29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) - For the Ride Home

•…the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him. (Isaiah 53:10)
•…through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, (Isaiah 53:11)
•Our soul waits for the LORD (Psalm 33:20)
•For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
•whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; (Mark 10:42)

•How do you as parish serve the community around you?
•How do you reflect Christian values in your life regardless of the cost?
•How are you a servant not to those who look or think like you but to all?
•How do you model Christian values that are in conflict with secular values?

The Church’s mission, in the perspective of this theology (church as servant), is not primarily to gain new recruits for its own ranks, but rather to be of help to all men, wherever they are. The special competence of the Church is to keep alive the hope and aspiration of men for the Kingdom of God and its values. In the light of this hope the Church is able to discern the signs of the times and to offer guidance and prophetic criticism. In this way the church promotes the mutual reconciliation of men and initiates them in various ways into the Kingdom of God.¹

¹ Dulles, Avery Cardinal, Models of the Church, Doubleday, New York, 2002, p. 89, 90.

For the Ride Home is available for publication in your parish bulletin. Please contact Ted Bergh for details, or to communicate any questions or feedback. Ted Bergh is a free-lance writer serves on the advisory board of St. Anthony Messenger Press.