Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B *Alternate* First Reading and Responsorial

You are an example to someone else.  So am I.  So are we all.  Even if we are not aware of it, even if we do not mean to be, we are the model of behavior that someone will follow.  It may be a young person, but not necessarily.  As human beings we constantly observe those around us and even unconsciously emulate those whom we admire.  We are role models being copied, for good and bad.  We create the community in which we live by every choice we make.  As others follow in our footsteps, may God help us to be for them what we hope they will be for us.

The words of Bishop Steven Charleston

Reader: I will not live my life in fear of asking questions.
I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance; to live
so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.

ALL:  Amen.