Monday, February 7, 2011

Announcements: 6th Sunday Ordinary Time Year A

Dear Holy Rosary Mission Parishioners, here are a few announcements:

Around the Mission: This week I flew to Twin Hills, Alaska, located West of Dillingham about 50 miles. I hired Vanair to take me to Clarks point on Friday where I gave communion to the elders and had lunch with the Clarks Point students and staff. Penair flew me to King Salmon and back on Saturday. The wind was blowing over 30 knots most of the weekend, which deterred my own flying. Also, after two feet of snow our Cherokee Warrior II was not dug out enough to taxi to the runway. Here are the Twin Hills the village is named after.



Gospel: There are several sayings all clumped together in the Gospel for this coming Sunday. (Please see the Homily below)

Ash Wednesday Celebration: Ashes well be dispersed during a ceremony at Holy Rosary at 12:15 PM.

Holy Week: Holy Thursday and Good Friday will begin at 5:30 PM.

Easter: This year Easter will be Easter Sunday at 10:00 AM for Holy Rosary Parish. Bernina Venua has volunteered her time to organize an Easter Egg hunt for all the children in the Dillingham Community. More to come. At Saint Theresa Easter Vigil will be Saturday at 4:00 PM. Clarks Point will have Easter Mass on Good Friday.

Little Black Book: For Lent again this year we have the “Little Black Books.” Please pick one up in the back of the Church. These books are daily 6 minute prayers and reflections to help prepare us for the most Holy Day of the year, Easter.

Have a fantastic week and see you Sunday...Fr. Scott

Homily and Readings

06 Ord A DLG 2011, Sirach 15:15-20; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37

Our society has thousands of sayings. Sayings are easy to remember. They are not necessarily to be taken literally. They normally make us think and have a lesson attached to them. Here is a list of sayings most of us are familiar with:

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A penny saved is a penny earned
A Fool and his money is quickly parted
Better to be safe than sorry
Beggars can’t be choosers
Can’t see the forest through the trees
The grass is always greener on the other side
You can’t judge a book by its cover
Don’t put the horse before the cart
Every cloud has a silver lining
Good things come is small packages
Great minds think alike
Grin and bear it
Hay is for horses
Honesty is the best policy
Keep your chin up
Laughter is the best medicine
A rolling stone gathers no moss
Man cannot live on bread alone
Monkey see Monkey do
Never change horses in mid stream
No news is good news
Out of sight out of mind
Practice makes perfect
Quit while you’re ahead
Silence is golden
The eyes are the window of the soul
United we stand, divided we fall
Where there is smoke there is fire
You are what you eat

Early Christians heard a number of sayings from Jesus. In the Gospel today these sayings are clumped together. Some of these sayings in Matthew are direct and clear. For example, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother.”

Other sayings are highly inflated language, i.e. cutting off our hands and gouging out our eyes if they cause us to sin. These sayings are not meant to taken literally. A custom of those times was to OVERSTATE a case to help drive a point home. Overstating would also help the student commit the lesson to memory.

In the gospel Jesus outlines seven characteristics of the way Christians deal with one another and the world.

We seek opportunities to forgive those who have hurt us.
We consider reconciliation with those we can see something we must do first before we worship the God we cannot see.
We are slow to sue anyone, preferring personal negotiation to legal action.
We keep our desires in check and do not see other humans as objects.
We look at the causes of our sins and change the circumstances that give rise to our destructive behavior.
We remain faithful to those we love.
We mean what we say when we make serious, mature, and adult promises.

These seven characteristics enable us to fulfill the greatest law of all: The law of love, from which all other laws are judged.

So here is the challenge from the gospel this week: With your eyes fixed on Christ, go from this place today remembering to forgive, reconcile, be faithful, discern you call, be true to your word, shun the court system, and give respect to everyone you meet (527 Words).

Sirach 15:15-20: If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the LORD; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God see all he has made; he understands man's every deed. No man does he command to sin, to none does he give strength for lies.

1 Corinthians 2:6-10: Yet we do speak a wisdom to those who are mature, but not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. Rather, we speak God's wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him," this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.

Matthew 5:17-37: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.' But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. "Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one.

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