BIBLE STUDY #156

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

October 27, 2013

Reading 1

SIRach 35:12-14, 16-18

The LORD is a God of justice,
who knows no favorites.
Though not unduly partial toward the weak,
yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.
The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan,
nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint.
The one who serves God willingly is heard;
his petition reaches the heavens.
The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
it does not rest till it reaches its goal,
nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds,
judges justly and affirms the right,
and the Lord will not delay.

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial Psalm

PSalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23

R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Reading 2

2 TiMothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Beloved:
I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. 
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel

LuKe 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else. 
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --
greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. 
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection

The First Reading

The Book of Sirach (otherwise known as Ecclesiasticus) was written between 200 B.C. and 175 B.C. by Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach who lived in Jerusalem and was imbued with a love of the Law, the priesthood, the Temple, and divine worship. His motive in writing this book was to help people maintain their religious faith through the study of the law and tradition. He has much advice on how people should live their lives and how they relate to God.

Today’s section is from a longer section concerning sacrifice and prayer. He says that for sacrifice to be pleasing and acceptable to God, it must be done humbly, out of genuine faith and in following the Law. Otherwise, sacrifice becomes hypocrisy and an empty ritual.

Our passage today says that God shows no impartiality and hears everyone. While the Lord does here the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, he also hears “The one who serves God willingly…his petition reaches the heavens.”

Serving God willingly means to follow God’s teachings as prescribed in the Law and in their tradition. Certainly, being humble would be part of that teaching and their tradition. While God hears the rich who follow his law and tradition, God does not judge by quantity, but by quality. It is more important to have a big heart than a big wallet.

The Gospel

Last week we heard about persevering in prayer. Jesus tells us to pray without getting weary, that is, to be consistent and persistent in prayer, whether we pray the rosary, at Mass, with scripture, by meditating and contemplating, or in any way we choose to communicate with God. This week Jesus tells us about the proper attitude of people who pray.

There are two people who are praying in the Temple area, a Pharisee and a tax collector. Pharisees were laymen who were influential in Israel and who attempted to live the Mosaic Law fully. They were strict observers of the Law. They were educated and generally from the upper class.

A tax collector was someone who was hired by the Roman authorities to collect taxes for Rome. They were given a set amount to collect and anything over and above that was theirs to keep. They were generally considered traitors and unrighteous for working for the Romans and were not accepted by the religious authorities in the Temple and the synagogues. They lived on the fringe of society, but could be well off financially.

The Pharisee is very self-righteous, and it shows up in his prayer. He compares himself to other people and comes out much better than them. He actually thanks God for making him better than other people. He says, “O God I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector.” Can you imagine? Whenever anyone starts spouting off like that to me, I respond, “And humble, too.”

I’m sure you’ve known people like that. They think they are God’s gift to us. They are perfect, and whenever something goes wrong, they always blame someone else; it could never be their fault. There’s an old joke that goes like this: “A woman says to her friend: when I married Mr. Right, I didn’t know his first name was Always.”

Do the Pharisees words even constitute a prayer? Is he even capable of prayer? Looks to me like he is putting himself almost on a par with God. He is not communicating with God, he is telling God (and us) about his greatness. Since when is that a prayer? I bet that he thinks that he is so good that he hardly needs God’s help at all. This is the kind of man who would say to you: “I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong.”

Don’t these people drive you crazy? There is no talking to them. It’s sad in a way, because they are so wrapped up in themselves that there is no hope for them to understand their mistakes or to be humble before God. The Pharisee justifies himself because of his actions – he pays tithes and fasts twice a week. He is not asking God to approve of him; he doesn’t seem to need that. He thinks he is good enough by himself.

The tax collector, on the other hand, knows that he is a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness. He approaches God as one who needs God’s help. He looks to be forgiven. He is a humble man who understands about God and his own incapability in being a good person without God’s help. This is the attitude Jesus would have us take in our prayer.

The performance of religious practices is not enough. It is not good enough to be pious on the outside, but we need to be pious on the inside. Religious practices are to be done humbly and are supposed to help us deepen our relationship with God. They shouldn’t be done to impress other people.

The tax collector is justified not by anything he does, but because God justifies him. The Pharisee goes home unjustified because of his haughtiness. The spiritual author C.S. Lewis once wrote: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you.” Or, I would add, you can’t see the One above you.

Fr. Phil

elO � e n � @�L arn from scripture and our tradition what Jesus teaches us, put that into practice in our lives, and witness with our words and actions to all the people we meet; 2) To be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient. It is easy to be a disciple when we are among other believers. What about when we are with unbelievers, or those who actively work against the church? Are we brave enough to stand up for what we believe? Or how about something easier: when we are out of town, do you look for a church for Sunday Mass, or do you make excuses for not attending? I can guarantee you that if you look for a church you will find one; 3) Convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. We convince others more with our actions than with our words. When we show others that we live the gospel message, that it means something to us, and that it makes a difference in our lives, than we have the credibility to convince others to believe. If we aren’t committed, why should others believe our words? When someone is doing something wrong, a reprimand is in order. We witness by not putting others down, but by gently pointing out that Jesus teaches something different, and maybe they should consider that course of action. We never tell people what to do, just make suggestions. Encouragement is absolutely necessary, and we should be doing that consistently. We need to encourage one another so we can all grow in our faith.

Fr. Phil

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More importantly, though, the people here are welcoming; I hear this all the time from visitors. At a baptism, I told a woman that if she liked it so much, she should come here regularly. She said it was a bit of a commute for her, since she lives near Niagara Falls.

I think being friendly and welcoming of every one is a sign of God’s love. There are few better ways to enhance the quality of worship than to be a welcoming parish.

Jesus does so much for us and he asks so little in return. Through his death and resurrection, he pays the price for our sins, opens up the way to heaven, and gives us peace and happiness in this life. What does he ask of us? Faith. He asks us to live by his teachings, and do our best to spread faith.

He doesn’t ask us to do anything beyond our capabilities or our capacity. He asks us to offer whatever we can, and he in turn will transform our gifts into something spectacular.

Before we spread our faith, we need to acquire it first. We are all like the leper in a way because we are all sinners. Just as the leper couldn’t cure himself, we can’t atone for our sins. Without forgiveness, our soul begins to rot away and there is nothing we can do about it. With the healing power of forgiveness, we can begin to grow in our faith. We need to turn away from our sins and bask in his healing love.

We need to keep asking for forgiveness because our faith is a relationship with Jesus, and like in all relationships, we make mistakes and fail. The more we turn to Jesus when we fail, the closer we become, the more our faith grows, and the more we have to share with each other.

As a stewardship parish we should all be familiar with the concept of gratefulness because being a good steward encompasses Psalm 116: “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?” So I ask all of you: Are you good stewards?

Fr. Phil

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The image of the Easter Vigil comes to mind. Here at St. Joseph’s, we build a big fire in the parking lot. We bless the fire and then light the charcoal and the Paschal Candle. Everyone has a small, individual candle that is lit from the Paschal Candle. We then process into a darkened church. The more people that enter the church, the brighter the church becomes. When all are in the church, it is amazing how bright it is; enough to read by.

We are not the Paschal Candle; that is Jesus job. He is the light of the world. We are like that little candle. Our flame of faith is lit from the Paschal Candle, and we keep it lit through living the Christian life. Just as we pass along the flame from the Paschal Candle to one another in church, we should pass along the flame of faith to those we meet.

By ourselves, we are not expected to lighten up a darkened church or a darkened world. Together, however, we can be the light of warmth, friendship, comfort, love and faith.

When we aid those in need, we are bringing light into the world, making it a better place. We may not be solving the worlds or even one person’s problems, but we are making a difference in someone’s life. And all of us together can make a big difference. The Second Coming will transform the world. In the meantime, we do what we can. I think that’s all Jesus asks.

Fr. Phil

o admitA � s s � �I s forgiveness, and tries to turn his life around. We are not called to be like the older son. His sins are different than his brother, but no less serious. He is jealous of other people’s good fortune. He is unforgiving and uncaring. He doesn’t see himself as a sinner so he doesn’t see the need for forgiveness. How many people are there like that? They look down on others as sinful, they nitpick others actions, and fail to even think that they have any problems. Like the older son, they have everything, but in the end they will end up with nothing. It is really sad to see people like this. The kingdom is there for them, in their grasp, but their smallness and pettiness will keep them out. It’s even hard to talk to them about it because they won’t believe you and they will be offended, wondering what gave you the right to say that to them. With some people, the most you can do is to keep them in your prayers and hope that somehow God touches their hearts.

As much as we are called to be like the younger son, that is just the start. After we turn our lives around, where do we go? We need to strive to be like the father. Forgiving, loving, nonjudgmental, caring, compassionate, generous, understanding, he is the epitome of a virtuous disciple. He has become what we all strive to be: holy. He is virtuous not just for himself, but to share it with others. No matter how his sons act, he treats them with love and respect. He forgives them and wants to share everything he has with them.

From the September 2013 issue of Connections, a homily resource: “In our "sophisticated" and complex lives, the idea that God loves us is difficult to grasp.  But the most important lesson Jesus taught, the central theme of his Gospel, is that God loves us completely and unconditionally.  We are never beyond his reach; we are never lost to him.  Such a realization of the possibilities for such love in our lives is grace.   Sometimes we experience grace in the support and love of generous family and friends - and sometimes we are the agents of such grace, giving and doing whatever is necessary for the good of another, refusing to give up our search to find the lost and bring back those from whom we have been separated.   Grace is the joy and fulfillment experienced by the shepherd who finds the lost lamb, the woman who recovers the missing coin, and the father who welcomes home his wayward son - and the realization of the love that led us to be found.”         

God is like that with us. He loves us when we don’t deserve it, he forgives us when we ask, he understands our needs, and gives us what we need to make it through this life in his grace and peace, and to be around the eternal banquet table in the next life. I pray that we all strive to be like the “Prodigal Father” and share God’s love with those in our lives. May we be Christ for each other, and see Christ in each other.

Fr. Phil