Gospel Acclamation: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Who are the poor in spirit? They are the anawim, God's poor ones, the people who rely completely on God to meet their needs. No matter how many material possessions they have, they place themselves before God in total dependence upon Him. They use their goods according to His will and do not become attached to the things of this world. They are not controlled by their stuff. They do not allow it to own them. Rather, they use it for God's purposes.

Notice the blessing the poor in spirit receive. Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Because they have let go of this world, they can enter into God's kingdom, already here on earth and fully in Heaven. They can focus on their relationship with God without as many distractions. They can grow in love without the strain of envy or snobbery. They can give of what they have and find true riches.

Indeed, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Gospel Acclamation: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

You have received a Spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba, Father.

Do we realize what an immense blessing it is that we are invited, even commanded, to pray “Our Father”? When we are baptized, we enter into God's covenant people. A covenant creates a family bond, a kinship relation. What's more, when we are baptized, God enters into our souls. He dwells within us, closer to us than we are to ourselves.

We become God's children, and He protects us and cares for us as the best of fathers, even beyond the best of human fathers. He knows our needs better than we do, and He meets each one of them. He showers us with His grace and His love. He gives us everything we require to come to Him in an intimate, loving relationship.

God loves us, more than we can ever imagine, and He longs for our love in return. He desires us to be faithful, affectionate, trusting children who turn to our Father for everything, knowing that He will provide the very best.

Gospel Acclamation: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Those who keep the word with a generous heart are called blessed in today's Gospel Acclamation. But what does that mean? To keep God's word is to read it, to hear it, to treasure it, to study it, to meditate on it, to love it, to agree to it, and to obey it. A generous heart is an open heart, an obedient heart, a prayerful heart, a heart that is willing to let go of itself and its opinions and embrace God's word.

Keeping God's word with a generous heart also requires perseverance. When times get hard and doubts creep in, we cling to the truths that God has revealed. We let go of ourselves and place everything in God's hands with a spirit of trust. We continue to pray, and we continue to believe. We hope, and we love. We make the choice to say “yes” to God no matter what. And then, God assures us, we will yield a harvest of blessing.

Gospel Acclamation: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; You have the words of everlasting life.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit. They enter into our hearts and change us if we let them. They grow and dwell within us, teaching us, comforting us, drawing us to You.

Your words, Lord, are life. They tell us about everlasting life, but they also open the way for that life to enter into us and for us to enter into that life. We hear. We believe. We love. We live.

Open our ears to hear Your words, Lord, and our minds to comprehend them and our hearts to treasure them. Amen.

Gospel Acclamation: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Let the peace of Christ control your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

The peace of Christ... This is not merely a lack of conflict or an absence of upset. The word for “peace” in Greek is eirēnē, and it refers to a wholeness in which all the parts of something are joined together in the right order. This is the peace that we are to allow into our hearts. Jesus wants us to be whole, to be complete, to be in the proper order in all ways. We cannot do this on our own, of course. So we need the peace of Christ, Jesus' own wholeness and completeness and order, to control our hearts that we may enter into His peace.

The word of Christ... Do we hang on every word Jesus speaks? We should be. We should spend time each day reflecting on Scripture, which is the Word of God, and especially on the Gospels that provide us with Jesus' teachings. These words should become part of us, and they should grow within us as we allow the Holy Spirit to show us their truth, reveal the depths of their meaning, and apply them to our lives. Then the word of Christ will indeed dwell in us richly.