Sunday Preparation

September 25 2022

Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31 (The Rich Man and Lazarus)

Girardian Lectionary
'Sunday Connection' Scripture Commentary
RCL/Benziger Gospel Reflections
Bishop Robert Barron Sermon

Question of the Week (Adults): What are the "rewards" of caring for the needs of the poor?

Question of the Week (Children): What is one thing you or your family could do this week to help those who are poor or sick?

Catechism Connection

633 - Jesus descended to hell to free the just
1021 - The particular judgment of each person a death
2831 - "Give us this day our daily bread" and care for the poor

See the Online E-Book of the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Saints This Week

September 26 Saints Cosmas and Damian patrons saints of barbers, pharmacists, physicians, surgeons
September 27 Saint Vincent de Paul patron saint of charities
September 28 Saint Wenceslaus patron saint of Bohemia 
September 29 Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael Archangels, patrons of Death, Germany, Grocers, Police officers, Radiologists
September 30 Saint Jerome patron of Librarians
October 1 Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church

Year C - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the First Reading this Sunday the Prophet Amos describes the conflict between rich and poor in his day as sinful (wrong from God's perspective) because it destroys the harmony which should exist because of the Covenant between God and Israel. It is contrary to the egalitarian aim of the Covenant; there should be relationships of justice, and laws governing possession of land such that no one can own great estates, and no one will be destitute.

In the story Jesus tells in the Gospel, note first that the name Lazarus (el azar) means "he whom God helps". The rich man is entirely oblivious of Lazarus - he is hardly aware of his existence. We are not told that the rich man is deliberately cruel to Lazarus, or dishonest, just that he is unaware of Lazarus and his needs. The rich man did nothing for the beggar, except perhaps giving him some scraps. Even in Hades he thinks that Lazarus is there to look after his wants - to bring him water or be a messenger for him - while in his lifetime he never spared a thought for Lazarus' wants or needs.

The second part of the story is not meant as a description of the afterlife, rather it continues the moral question. Lazarus receives God's mercy; the rich man receives what he gave in this life: nothing at all. The rich man finds himself in hell not through his action, but through his inaction. Not only was he blind - unable to see Lazarus - but also deaf - unable to hear the Word of God in the Scriptures. The dialogue shows that the rich man and his brothers took no notice of the Law and the Prophets, and not even a miracle will change their hearts - they just don't want to know.

The Bible and the Social Teaching of the Church say a lot about questions of wealth and poverty.

First: it is wrong for a few to be rich and the majority to be poor. This was what Amos was condemning. The Christian ideal is a society where everyone has enough, and no one has too much.

Second, people who are rich are guilty of robbery simply by withholding from the poor what is theirs by right. This was so of the rich man in the parable, and is so of the rich collectively in a country where many are poor, or of rich nations in the world. Various teachers in the Church throughout its history have said that if someone who is really poor (like Lazarus in the story) takes property from someone who is rich, they are not really stealing, but re-possessing what was rightfully theirs anyway.

Here are several quotations to illustrate this:

Third, how you use your wealth and power is a very important spiritual matter - your eternal salvation may rest on how you use them.

Fourth, because it is so important, we cannot ignore the question and hope it goes away, and say ‘that is politics; it is nothing to do with religion.” We cannot conduct politics and economics as if our religious and moral beliefs have nothing to say about them.

Lesson Theme Suggestion - Notice people who are poor and in need; don’t ignore them. God judges us on our response to the poor. The Bible and the Church teach generosity to the poor. The richer you are, the more you are obliged to help others.

October 2 2022

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10 (Sayings about Faith)

Girardian Lectionary
'Sunday Connection' Scripture Commentary
RCL/Benziger Gospel Reflections

Catechism Connection

162 - Perseverance in Faith

See the Online E-Book of the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Saints This Week

October 2 The Guardian Angels
October 3 Saint Mother Theodora Guerin
October 4 Saint Francis of Assisi patron of Ecology, Animals, Italy, Merchants

Year C – 27^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Today, we hear from Jesus a teaching on faith. Often he was impatient if not angry with his disciples for their lack of faith. He is fairly insulting to them today, saying that their faith is so small it is even smaller than a mustard seed.

He tells them that great things can happen if they have faith.

But what does Jesus mean by faith? We all talk about faith and all Christians agree that we should have faith, but really, what is it? What is Jesus talking about?

“Faith is like a mustard seed, etc.: a metaphor - faith is apparently small and insignificant, but can achieve impossibly great things. What faith can achieve is like moving mountains or trees. Faith is the only power that can save and heal the world.

This faith is not belief in a set of doctrines, etc., yet it is a very strong conviction. Someone who is sick has faith when they are convinced that they can and will be cured. When this is strong enough a cure is affected. When you pray with real conviction, it will happen; but if you doubt or hesitate, it will not happen. e.g. Peter walking on the water.

The power of faith is not just a strong conviction, but a particular kind of conviction: it is a good and true conviction, that something can and will happen because it is good and because it is true that goodness can and will triumph over evil. In other words it is a conviction that God is good to humanity and that God can and will triumph over evil. The power of faith is the power of goodness and truth, which is the power of God.

The opposite of faith is therefore fatalism. Fatalism is the prevailing attitude of most people most of the time. It finds expression in such statements as, “Nothing can be done about it”, “You must be practical and realistic”, “There is no hope”, “You must accept reality”. These are statements of people who do not really believe in the power of God and do not really hope for what God has promised.

This kind of faith is closely related to hope. They are two aspects of the same attitude, as unbelief and despair are two different aspects of fatalism.

Faith was an attitude people caught from Jesus through their contact with him. So they asked him to increase their faith. One person's faith could awake faith in another. The disciples were sent out to awaken faith in others. When fatalism had been replaced by faith the impossible began to happen.

This explains why Jesus often says, “Your faith has healed you” when he heals a person. Jesus was reluctant to perform miracles, esp. the “signs” which people were asking him to perform, as demonstrations of power. So healing – as Jesus practices and explains it - is an instance of the triumph of faith over fatalism.

His motive for healing is compassion and a desire to liberate people from their suffering and their fatalistic resignation to suffering. Jesus did not think that he had a monopoly of faith, compassion or the power to heal. What he wanted to do most of all was to awaken the same compassion and faith in people around him. That alone would allow the power of God to become operative in their midst.

The power to forgive sins (for example, in the Healing of the Paralytic), is also the power of faith. What people wondered at was not that Jesus had such power, but that such powers to forgive sins had been given to people in general.

Faith releases in us a power that is beyond us: faith in the kingdom of God. Only when faith is strong enough in the world will the miracle of the kingdom of God happen. Faith is not a magical power; it is a straightforward decision in favour of the kingdom of God. Thus ‘repentance’ in the sense of change of allegiance from this world to the Kingdom of God.

If the kingdom of God were an illusion, faith would be powerless. What makes the kingdom come is heartfelt compassion and hopeful faith.

For an excellent exposition on Faith, see Pope Francis' Encyclical Letter, Lumen Fidei, "The Light of Faith".

Scripture Resources for Catechists

• Seasonal Resources from Be My Disciples
• Cycle A, B and C Resources - from Loyola Press
• Girardian Lectionary - comments and exegesis on the Sunday Scriptures
• Lesson Strategies from Be My Disciples
• Sunday Connection for this week from Loyola Press
• Finding God - the Online Catechists Helper from Loyola Press (log in required)
• Sunday Homilies - from St Andrew's
• Midweek Reflection (signup) - From Liturgical Publications
• The Text This Week - Lectionary, Scripture Study, Worship Links and Resources 
• Audio of Daily Mass Readings - from the USCCB
• Video Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings - from the USCCB