A Message from Father Phuong

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
- Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
  
  I hope that we have been reciting the Rosary more often during this month because October is the Rosary month. Let us continue walking with Our Blessed Mother Mary to pray for the unborn, for peace around the world, and for the victims who suffer from natural disasters, especially from the recent hurricanes in our country.
  
  The message of this weekend’s readings focuses on the wisdom of God and our challenge to follow Jesus. Jesus asks us to come to him: “those who labor and are burdened, come to me and I will give you rest”. The Lord will bless us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and our burdens will be light when we turn to him and trust in him.
  
  The teaching of Jesus in today’s gospel on “grace, reward, and eternal life” is that we leave all things behind and follow him. This reminds me of how several people have been asking me to pray for them. Many people who are encountering illness or who are going to pass away have said: Am I going to heaven even though I am a sinner? Or, will God forgive my sins? Some people who have been looking for life transformation, prayer guidance, or righteousness said: how do I pray to come closer to God? What kinds of prayers do I offer to be in union with God? Whenever we ask these questions, I believe that the Spirit of God has been working in our heart. As Jesus says, “blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, they will be satisfied”, our intention will be granted by God.
  
  A rich man came to ask Jesus “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus leads him directly to God “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone”. Before Jesus took him further on the true vocation, Jesus asked him if he was faithful to the commandments. It seems to us that this man was “rich” both spiritually and physically because he possessed a lot of material goods and kept all the laws from his youth. And, we believe that he was worthy of being awarded the eternal life. However, when Jesus asked him to sell his possession and leave all things behind to follow him, the man walked away sad. Even though he was good at keeping the laws, he put his possessions above all things. His intention was opposite from the expectation of Jesus that his faith and dedication to God should be above everything else. Jesus continued to teach his followers on the discipleship. To follow Jesus, they had to leave all things behind, and their reward would be great.
  
  We may feel uncomfortable about the teachings of Jesus on our material possessions. However, his teachings remind us of how to use our possessions in the right way. Let us continue to give thanks to God because all things we have are gifts from God. We continue to dedicate our lives to God above all things and to care for those who are in need.
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
- Brothers and Sisters,
  
  In Mark's gospel today, Jesus is approached by the Pharisees who pose to him a question that, at the time, was one of the most important topics facing the people and that was divorce. The Pharisees likely thought they could somehow get Jesus in a bind that would contradict him on this subject matter. However, Jesus made clear in Mt 5: 31-32 his teaching about divorce. When he counters those who said, “Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce” with “unless the marriage is unlawful, one who divorces his wife causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
  
  In the Mosaic Law, a woman was held with little to no regard and was essentially at the mercy of the male family head. She was, for the most part, a disposable object. We can find more here in The Book of Deuteronomy which was authored by Moses himself. In Dt 24:1, it says if a man finds something indecent with her, that he can write up a bill of divorce and have her dismissed from his house. The problem here was the Mosaic Law was a man made law and not a law created by God. Man is fallible and God is infallible.
  
  Jesus closes this out by going back to the story of creation the Book of Genesis which indicates that marriage was much more than what the Law said. It unites man and woman together in total unity. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body."
  (Gn 2:24)
  
  It is the teaching of our Church on the sacred Sacrament of Marriage that has propelled it throughout its storied history. It unites us and defines who we are.
  
  Deacon Bob Ward