Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) Lectionary Readings from the USCCB Last Sunday, Jesus told us not to judge one

If we want God to be bless us, we must bless others. If we want God to forgive us, we must forgive others. If we want God’s mercy we must show mercy. It’s that simple: simple, but not easy.

Jesus has a way of turning our expectations on their heads. We may think that being “blessed” means being rich, well fed, materially happy and well liked. These are, after all, the standards by which the world judges success. But we can’t take our worldly riches with us when we die, and people’s good opinions of us won’t add a minute to our lives. There has to be more.

The encounter between Simon Peter and Jesus in this Sunday’s gospel provides us with a microcosm of the conversion experience that we each must go through in some form or another to become true disciples of Christ.