7 September 2025

7 September 2025 - 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Transcript

Reading:  

Wisdom 9:18

Write:  

And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

Reflect:   

That is quite a line when compared to the Gospel! “In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

There is a joke among diocesan priests: religious order priests make a vow of poverty; diocesan priests live it! I did not become a priest to become rich – at least not here on earth.

Apply:   

When I was considering becoming an Apostolic Sodales priest, I had some hesitancy. You see, when I was ordained a diocesan priest I did not take any vows. Rather, I made promises of obedience, celibacy, and a commitment to prayer and service. Religious order priests, as I said, add a vow of poverty and make the promises I made vows. What is the difference between a promise and a vow? For all practical purposes: NONE.

But when I chose to become a Sodales priest, I changed my promises to vows and added a vow of poverty. But my vow of poverty is not the same as say… a Franciscan. I do not have a community to support me, so I still have to be able to take care of myself.

I spent a long time talking with the head of the Sodales priests at the time, trying to figure out what it meant to take on poverty as a diocesan priest. This is what I came away with. I am called to have a certain level of detachment from anything in the world. Certainly, this means no wife or children. But it also means that I should not have any kind of an undue attachment to the things of this world. 

You know… that’s hard… especially in our culture where so many things are so easy to have. I have a smart phone, I have a smartwatch, I have a tablet, I have computers – yes, computers, I have my own bed, I ALMOST own my car, I have a fishing boat – not a very big one. I could go on with more of a list.

But what is my approach to any of this? What if I would all of a sudden lose… everything? What if I were no longer able to function as a priest? Yes, that question has haunted me at times throughout my priesthood. What if everything was taken away?

This is where the power of poverty comes in. I think it boils down to another type of question: who are you? How would you answer that question? Are you the daughter or the son of so-and-so? Do you do this or that is a job? Have you finished this kind of education? Do you have so much in the bank?

Or… do you see yourself first as a child of God? If everything in this world were taken away except for your life, who would you be and how would you be?

I would bet that everyone who hears my comments this weekend would somehow – because of your faith – land somehow on your feet should everything be stripped away. (Snicker.) I’m not saying that would be easy. But there is a strength that comes to us because of our faith that would see us through even something this tragic.

That is what our Responsorial Psalm this weekend tries to teach us. Look at the last two stanzas:

Teach us to number our days aright,
  that we may gain wisdom of heart.
 Return, O LORD! How long?
 Have pity on your servants!
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 Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
  that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
 And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
 prosper the work of our hands for us!
 Prosper the work of our hands!

And now I return to the line I started with from the close of our first reading:

And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

That is the only way our paths will be made straight. They must travel to the Lord.

Yes, Jesus’ words this weekend sound very hard, especially in regard to our attitude toward our family and our own life. But in some ways, everything boils down to a single question: who do you live for? If it is for yourself – you lose.

Pray/Praise:   

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus you set aside your royalty to be known as the son of a carpenter and were very poor your entire life here on earth. You call us to take up our cross, and all of us do that with differing levels of success. Help us to live in a holy detachment – a holy attitude of poverty, even in the midst of the riches that you have surrounded us with. Help us to use what you have given us – unselfishly – for the glory of your kingdom. Make us wise stewards who know that everything that we have really belongs to you.

We thank you for what you have given us: our church, our country, our families, our lives. May we offer back to you all that you have given to us. May this Eucharist that we share in today be a genuine Thanksgiving that gives you the glory and honor and praise that is your due. Amen.

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