REFLECTION: I remember a time I put something else before God and my family in my life... I remember... I remember...

CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray: Father, We know that at times the things we have done have hurt others and our own families. Grant us the grace to know what being a warrior of light truly means. Let us take strength in the hope that we find love in serving you, Lord, as our only master.

We ask in the name of Christ, our Lord. R. Amen.

JESUIT RESTORATIVE JUSTICE INITIATIVE 9309 Rayo Avenue, South Gate, CA 90280

310-559-0777 ✯ www.jrji.org

LAMB OF GOD Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us peace. This is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are we who are called to his supper. Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

OUR FATHER Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Savior gave us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. R. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

SIGN OF PEACE Jesus, you said to your apostles: “I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live forever and ever. Amen.

The peace of the Lord be with you always. R. And with your spirit.

PENITENTIAL RITE Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life. R. Amen.

OPENING PRAYER Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You are the only master to whom we serve. Let this be the way of truth, and bring us to reconciliation in this hour. Let my words be the words of truth and love as we gather at your table.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, our loving Savior. R. Amen.

COMMUNION

WISDOM FROM THE CELLS I remember how this way of life I chose

ruined my life.... It was not until a few years ago that I really opened my eyes and saw the impact of the consequences for my yearning to be accepted and be a part of something. That is what this lifestyle had upon me. It is an acceptance and feeling that I wanted from my peers. I wanted to belong and be accepted by those around me.

“Respect” in the lifestyle that I once lived was not just given to you; you had to earn it. And it was earned through violence and drugs. The more fights, stabbings, and drugs you pushed, the more respect you earned and received. I wanted to be feared and recognized in a gang as the baddest one around, which was the wrong kind of respect.

Now who suffers the most as a result of my imprisonment? I automatically I think of my family and my victim’s family, as a result of my actions. But it goes far and beyond that, I have affected a lot of people in one way or another and its selfish of me to not acknowledge that or take that into perspective. My being arrested caused a ripple effect of hurt and pain throughout my family and the community. I hurt myself, too.

-Richard, who is in a California State Prison.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C • September 22, 2019

“No Servant Can Serve Two Masters”

MEDITATION: TWO MASTERSLITURGY OF THE WORD

(from the eyes of a chaplain)

over the summer our team was at a california state prison to facilitate our monthly retreat as we waited i had gone to see two youngsters in a different yard

suddenly there was a flurry burst of blue shirts walking into the chapel jose who walked in was saying that they wanted to present something to us that they have been working on all month on this particular presentation

for this particular retreat we had a small meditation about father's day but we began the retreat with the play this group of men had practiced on all month they had even written the script out on large butcher paper

it was an autobiographical statement of the pain they had caused their mothers and how their lifestyles had brought them into such darkness

you cannot serve two masters and the master they had chosen had led them into this situation of surviving in prison rather than being free

you cannot serve the two masters of

crystal meth and a future

but what caught my attention was the very last gesture they performed during their play

they got down on their knees and turned their lives over to god

you cannot serve two masters

the relationships with their homies the danger they had been through obviously creates strong bonds and when they do not find a place of acceptance at home they find it with their homeboys then they begin to serve this idol which makes it impossible to serve another master

maybe after a while there is such a co-decency on those who also have the same lifestyle that you cannot imagine anything different you have suffered too much together to ever separate yourself from your homies

but when the three of them knelt down in this state prison and told god that they were tired of hurting their families tired of their lifestyles it was clear that it was not just a play

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2: 1-8 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. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper time. For this I was appointed preacher and apostle — I am speaking the truth, I am not lying —, teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.

The Word of the Lord. R. Thanks be to God.

First Reading: Amos 8: 4-7 Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! “When will the new moon be over," you ask,  "that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!”  The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:  Never will I forget a thing they have done!

The Word of the Lord. R. Thanks be to God.

Gospel: Luke 16: 10-13 Jesus said to his disciples: "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon."

The Gospel of the Lord. R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

it was real

when you see how so many still idolize this lifestyle thinking that the bonds they have with their homies will never die then you see others in prisons you realize this is really not the case

so they spoke about an apparent god it was like picking up a golden box this was the treasure of their life but when they opened it it was full of worms

what does it take to get down on your knees and surrender to god? what does it take have a desire to change and then really do it?

the master of the golden box is so alluring so seductive the glitter of having your straps of having respect for being bad is what happens when you kneel down to the idolatrous master a master very different from jesus

there comes a time when youngsters want to go home after being locked up for five years because they realize that unless they change they are going to be in there forever

but that is not it

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 113: 1-2, 4-6, 7-8 R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor. Praise, you servants of the LORD,   praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever. R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor. High above all nations is the LORD;   above the heavens is his glory. Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high   and looks upon the heavens and the earth below? R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor. He raises up the lowly from the dust;  from the dunghill he lifts up the poor to seat them with princes,  with the princes of his own people. R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

it has to do with which master you are serving

when i went to visit the two youngsters in the other yard there were plenty of men that were still heavily invested in worshiping a master that can make you do what is necessary to maintain a certain position on the yard this master has a strong hold over them

but after seeing one group of men still worshiping one master and then going into the chapel of a different yard and seeing what it took for another group of men to get down on their knees and surrender to god the master of life was very moving

those are the ones who have chosen a lifestyle that is helping them get prepared to go home

this is so much harder doing alone but when they found others who share the same vision of serving a master of life they also wanted to serve this kind of master it makes it so much easier to take on this identity of a different kind of warrior

i was touched by this group by their enthusiasm their willingness their creativity to act out their desire of what they are learning and feeling as they grow closer to jesus the master of life