We are all sons and daughters of God.  Brothers and sisters.  We should live that way.

One definition of success might be: refining our appetites, while deepening our hunger.
– Yahia Lababidi

Yesterday we celebrated St. Matthew. He loved his piles of money. But they didn’t bring him any happiness to speak of. Then came Jesus. Jesus said, Follow Me. And he got up and left his money behind. No second thought is recorded in scripture. Amen. Today we hear in our gospel, blessed are the poor. Money, big houses, fancy jobs and cars….who cares. Jesus is what counts. Our first reading reminds us: We come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Jesus gotta be our everything. Forget the stuff, or better, give the stuff to the service of Jesus. After all, as paul says, love of money is the root of all evil. Just ask St. Matthew

Today we celebrate St. Matthew. He was a tax collector, probably working late one night when all the sudden Jesus came. Into the darkness of his office. Light entered. Jesus likes to come to places of darkness and sadness. Today we offer this Spanish Mass for the afflicted in Mexico after the terrible earthquake and Puerto Rico after the hurricane. May God bring Light there.

Today we celebrate Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, the so-called Korean Martyrs.  Fr. Andrew was the first native Korean priest. All of these men brought the Church to Korea. They paid a price. But, when they met Jesus, they turned the world upside down.  In our Gospel today, we see the opposite: we see people who, upon meeting Jesus, are indifferent. Jesus says their indifference is like when someone plays a flute and no one dances, or when someone sings a dirge and no one weeps.  So much indifference.  I wonder if the Korean martyrs were born here in Shelbyville, about 50 years ago.  What might they have done with this whole place? What might they be doing.

Today St. Paul tells us what makes for a good bishop. One of the things he says is that Robbie a bishop you can’t be a recent convert. In other words, your following of God must be proven. It should stand the test of time.  Why? To lead well, we must follow well.  When we follow we’ll, we lead well. And we are all called to lead folks to God.

“Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.”  So goes our second reading. That kind of life sounds nice.