Sunday:       11 TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Date:         JUNE 13, 1999
Year:         A
The readings: [Ex. 19:1-6; Rom. 5:6-11; Mt. 9:36-10:8]
The message:  WHAT KIND OF A GOD DO WE HAVE?
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1077

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My brothers and sisters, the question that may have come to your mind after hearing today's readings is, "What kind of a God do we have?"

Did He favour the strong over the helpless? No! He had compassion for the helpless sinners who were dying. Did He chose an established and proven nation within the world? No! He chose a people who would become His treasured people. Did He sacrifice one of His endless number of angels for those He loved? No! He gave up His only begotten Son. Did He enslave men through His authority? No! He gave men authority to participate in His Divine Plan. Really, what kind of a God do we have?

Through today's readings, our eyes are opened to some of the Divine qualities of our invisible God who has made Himself known through Jesus Christ. By His actions, God revealed Himself to us.

God is a Lord of grace and compassion, full of mercy. As the Good Shepherd, He who is all-seeing and all-knowing, reaches out to those who suffer helplessly. Overlooking the past sins of an undeserving people, He calls them to join His Heavenly Kingdom, to make a spiritual nation out of them.

In His graceful and infinite Wisdom, He promised to those who answer His call that He will make them a treasured possession if they keep His Covenant by hearing and obeying His Commandments.

As a sign of His abunding Divine love, to reconcile us who are weak sinners in our human nature, He gave up His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice.

Not stopping at the utmost Divine sacrifice, through the Apostles of Jesus, the Heavenly Father approved that the Holy Catholic Church should have full authority over His chosen people, that what is bound on earth, shall be bound in Heaven. [Mt. 16:18-9]

Really, what kind of a God do we have? We have a God who wants to be known. He wants to be known as a loving Father so we can call out to Him, "Abba!" [Mk. 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6]

The Lord God wants to be known as our Good Shepherd. [Jn. 10:11, 14] He wants to be known as our Guide. [Lk. 1:79; Jn. 16:13] He wants to be known as our Advocate, [1 Jn. 2:1] our Brother, [Mt. 12:50] our Friend, [Jn. 15:14-5] our Teacher, [Jn. 13:13] and even as our Servant. [Jn. 13:5; Phil. 2:7]

He who possesses all what He wants, having created all what is visible and invisible, He who deserves all honours and glories, bearing the Most Holy Name of all names, [Eph. 1:21] has taken human likeness [Phil. 2:7] to become lower than all of His great angels, [Heb. 2:7] becoming a humble Servant, so we may know His love.

My brothers and sisters, there are no words that can express the magnitude of awe that we should have in our hearts when we reflect on the endless efforts of God who has done so much to shine in His Divine love towards us. There are no reasons as to why we cannot have a daily communion with Him. If we want Him as a Father, He is there for us! If you want Him as a guide, He is there for us! If you want Him as a friend, He is still there for us! He has opened the door to us for every kind of possible relationships so it will never be said that He was beyond our reach. Surely, we are without excuse for not knowing Him!

Let me bring something wonderful to your attention about God. In a split second, He created all the hosts of Heaven, His archangels, cherubim, seraphim, angels, dominions, powers, etc... Did He do the same with humanity, creating it in a split second? No! He created one man and one woman so mankind would become part of His physical creation as husband and wife.

He then called His children to become precious in His sight as a holy nation, a holy people, a holy priesthood to be built into a spiritual house to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ. [1 Pet. 2:5]

When Satan brought death to the world by introducing the sin of disobedience into our first parents, did God stop there? No! Again He called His chosen people to become part of His new creation. He established the Holy Catholic Church priesthood as the instrument of His new creation.

In fulfillment of His Divine promise, [Ezek. 11:19-20; 18:31] to reconcile us through Jesus Christ by the grace of the Heavenly Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Church Sacrament of Baptism, He gave all of us a new heart and a new spirit as our assurance of salvation. Baptism gave us a new life. It was our new birth that is mentioned in the Holy Bible. [Jn. 3:3, 5, 7; 1 Jn. 4:7, 5:1, 4]

When we were baptized by a priest, our old spirit died with Christ. [Rom. 6:8] It was buried and raised with Christ as a new creation in the newness of life. [Rom. 6:4] We received a new human spirit of the godly seed within you, a spirit that cannot die, [Rom. 6:9] nor sin, [1 Jn. 3:9] because it is not of this world. Through the gift of our new human spirit, our souls have a living hope of inheriting the eternal Kingdom of God. As the Father of spirits who gives life, [Heb. 12:9] God "yearns jealously for the spirit that He has made to dwell in us." [Jas. 4:5] To protect our human spirits, He has given us the indwelling Holy Spirit. [1 Jn. 5:18]

All of this has been accomplished through the Church priesthood as God's instruments to fulfill His Divine plan. And that is not the end of it all. There is much more coming. How many actually know that man has been chosen by God to judge the angels? [1 Cor. 6:3] If some do not believe this, look it up in the First Book of Corinthians, verse 6:3. Is it not obvious from this Bible passage that God has future plans for His children in Heaven?

Yes my brothers and sisters, it is right to ask, "What kind of a God do we have?" The more we read the Holy Bible, the more we marvel at His great works. While God could have adopted as His chosen children the many angels that remained faithful to Him, He chose sinners who were without a Shepherd. This is the message that the Gospel reveals to us today. It is a message that tells us to stop and think of all what God has done for us!

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"On the third month after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the Isrealites. [Ex. 19:1-6]

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Second Reading...

"While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconcilced to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." [Rom. 5:6-11]

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Gospel Reading...

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the hearest to send out labourers into the harvest. Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax colletor; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Escariot, the one who betrayed him. These twleve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.'" [Mt. 9:36-10:8]

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