Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (2022-2023)

You know what?

Sometimes people are questioning whether God truly cares or loves us.

Especially when there's so much chaos, disasters, wars, tragedies, accidents happening all around and in their lives it is so easy to question whether He truly loves and cares for us or if He's just indifferent.

I will be honest, even I find myself pondering on this from time to time.

I mean, I do manage to push those thoughts aside eventually, but yes, I'm not completely immune to them either.

So, how can we push those thoughts away?

The answer lies in changing our mentality and shifting our way of thinking from a worldly perspective to a godly or biblical one.

And our readings today are here to help us.

We heard in our first reading that when God was giving the Israelites the covenant through Moses, he reminded them of all he had done for them:

Ex 19:4 “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”

Unfortunately, when hardships came their way, they forget how God had lifted them up on eagle's wings and brought them to Himself at Sinai.

It could be said that the major sin here - was the act of forgetting what God had done for His people.

Yes, forgetting can be an act of a great offense toward God.

And it is why Saint Paul in our second reading tries to remind the Romans about God’s Presence, His Love, and that He does care:

For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly (Rom 5:6).

And He even tries to proof it to them:

But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)

If we forget about how kind and generous God is, it can actually drive us apart from Him and weaken our faith.

On Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Each Year we have this wonderful and powerful reminder of the Love and Compassion of Jesus for us all.

But not only on Friday, in today’s Gospel we hear about this again.

At the sight of the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

We also Like the crowds, without the presence of Jesus in our lives, we are becoming aimless, disoriented, without the meaning.

You know what's awesome about God's love?

It's not some vague, generic thing that we can't see.

No, God's love for us is shown in specific, tangible ways that we can actually witness.

Like when Jesus saw the crowd and felt compassion because they were lost and helpless, He picked twelve apostles and sent them out on a mission to heal the sick.

Through those apostles, Jesus showed His love for the shepherdless crowd.

These not perfect apostles became the real-life example of how Jesus expressed His love to those people.

Jesus shows His love for us through the gift of the CHURCH and gift of the priesthood in His Church.

In the Catholic Church, our bishops can trace their roots all the way back to the apostles themselves.

It's a direct line of succession from Jesus to the present day.

Just think about it!

The Church, through its bishops, has a direct connection to Jesus and the apostles He picked.

Bishops, priests, and deacons are like special signs that remind us of God's immense love for us. It doesn’t mean they are some super humans and without the weakness.

We all remember the apostles and how they failed.

They remind us that God has not forgotten us and He didn’t abandon us, through them we have the fulness of the Eucharistic mystery as Saint John Paul II wrote in the Encyclical Letter. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia §30)

But guess what?

Along with them, You have a special calling too!

God is inviting you to be a real-life example of His love to the people around you.

You might be wondering, "How it can be?"

In the first letter of Saint Peter, chapter 2, verse 9, it says, 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

See, it's not just the twelve apostles who were ordained by Jesus during the Last Supper.

Yes, they were chosen to serve as priests for all the baptized and to continue the priesthood in the Church throughout history.

It's like this incredible line of succession that goes back to the apostles.

But here's also a great thing: Each and every one of you is called to be part of this too!

You are part of this chosen race, this royal priesthood, this holy nation.

You are God's people, and He wants you to shine His light, His love to the world, to become a sign of a different quality of life - life with the meaning.

So, my friend, if we embrace that calling, As a spouse, as a widow, as a single person - As a DAD.

We have the opportunity to be a living testimony of God's love as well in the middle of chaos and confusion.

You can make a huge difference in the lives of those around you.

Remember, if you have been baptized, it means that you are chosen for a purpose - to let the world around you to know that God truly cares and He truly loves.