Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time/C
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Lk 14:25-33) Jesus defines a profound criterion for the true quality of our life.
The true relationship with the Lord, to really follow the Lord, requires the slow maturation of the capacity to find oneself “beyond”. “Beyond” our relationship with our parents, our brothers and sisters, our wife, our husband, our children, “beyond” our very notion of “life”. To find oneself “beyond” means to make that necessary “separation” that enables us to be free, to distinguish the occasional affection from the true good. Only by moving ‘beyond’ can we see reality and live in reality. Only by staying in the “beyond” do we become capable – not without effort and suffering – of making choices for truth and the true good. It is an arduous and delicate journey that gradually enables us to distinguish, to separate emotional blackmail from authentic loving, the need to be loved and recognised from the truth of our own selves. A journey that enables us to grasp the truth about our parents, our wife, our husband, our children, ourselves, to lead us to true unity, to the true integration of everything, to know how to love in reality, with the good and the bad, with the qualities and limitations of everyone, to really know how to forgive, starting with ourselves.
The Alleluia verse in Gregorian chant for today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 101 (Ps 101:2) with the following text:
Alleluia. Domine, exaudi orationem meam, et clamor meus ad te veniat.
(Alleluia. O Lord, hear my prayer; and let my cry come unto you).
The attached music, in Gregorian chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The interpretation is by the Schola Peregrina.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
