SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Also Read: Mass Readings for 24 July 2022 Homily for 24 July 2022 – Sunday
First Reading: Genesis 18: 20-32
26And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”
The human race (especially in this past century), has engaged in far worse depravity and debauchery than the Sodom and Gomorrah of old. With Jesus pleading on our behalf before God, what would he find today? Vulgarity has seeped into the fabric of our society. What was once looked down on a few decades ago has become commonplace today (eg: live-in relationships before marriage). In the name of choices and liberty, we have been misusing our freedom. Not only in the example cited above, but in almost everything we do, we as a generation have compromised on morals and values. -To the extent that we are now unable to recognize virtues from vice. Due to a lack of courage and willful ignorance, we continue to be compliant with a rapidly degenerating social system.
May we develop the courage of Abraham. He was the father of faith, but he had the courage to walk in that faith daily. It will not be much longer before the outcry against us will rise! May we repent and return to the Lord!
Amen!
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 138: 1-3, 6-8
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
Second Reading: Colossians 2: 12-14
13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
And yet he saves us!!! May we acknowledge the magnanimity of this stroke from God! May we walk in courage and faith. Amen!
Gospel: Luke 11: 1-13
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The Lord Jesus says ‘ask and we will receive!’ Therefore we must ask! We need the courage right now to walk in the faith. The Holy Spirit who strengthens our faith is the same Spirit who supplies us with the courage we need to walk in the faith. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)
Therefore in Christ and the Holy Spirit we still have redemption, if we repent! Amen!
