Sunday Reading Reflections:

August 1, 2010
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:

Today's readings fit together like three panels of a colorful mural called "Set Your Heart on the Kingdom." This first reading insists that "All things are vanity!" For the author, vanity meant "emptiness" or "straw." He is telling us that it is useless to set out hearts on things that must be left behind when we die.

Discussion Questions for Reading 1:

This is a list of what Joe plans to do this week:


get his parents to buy him a new jacket even though his old one still fits
study for Thursday's history test
avoid a friend at school because other kids avoid that person
practice basketball with his friends after supper Friday
save part of his allowance to get his Mom some perfume for her birthday
go to altar server practice on Saturday morning.
What is the most "vain" thing on the list? Why? Discuss his other concerns. Tell when
and why Joe is on the right track and when he is not.

Make a list of your concerns. Are any of them "vain"? How are you on the right track in your priorities? When are you overly concerned with vain things?

Reading 2 Reflection:

In this reading we are reminded that the life of a Christian should reflect the values of Jesus. "Seek what is above," we are told. Put aside lies and idols and evil desires. Be formed in the image of God. Live as though you truly believe in the kingdom, or reign, of God that Jesus proclaimed.

Discussion Questions for Reading 2:

This reading reminds us to be like Christ. A popular way of saying this in our own day is to use the initials WWJD?"What would Jesus do?"

Try to answer that question in the following situations. Then say what YOU would do to be like Jesus. A new student comes to your class at school. He or she is very shy and is afraid to make friends. You said hello once. Is that enough? What would Jesus do? What would you do?

Your group is saving money for Catholic Relief Services. You each made a box to save coins. Together you will help people without homes. Your box is on your desk at home.

You have chores to do after school each day. The list is on the refrigerator. You always need to be reminded to do yours.

Some of your friends like to make fun of other kids or people they see on the street. You are tempted to join in.

Make up one or more situations like these. Have others say what Jesus would do and what they would do to be like Jesus.

Gospel Reflection:

As so often happens, Jesus tells a parable because someone has asked him a question. A man wants him to settle a squabble about an inheritance, but Jesus will have no part of it.

Concern about money prevents people from focusing on the reign of God. The parable of the rich farmer shows how foolish it is to keep piling up possessions. Right when the greedy man is gorging himself on food and drink, he dies. Death prevents any chance of reform.

Discussion Questions for Gospel:

How important is making money? Jesus knows that we all need enough to live on. Each person's need will be a little bit different. Each family's needs will be a little bit different. But Jesus warns here against piling up money and ignoring what really makes us rich?love of God and love of others.

In our society, we must all spend some time making money. How much time? How much of our thought and energy goes into this? How do we keep ourselves from spending too much time and energy on making money? Does our need to make money take too much time away from family and friends?

Of course, we do not work just for money. Every job is an opportunity to love God and others. How do you love God and others in your work? If your work is being a student, how do you love God and others while you are at school?

Sunday Reading Reflections:

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:


Could the author of Genesis have come up with a better story to show the power of prayer and just how merciful God is? Here we see Abraham pleading with God, praying a beautiful prayer for mercy. Abraham's prayer shows us how close he was to God. It also shows that God always listens to our prayers. God's mercy is so great!

Discussion Questions for Reading 1:

What does justice mean to you? What does mercy mean to you? In this story, the bad are not punished. They are saved with and because of the good and innocent people in the city, even if the good people are very few in number. This is an example of the mercy of God. This story shows us that we all are in "the same boat" or "the same city." As Jesus said, both the weeds and the wheat will grow together until the final harvest. We must learn to live with people who do not always do the right or the best thing, who are weak and sinful. And sometimes those people are us! Can we be merciful toward people who are sinful and weak, including ourselves? How? Our natural tendency is to get even with those who hurt us, to administer our own kind of "justice." What does this story have to say about that?

Much is often made of Abraham "bargaining" with God. This is the way we humans act with one another. We try to make a good deal into a better one. However, God does not need to be persuaded or bargained into being merciful! The story is written in this way to show that our prayers to God for mercy are always answered with a yes. Pray this prayer together: Lord, thank you for all the times you have been merciful to me. Help me to remember your mercy when I feel like getting even with those who have hurt or offended me. In the name of Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen.

Reading 2 Reflection:

When you were baptized, you were freed from sin and given new life through water and the Holy Spirit. It is this new life of grace that Paul speaks of today. He reminds Christians that Jesus has canceled the "debt" of our sins by his death on the cross. Our new life is not just something for later, after we die. It begins now!

Discussion Questions for Reading 2:

Saint Paul wrote that we are raised to new life because we believe in the power of God. God does not use his power to force us to pray, or to help others, or to forgive. When do you experience the power of God in your life? (Hint: Think of some of the gifts from God you have been given. Think of ways you help others. God's power often works through people, including you!)

Gospel Reflection:

What a wonderful scene Luke paints for us today! The disciples watch Jesus at prayer. They see how much prayer means to him. One of them gets up the nerve to ask, "Lord, will you teach us to pray?" And Jesus responds by sharing the Lord's Prayer with them. (This is a shorter version than the one we pray from Matthew 6:9-13.) Then Jesus completes his lesson prayer by telling two parables. The first urges us to persist in prayer. The second reminds us that we do not always pray for the right things. God knows best how our prayers should be answered.
How can you show your gratitude to Jesus this week for dying and rising for us?

Discussion Questions for Gospel:
Imagine that you are in the group of disciples who asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Are you surprised that this prayer seems so simple and easy?

Try praying one line of the Our Father each day, at various times all during the day. The first day, pray, "Father, hallowed be your name." The second day, pray, "Father, your kingdom come." And so on.

How can you hallow?make holy?God's name? How can you help God's kingdom to come? How can you appreciate and share daily bread and all the gifts you receive from the Father each day? How can you ask for forgiveness and give forgiveness to others?

Sunday Reading Reflections

July 18, 2010
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:

Our reading from Genesis tells an appealing story about Abraham and Sarah. Three visitors appear unexpectedly before their tent. Abraham identifies them with the Lord. He and his wife, Sarah, rush around making preparations for a lavish meal to refresh their guests. Then their generous hospitality is even more generously rewarded. God, speaking through the guests, promises that the aged couple will have a son! For the Israelites, this story is a sign of how God's plan of salvation will be carried out through them. From the offspring of Abraham and Sarah, the Messiah will come.

Discussion Questions for Reading 1:

Abraham is revered by both Jews and Christians because he was a man of faith. He believed God's promises, even when the odds seemed to be against him. In Eucharistic Prayer I, we ask God to accept our gifts "as you accepted the gifts of Abraham, our father in faith." We are children of Abraham because we believe in God's promises to us. What promises of God do you believe in?

We often hear of the faith of Abraham in the letters of Saint Paul. In one letter, we also read of another of Abraham's great gifts: hospitality. "Never neglect to welcome strangers, for some who did entertained angels." Abraham and Sarah welcomed the three young men, and received God's promise of a son. The strangers were messengers from God.

We often fear the stranger at our door, and it is wise to be cautious. But that should not prevent us from "welcoming strangers" whenever we can. Have new neighbors moved in? How can I welcome them to the neighborhood? Is there someone new at school who would appreciate a friend? Do I stick with old friends at the parish coffee hour or socials, or do I "welcome strangers" as Abraham and Sarah did? Each one of us can be a messenger from God in our own way. If we neglect to welcome others, we may miss the message of God's love given to us in a new friend! In what situations could you welcome newcomers?

For those who say, "I can't! I'm too shy! I get embarrassed!" you may find that, after welcoming others and saying, "Hi, I'm ____. Welcome to our church (or school, or block, or group)!" these feelings of shyness will gradually go away. You might like to role-play welcoming others and having short conversations. Remember that feelings of shyness are temporary. God's love is forever!

Reading 2 Reflection:

Saint Paul suffered many hardships in preaching the Good News. In today's reading we learn that the suffering of all Christians, like the suffering of Christ, helps the Church to grow. As Christians grow in their understanding of "the mystery of Christ," they will become "complete."

Discussion Questions for Reading 2:

Reflect for a moment on "the mystery of Christ in you." How is Christ in you? Do you experience his presence in you? When? How does the fact that Christ is in you give you hope?

Christ is also "in us" because we are one body, the Church. Christ is in us as brothers and sisters. How can we show one another that we are brothers and sisters in Christ that we are related, that we are family in Christ? What virtues (or strengths) do you need in your life to be a good brother or sister to others in Christ's family? (One example: compassion.) How do these strengths help you become more "complete" as an individual? How do they help us all in the one body of Christ?

Gospel Reflection:

A guest shows up, probably unexpectedly, and the hostess, Martha, knocks herself out trying to do everything at once. The guest, Jesus, sits down and makes himself at home. The sister of the hostess, Mary, sits with Jesus, and listens thoughtfully. When Martha complains that she is doing all the work, Jesus tells her that she has forgotten the most important thing. She has neglected to listen to Jesus, whose words are more nourishing than any meal.

Discussion Questions for Gospel:

Most of our lives are a combination of Martha and Mary. (Even cloistered monks and nuns, devoted to lives of prayer, have hours of work every day.) However, if our lives are all-Martha-all-the-time, they may be out of balance. We may be missing "the better part." (There is an ironic joke that goes: "At the time of death, no one says, 'I wish I had spent more time at the office.' ")

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its discussion of observing Sunday as a day of worship and rest, declares, "Traditional activities (sports, restaurants, etc.) and social necessities (public services, etc.) require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure" (Catechism, 2187). Most people in our country are working more hours a week than ever before. How does this affect their families, their children? What is the responsibility in this area for Catholic supervisors and managers?

How can we put more Mary-like listening into our lives? When do we make time to listen to our families? our friends? When do we make time to listen to Jesus?

Sunday Reading Reflections

July 11, 2010
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:

This reading shows a wonderful understanding of human nature. The author knows how easy it is to say, "I would do God's will if only I knew what it was!" We hear Moses telling the people, "Don't look up in the sky or out to sea for God's will. Look in your own heart." The people are about to enter the Promised Land. They will enjoy all the good things God has in store for them if only they listen to the word of God and follow God's law.

Reading 2 Reflection:

This reading is part of a great hymn of praise to Jesus Christ as the Lord of all creation. He is the One who keeps everything in existence. He is the head of the Church, which continues his ministry on earth. Through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus unites everyone with God. He is the source of our peace.

Gospel Reflection:

Jesus was a great storyteller. We can imagine how fascinating his voice and manner must have been when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan to the lawyer who wanted to be saved. And how surprised the lawyer must have been when he heard the answer to the question "Who is my neighbor?" My neighbor is not just the person next door or a member of my parish or my racial group. My neighbor is anyone in need?even if he or she seems to be an enemy. Jesus' parable reveals the true meaning of love of neighbor. It is going out of our way to do everything for someone that we would want done for us.

Sunday Reading Reflections:

July 4, 2010
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Reflection:

Have you ever watched a small baby with its mother? If the baby is nursing or just snuggling, it is completely happy in its mother's arms. That is the image used in today's reading to tell the Israelites how happy they will be when Jerusalem is restored. The holy city is like their mother. She knows how much they have suffered in exile. Now she will comfort and nourish them. And God will comfort them like a mother, too, and once again shower them with good gifts.

Reading 2 Reflection:

Some of the Christians of Galatia thought that they should follow all the regulations of the Old Testament. Paul tells them that they do not have to follow ritual laws like circumcision. They have been "created anew" in Jesus Christ. Like Paul, they should trust in the cross of Jesus and boast of nothing but their faithfulness to the Lord.

Gospel Reflection:

If Jesus sounds like he means business in this reading, he does! What matters most to him in the whole world is to make people understand that the reign of God is at hand. This is why he sends his disciples out in every direction.

The harvest (people who have not heard the good news of the gospel) is ready right now. Jesus instructs the disciples to go quickly and travel light. They are to spread his peace, cure the sick, and proclaim the reign of God