The first reading from Wisdom makes clear that we mortals are in a vulnerable state. Only in receiving the wisdom and the Holy Spirit from God do we find meaning in life and keep to the straight path.
And so we can make sense of the difficult words of Jesus in the Gospel reading when He teaches to renounce possessions and to hate family members to be His disciples. A commentary I read indicates that the structure of the original language uses hate to indicate order of preference. We should put the focus on God above all and let that dictate how we relate to people and possessions.
And so even in the brevity of life, like Psalm 90 relates, we can find purpose in God Who grants us success and prosperity resulting from a relationship with Him.
This idea is also part of St. Paul's appeal to Philemon, who asks him to receive back the runaway Onesimus not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. This suggestion was radical in that time, and shows the power of the Gospel message to transform our lives and relationships.
With great joy, Holy Mother Church rejoices in the canonization of Saint Carlo Acutis and Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati. In their short lives, they looked beyond this world to Heaven, and let the reality before Him drive them to evangelize with their lives. They are great examples for how encountering God, especially in the Eucharist, can inspire us from worship to action. We also give thanks to God for our grandparents today and how He manifests His Love through what they have offered with their lives in devotion to God all the way through the generations to their grandchildren.
These principles of Love and Truth are timeless, and so we strive to keep devoted to them above all.
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