Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s second reading calls our attention to the human tendency we all sometimes share in treating people who have external appearances of wealth and looks that stand out above the rest. Paul reminds the community of the faithful that such actions run contrary not only to the actions of God but to God’s intention as well:
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
A cursory reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus never associated greatness as a means of extending the kingdom of God. Instead of identifying the means used of a multi-national cooperation to advance the kingdom of God, Jesus instead describes how the kingdom resembles the mustard seed, a small grain of yeast, or a small light, hardly descriptors that would be found in the board room. September 8th also celebrates the birth of Mary. The above phrase could easily describe Mary and how Luke describes her in the Magnificat. The second reading today reminds us that we are not necessarily called to be great, we are called to be faithful.