HOMILY - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 10/23/22 Fr. James Nadeau
October22,2022
30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME October 23, 2022
Perhaps, in no other place in the Gospel, can we get a clearer idea of the church. Two men enter the temple: la pharisee, a hypocrite, known to all; the other a publican, an outcast in the eyes of the world.
Did you notice? Our Lord condemned neither of them for entering the temple, but he manifested for us the condition of each one as he passed from the temple. This is the KEY point! The Pharisee left no better than when he entered; the publican, on the other hand, went out from the temple justified.
The Church of Christ was founded for all. Christ came on earth for all. The just and the unjust. Those who tow the straight line and those who wander far from it.
Gospels are meant to form us. The very fact that we enter into a Church does not prove our righteousness. The Gospels are meant to shape us, form us into the person God wants us to be. When we enter Church instead of studying our neighbors as the Pharisee did, we would do better to meditate on God, in whose presence we are and humbly ask His forgiveness for our many negligences and misdeeds.
Gospels are meant to form us. The condition we enter Church is not as important as the condition we leave the Church.