Sunday Preparation

Scripture Resources for Catechists

• Exploring Mark - short video presentation by Fr. Nicholas King, SJ 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
• Opening the Word from FORMED online
• Seasonal Resources from Be My Disciples
• Cycle B Resources - The Gospel of Mark, from Loyola Press
• Advent and Christmas Lectionary Meditations - Fr. James Alison
• 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 All Saints
• 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

July 22, 2018

Gospel: Mark 6:30-34 (return of the disciples)

'Sunday Connection' Scripture Commentary

Question of the Week (Adults): What do you do to rest, so you can return to work refreshed?

Question of the Week (Children): When will you take time to stop and pray this week?

Catechism Connection 

There are no references to this Gospel passage in the Catechism 

Saints This Week

July 22 Saint Mary Magdalene patron of Penitents, Perfumers
July 23 Saint Bridget of Sweden patron of Europe
July 24 Saint Sharbel Makhluf 
July 25 Saint James patron of Chile, Nicaragua, Spain, Laborers, Rheumatism
July 26 Saints Joachim and Anne

YEAR B - Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

There is a common theme in the Readings this Sunday - sheep and shepherds.

The readings begin with the prophet Jeremiah, berating the leaders of Israel for their neglect of the people. God tells them that God himself will instead shepherd his people and gather them from exile, and bring them back home in security. The passage ends with a Messianic prophecy, in which we Christians see the figure of Jesus ("a righteous shoot to David"). Then follows the best loved of all the Psalms, "The Lord is my Shepherd" (Psalm 23). 

The Second Reading today harmonizes with the others, though it does not seem to at first. Here the author of Ephesians is addressing the Christians in Ephesus, who used to be pagans, and is reminding them that the hostility and estrangement between the Gentiles (“they who once were far off”) and the Jews (“those who were near”) has ended.

This is because Christ makes the peace between them. He has abolished the antagonism and rivalry between Jews and gentiles, and the old Law of Moses, and its legal claims, so that which once divided Jews from Gentiles has lost its force and meaning. Now, “both have access in one Spirit to the Father”.

We know from various episodes in the Gospels that Jesus saw his mission at first to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”, but later – after his resurrection – his mission and that of his diciples was to all nations. So an important part of the mission of the first Christians was not just to call both Jews and pagans to become disciples of Jesus, but also to call people from all nations to put aside their enmity and become at peace with each other.

This idea was expressed powerfully in the Second Vatican Council, which described the Church as “the sacrament of salvation”, in the sense of being both the outward sign and the effective instrument of bringing salvation to all the world. The Church was also described as “the sacrament of the unity of humanity” because it also overcomes enmity and brings about and makes visible the unity in faith and love of different peoples from the entire world. Thus it fulfils the vision of the passage from the letter to the Ephesians today. 

This requires a witness from Christian that all the things that divide people one from another, divisions based upon race, nationality, class, wealth and poverty, gender or any other thing, are ultimately not real because all people have one common origin as created by God, and one common destiny in eternal life, and are thus truly one people.

Therefore genuine evangelization must include social and political reconciliation, based on justice, forgiveness, human rights, solidarity, the protection of life and the option for the poor.