Events, Videos

Community Mass – 25th Sunday Ordinary Time

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, September 18, 2022, join us in person or online for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our current Sunday Mass times are:

The readings will be from Cycle C.

Opening: 837

Readings/Psalm: 1166

Presentation of Gifts: 578

Communion: 792

Closing: 610

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Bulletin

Parish Cookout on Sunday

| St. Charles Borromeo

Our fall parish cookout is on Sunday starting at 12:30 PM. Eat, drink, and enjoy fellowship with your fellow parishioners and our Brooklyn Heights community!

Activities for children will include bracelet making, magnets, and more. We will also have a children’s book exchange table: you can donate any new or gently-used children’s books at the cookout or drop them off beforehand in the labeled box in the back of the church.

Scriptual Commentary

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Asking God for What We Need

| Fr. William Smith

Parable of the Unjust Servant, Andrey Mironov, 2021
Used with Permission: CC BY-SA 4.0

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Timothy 2:1–8
September 18, 2022

Last week, we began to read the first letter of St Paul to Timothy. The letter presumes that this is the same Timothy that Paul met in Lystra (Ac. 16:1-2) and is now his legate in Ephesus. It was a major city in the empire and was a fertile place for the gospel to grow. It was also a place where other religious concepts had taken root. Paul is instructing, perhaps better mentoring, Timothy on how to approach this wonderful opportunity but one fraught with danger as well.

We saw last week that there were false teachers who were leading some of the Christians away from what Paul had taught. They were most likely born Jews who were baptized Christian but now used Greek techniques of Bible interpretation and had many Greco-Roman assumptions. We will see some of these reflected in today’s reading but mostly Paul will concentrate on how the Christians should interact with the wider society.

Continue reading “25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Asking God for What We Need” →

Homilies

Homily – 24th Sunday Ordinary Time (Fr. Smith)

| Fr. William Smith

Today’s Gospel passage has been called the greatest short story ever written. Its power is undeniable, and we must admire Luke’s economy of words. Yet it is misnamed. The younger son we call Prodigal appears only briefly. The father, however, is found in each of the five episodes of the parable. Indeed, when we remember that prodigal originally meant extravagant or imprudent it is the father who seems to better fit the description. He gave his love totally and unreservedly not only to the impetuous younger son but to the cold-hearted older one. Neither one of them seemed to appreciate or respond to it.  I think we might better call this the parable of gratuitous love. 

The dictionary definition of gratuitous is “lacking a good reason” and the synonyms are unjustified and unearned. The first example supplied is ‘gratuitous violence”. It has a theological meaning as well which was not commonly used until Popes Benedict and Francis revived it. (see below 1) 

They both believed that living in a consumerist society where we can easily define ourselves by what we have, not who we are, and love can be made a mere transaction. If you do this for me, I will do that for you, and we will call it love. It is very rational and perhaps more common than we are comfortable admitting.  

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 24th Sunday Ordinary Time

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, September 11, 2022, join us in person or online for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our current Sunday Mass times are:

The readings will be from Cycle C.

Entrance: Sing to the Mountains – 519

Readings/Psalm: 1163

Offertory: Amazing Grace – 645

Communion: I am the Bread of Life – 945

Closing: Canticle of the Sun – 576

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .