Pastor’s Pen
July 10, 2022
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Augustine Catholic Church
Alleluia! Praise and really thank the Lord for thirty years of belonging with you and you with me. I do believe that over these thirty years we have grown in good spiritual ways. As the Lord today is telling us above everything else to love Him and keep His commandments and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. And then to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Good Samaritan certainly did in the very favorite parable for all to learn the lesson, always help those in need. So, we see in the first reading from the book of Deuteronomy that we want to follow the law of the Lord. Maybe we have followed it these last thirty years or less depending on your time here at St. Augustine. Maybe the Lord is clear, I think that I have grown in a prayer style of learning how to praise God and how to pray in silence and to ask with more faith that things will be answered, maybe not always in the way that I want them, but I know that it is all going to be good.
So, we are here to celebrate thirty years more or less and knowing that God is closer to us and near us. He tells us that all His decrees, statutes and commandments are in this book of the law. All that you have to do is turn to the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul and you don’t have to look far because it is right there. After thirty years of praying almost every Sunday with you, and praise God I don’t think I was sick most Sunday’s except for being in the hospital for a heart attack, all is well. We know that His message after all these years becomes very clear to us, and it is something very near. You don’t have to look far for it, it is already in your mouths and in your hearts. You have only to carry it out. So, the Lord has given us good direction on how to carry out His message of how to live.
We see in the second reading this whole beautiful attitude of totally praising God. I paraphrase the second reading and just praise God with it and say,
Lord, you are the image of the invisible God, you are the first born of all creation.
In you are created all things in heaven and on earth, all things visible and invisible.
You are over all the powers of heaven, through you and in you all things are created.
Lord you are the head of the body, the Church, that has directed me for these last 58 plus years.
In all things you are preeminent.
In you all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
And through you Dear Lord reconcile all things,
Make peace by the blood of the cross
Through him, whether on earth or in heaven you are our Lord and Savior. Alleluia!
Maybe in these thirty years examine yourself and see if you have grown. See if you are steadily grown in learning how to develop your own relationships with many other people. Especially your family and loved ones and how to love more, how to give and share. So, thirty years of being with you and listening to the word of God and receiving our God so intimately every Sunday at Holy Communion, how can we go wrong? I praise and thank the Lord for thirty years belonging to you and you belonging to me. Alleluia!
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