Weekly Mass Discussion Thread #58

!catholics !christians happy 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

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First Reading

I prayed, and prudence was given me;

    I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

I preferred her to scepter and throne,

and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,

    nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;

because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,

    and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.

Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,

and I chose to have her rather than the light,

    because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.

Yet all good things together came to me in her company,

    and countless riches at her hands.

-Wisdom 7:7-11

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Teach us to number our days aright,

that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Return, O LORD! How long?

Have pity on your servants!

R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,

that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.

Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,

for the years when we saw evil.

R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Let your work be seen by your servants

and your glory by their children;

and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;

prosper the work of our hands for us!

Prosper the work of our hands!

R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

-Psalms 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

Indeed the word of God is living and effective,

sharper than any two-edged sword,

penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,

and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.

No creature is concealed from him,

but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him

to whom we must render an account.

-Hebrews 4:12-13

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Matthew 5:3

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Gospel

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,

knelt down before him, and asked him,

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?

No one is good but God alone.

You know the commandments: You shall not kill;

you shall not commit adultery;

you shall not steal;

you shall not bear false witness;

you shall not defraud;

honor your father and your mother."

He replied and said to him,

"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,

"You are lacking in one thing.

Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

At that statement his face fell,

and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,

"How hard it is for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at his words.

So Jesus again said to them in reply,

"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,

"Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said,

"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.

All things are possible for God."

Peter began to say to him,

"We have given up everything and followed you."

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,

there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or lands

for my sake and for the sake of the gospel

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:

houses and brothers and sisters

and mothers and children and lands,

with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

-Mark 10:17-30

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"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." I believe this to be the most important line of the Gospel today. While the iconography of the camel and needle is very striking, it is not the case that the wealthy are damned in their own special way. It is impossible for any human to achieve salvation on their own, only through Jesus we can be saved.