Fr. Roger J. Landry
Church of the Assumption, Peekskill, NY Parish Retreat Day
Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart Retreat Center
Peekskill, New York
September 12, 2015
1 Tim 1:15-17, Ps 112, Lk 6:43-49
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- With two images, one horticultural and another architectural, Jesus calls us to build our lives on his word, on what he has taught us. We’re called to root ourselves in him and build ourselves up on him, to draw our life from him and make him the foundation of our life. This leads us to examine our relationship to the Word of God, the words of eternal life, on every syllable of which we’re called to live.
- On the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, we can ponder her relationship with the Word of God, how she let her whole life develop according to God’s word. We can ponder how Jesus praised her for hearing the word of God and doing it and said that we can become his mother in the same way, by hearing and observing the Word of God, by conceiving the Word within, letting it grow in us like a child in a womb, and then, when it has become so big, sharing that enfleshed word with the world.
- St. Paul, whom we meet in the first reading, was a man of the Word. He sought to pass on to us as of first importance the Word of God he himself had received (1 Cor 15:3). And in a summary of today’s images by Jesus in the Gospel, he told us, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and firm in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col 2:6-7), something that became the theme of World Youth Day.
- The Word of God leads us to the Word made flesh and our care for every particle of the host is a sign, St. Jerome says, of the care we should give to every word of Sacred Scripture. Today we beg through Mary’s intercession to imitate her love of every word!
Reading 1 1 TM 1:15-17
Beloved:
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm PS 113:1B-2, 3-4, 5 AND 6-7
R. (2) Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Who is like the LORD, our God,
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Who is like the LORD, our God,
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
Alleluia JN 14:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whover loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 6:43-49
Jesus said to his disciples:
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
