23rd Sunday Ordinary Time (B)

INTRO:

I was never really that good at “diagramming sentences”!
Diagramming a sentence is an exercise to gain a deeper understanding of its grammatical structure.

The trouble I had was identifying what the predicate was, or what is the noun, or pronoun and the verb. I still would not be able to do it today, but I still got ordained though! HA

Today Jesus heals a deaf man, and it focuses on the actions of Jesus. VERBS are action.

The actions or verbs of this Gospel are several: heal, listen, touch, and reach across boundaries.

This is extraordinarily good news; because God is saying to us do these actions as well.
HEAL
LISTEN
TOUCH
REACH ACROSS BOUNDARIES
We ourselves are called to enact the gospel, proving that the gospel is a verb.

God wants all of us to be engaged in our life here on earth to act, as Jesus did in the lives of others.

If you think about it a gospel life – the life to which we are called as followers of Jesus – will contain a lot of verbs, but today it is:

HEAL
LISTEN
TOUCH
REACH ACROSS BOUNDARIES

So, in your lives today:
Who is lost that we need to reach across boundaries?
Maybe it is a teenager in your family!
Maybe it is a wayward relative that we need to accept and forgive!

Who needs a touching and helping hand?
An elderly neighbor!
Your Mom!
Your Dad!
The one standing on a corner with that sign that says HUNGRY!

Who wants a healing kind of assistance?
A coworker that is messing up!
A colleague that cannot figure things out!
Your wheelchair bound husband!

Who needs someone to talk to?
There is always a “forgotten” someone that lives alone that we can communicate and listen to!

I simply ask: “What verb are you called to be for those in your family and neighborhood?”

CONCLUSION
The very act of receiving holy communion assists each of us to become a verb this week!

And as you do it, you are going to build the kingdom of God here on earth and make the world a better place!