of these Jews lost their Faith in Yahweh. Their seventh king Ahab (869-850 BC) married Jezebel, the daughter of the pagan king of Tyre. He allowed her to build a temple for her god Baal, then encouraged, and himself took part in, idol-worship and immorality. The prophet Elijah was sent by Yahweh to Israel to bring His people back to true worship. Elijah’s trusting Faith in the power and presence of Yahweh enabled him to defeat and execute the 450 pagan priests of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs. 18:16-40). Consequently, Queen Jezebel sent murderous henchmen after the prophet. Elijah, sustained by food provided by God through an angel, fled for forty days and nights. He finally reached Horeb, the mountain where God had earlier established His covenant with Israel under Moses. Elijah might have expected a spectacular miracle from God to protect and vindicate him, or an appearance of God with great power in thunder and lightning to bolster his Faith, like the one Moses had been granted on that very spot (Exodus 19:16-19). However, the presence of God was not in the spectacles of thunder, earthquake or fire but in “a tiny whispering sound.” Elijah acknowledged God’s presence by covering his face and coming out of the cave where he had taken shelter. He was content with God’s quiet sign of His presence, and was consoled, trusting that his God was helping and protecting him. Like Elijah, we can miss God’s presence by limiting our experience of Him to certain places and persons and forgetting that He is everywhere. The first reading reminds us that we have to experience God’s presence in our lives and listen carefully to everything going on around us, because we encounter God in insignificant as well as spectacular events. Failure, as well as success, offers us the opportunity for growth in trusting Faith in a loving and providing God.