time for a change?

the readings at Mass yesterday were very powerful and well-intentioned as i almost skipped -- yes, read that twice -- skipped -- Mass because of circumstances that had me out late, up early, traveling to and from philadelphia, et cetera, et cetera...dressed in a decidedly casual manner (no discussion regarding what to wear to Mass, tyvm), i decided two minutes prior to 11 that i should go (because "that Voice" said, "you're being pretty willful this morning, aren't you?") and sit toward the back, unnoticed.

hardly the case when i bumped into Monsignor while i was rushing in, and when it came time for Communion, they were two Extraordinary Ministers short and based upon a conversation my husband and i had with Monsignor earlier this summer about being called up and answering the call regardless of flip-flops or shorts, i arose when he announced he needed assistance.

and he said "thank you, Penni" as he handed me the paten.

all of the teenagers grinned as they received because i had on a Christian tee shirt about "destination paradise," a skirt, and vans sneakers...it was all okay :) and i am totally digressing from my original thoughts, but it might actually be a segue, we'll see...

James 1: 17 - 18, 21 - 22, 27
17	Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
18	Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
21	Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22	But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
27	Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. --------------------------

Mark 7: 1 - 8, 14 - 15, 21 - 23
1	Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,
2	they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed.
3	(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders;
4	and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.)
5	And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?"
6	And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7	in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
8	You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."
14	And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand:
15	there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him."
21	For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
22	coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
23	All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

Monsignor then preached on hypocrisy. i wish i had a copy of his homily so i could post it here, but it was very powerful, very convicting. i have so much work to do on myself -- i continuously worry about my outer appearance -- my weight, what i am wearing -- seems i need to shift the focus a little more toward my inward self.

it's time for a change....