18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - MISSIONARY APPEAL SUNDAY @ OLOL..........

The Sacred Scriptures on this 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time draw our attention to the kind of wealth we seek to amass. A worldly wealth of possessions, privilege, power - or a Godly wealth of peace, justice, and joy. The merely temporal richness we may attain on earth is not a bad thing, as long as our hearts and minds do not become obsessed with attaining or exercising the having of them, in vain and selfish ways. No human being wants to be impoverished or to have to live in desolation. And yet there is commendation for the humble and the just, who are poor in spirit but filled with spiritual richness. We must always remember that it is who we are and what we do with our resources as stewards of God's Creation, that will determine our fitness for Eternal Life, not how much we do, or do not have, in terms the temporalities of this world. There are rich and there are poor, but in the sight of God, all are equal, all have dignity, all will be judged by the totality of their person, not their holdings. Our Sunday Scriptures from Ecclesiastes, Colossians, and Luke, speak to the People of God of the truth and necessity of placing our trust and central focus on the Divine and not on material things, for Christ is all in all, not any other corruptible temptation or treasure. All any of us takes with us from our life on earth is the body of evidence as how we lived, and the salvation of our souls will be determined by that standard and those values. So may the treasury of richness you seek as a Disciple of Jesus the Christ, created by the Living and True God, be spiritual, generous, and self-giving, whoever and however you are.....Today Our Lady of Lourdes Parish welcomed Reverend Father Arthur Carillo, C.P., of the Passionist religious order who preached a missionary appeal at our Sunday Masses. He preached about the Passionist Missions and his lifelong experience of Missionaries using these Sunday Readings and applying them to how we can respond in assisting those who are sent throughout the world to evangelize and serve others. Father Arthur is celebrating his 40th anniversary as a priest - his Ruby Jubilee, I reminded the parishioners. And the Passionist Fathers in Sacramento are marking their Emerald Jubilee - 60th anniversary here, as directors of Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights..........Ad Multos Annos to the Passionists and to Catholic-Christian Missionaries Everywhere, Fr. Troy