FaithFlex Calabrians

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
REFLECTION
To Be With Jesus
By Nov. Amante A. Julaton

Jesus offers us today a valuable lesson through the figure of Martha’s sister, Mary, who, based on the passage, “sat beside the Lord at His feet listening to Him speak.” According to Jesus, this was “the better part” chosen by Mary.

In a world that gives so much importance on externalities and appearances, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that what we do is the most essential thing. We work hard to prove our worth. We try to do the best that we can to gain the esteem of others. That is not the way of Jesus.

Through today’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching all of us that “to be” is more important than “to do”. He is interested in what is inside our hearts. He wants to listen to us as much as we want to listen to Him. Mary has chosen the better part because at the feet of Jesus, she was able to find a place to be with Him.

Today’s Gospel passage does not intend to downsize the importance of the work and effort we render. Martha was doing a great service by preparing the meal, however, because of her busyness, she was not able to savor her encounter with the Lord.

We are asked to be watchful of the same thing. If we are not careful, our busy work and hectic schedule will have a detrimental effect on our relationship with the Lord.

Let us become like Mary who finds time to be with Jesus.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
REFLECTION
Commitment to Love
By Nov. Leanard "Tino" Tadena

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is approached by three different men with the intent of following Him. Instead of promising to give them a better life and an instant upgrade in their social status, Jesus tells them the difficulties and hardships that they would face once they choose to be with Him.

Our commitment must be a willingness to serve and love others without counting the cost. Whatever vocation we are called to or have chosen for ourselves, we are all invited to be committed to love, all despite the sacrifices that may be demanded from us. This call is not only for the ordained and those who have chosen the consecrated life. This call is for all Christians, for all who are baptized, no exceptions.

If we see our relationships as means to satisfy our personal interests and agendas, then we are not being true disciples of the Lord. However, whenever we see our relationships with our family, co-workers, and acquaintances as avenues to practice our commitment to love, then we are truly heeding the call of discipleship.

As we continue in our journey to become even more committed disciples of the Lord, let us ask the Holy Spirit to invigorate our hearts and enliven our spirits so that we may be able to truly respond to God’s love, which in turn, will make us more capable of loving others.

Friends, let us flex our faith by living it out to the fullest.

Solemnity, The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
REFLECTION
by St. John Paul II (Pope)

The Heart of Christ is alive with the action of the Holy Spirit, to whom Jesus attributed the inspiration of his mission (Lk 4:18; cf. Is 61:1) and whose sending he had promised at the Last Supper. It is the Spirit who enables us to grasp the richness of the sign of Christ's pierced side, from which the Church has sprung (cf. Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 5). "The Church, in fact", as Paul VI wrote, "was born from the pierced Heart of the Redeemer and from that Heart receives her nourishment, for Christ "gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word" (Eph 5:25-26)" (Letter Diserti interpretes). Through the Holy Spirit, then, the love which permeates the Heart of Jesus is poured out in the hearts of men (cf. Rom 5:5), and moves them to adoration of his "unsearchable riches" (Eph 3:8) and to filial and trusting petition to the Father (cf. Rom 8:15-16) through the Risen One who "always lives to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25).

The entire devotion to the Heart of Jesus in its every manifestation is profoundly Eucharistic: it is expressed in religious practices which stir the faithful to live in harmony with Christ, "meek and humble of heart" (Mt 11:29), and it is intensified in adoration. It is rooted and finds its summit in participation in Holy Mass, especially Sunday Mass, where the hearts of the faithful, fraternally assembled in joy, listen to the word of God and learn to offer with Christ themselves and the whole of their lives (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 48). There they are nourished at the paschal banquet of the Redeemer's Body and Blood and, sharing fully the love which beats in his Heart, they strive to be ever more effective evangelizers and witnesses of solidarity and hope.

We give thanks to God, our Father, who has revealed his love in the Heart of Christ and has consecrated us by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, n. 10) so that, in union with Christ, we may adore him in every place and by our holy actions consecrate to him the world itself (ibid., n. 34) and the new millennium.

Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
ON THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSECRATION
OF THE HUMAN RACE TO THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

Read more: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19990611_consagrazione-sacro-cuore.html