BIBLE STUDY #143


SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

July 28, 2013





READING 1

GEENESIS 18:20-32



In those days, the LORD said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great,

and their sin so grave,

that I must go down and see whether or not their actions

fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.

I mean to find out.”



While Abraham’s visitors walked on farther toward Sodom,

the LORD remained standing before Abraham.

Then Abraham drew nearer and said:

“Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?

Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;

would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it

for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?

Far be it from you to do such a thing,

to make the innocent die with the guilty

so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!

Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?”

The LORD replied,

“If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,

I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Abraham spoke up again:

“See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,

though I am but dust and ashes!

What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?

Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?”

He answered, “I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.”

But Abraham persisted, saying “What if only forty are found there?”

He replied, “I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty.”

Then Abraham said, “Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.

What if only thirty are found there?”

He replied, “I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there.”

Still Abraham went on,

“Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,

what if there are no more than twenty?”

The LORD answered, “I will not destroy it, for the sake of the twenty.”

But he still persisted:

“Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.

What if there are at least ten there?”

He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.”



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

COLOSSIANS 2:12-14



Brothers and sisters:

You were buried with him in baptism,

in which you were also raised with him

through faith in the power of God,

who raised him from the dead.

And even when you were dead

in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

he brought you to life along with him,

having forgiven us all our transgressions;

obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,

which was opposed to us,

he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL

LUKE 11:1-13



Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,

one of his disciples said to him,

“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

and do not subject us to the final test.”



And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend

to whom he goes at midnight and says,

‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey

and I have nothing to offer him,’

and he says in reply from within,

‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked

and my children and I are already in bed.

I cannot get up to give you anything.’

I tell you,

if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves

because of their friendship,

he will get up to give him whatever he needs

because of his persistence.



“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives;

and the one who seeks, finds;

and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

What father among you would hand his son a snake

when he asks for a fish?

Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?

If you then, who are wicked,

know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will the Father in heaven

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



Spiritual leaders always make it a habit to teach their disciples how to pray. John the Baptist did so, and therefore the followers of Jesus ask him to do the same.

We end up with Luke’s version of the Our Father, which is much shorter than Matthew’s, the one we’re used to. Some scholars say that Luke’s version is the one Jesus taught, but I don’t think we’re about to change.



We begin by acknowledging God as our Father, a superior being, who is holy; we acknowledge our own lesser existence and dependence on God for everything. We recognize God’s absolute difference and superiority from us and our own obligation to be holy as God is holy.



Next, we pray for God’s kingdom to be established in earth, for God’s rule to be effective among us. This is proclaiming the kingdom that Jesus teaches. It’s not what we want, but what God wants.



Next, we pray for our daily bread. We are asking for what we need, but nothing in excess. We are not asking to win the lottery, or to have large investment portfolios. By implication, if we are lucky enough to have excess funds, we need to share at least some of that with those who are in need.



One significant difference between Matthew and Luke’s prayer is the treatment of forgiveness. In Matthew’s Gospel, we pray that God forgives us in the same manner that we forgive others. In other words, if we forgive little, we are forgiven little. Conversely, if we forgive a lot, we are forgiven a lot. In Luke’s Gospel, God forgives us first; then, because of God’s generosity, we are prompted to forgive others. God forgives even if we don’t.



Finally, we are asking God to not let us be tempted. This prayer encompasses some major themes in Luke’s Gospel. This prayer shows what Jesus proclaims and expresses his own deep relationship with the Father.



Luke continues to portray God as being overly generous. We’re told to ask, seek, knock, and will receive, find and the door will be opened. God is so generous to us because he values us very highly. If we know how to give our children good things, then how much more will our heavenly Father give to us?



The question to me in what do we ask for? What do we seek? What doors do we want to be opened?



When we first begin the spiritual life, much of our prayer is petition. We ask for things. Keep my family safe, let me keep my job, heal my friends sickness. Sometimes we give God direction and try to tell him what to do: give people food, clothing and shelter. These are the prayers we utter when we want to be in control. We don’t like it when God says no, which is a perfectly good response to our prayers. God promises to give us good things, not everything. While it is OK to pray this way, the better way to pray is to give up control and let God be in charge. He’s much better at it and will do a better job than we can ever hope for. Instead of telling God what to do, why don’t we ask God, “What do you want me to do? What is your will for my life?” Let God work through you and the world will be a better place.



In the first reading from Genesis, we again see God’s generosity. We also see how much he values Abraham, to let Abraham bargain with him. He is willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he can find only 10 innocent people. It also shows us that life is one of God’s precious gifts.



The second reading from Colossians tells us that Jesus suffered and died for us even if we don’t deserve it, when we don’t ask for it, even if we don’t desire it. How generous is that?



Fr. Phil