Bible Study and Mass Readings for Sunday, Oct 24

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**October 24, 2004
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time **

**Reading I
Sir 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.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 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.
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.
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.

Reading II
2 Tm 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.

Gospel
Lk 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.”

More to follow…

 

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LITURGICAL BIBLE STUDY
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C

Opening prayer

Sirach 35:12-14,16-18
(Ps 34:2-3,17-19,23)
2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
Luke 18:9-14

Overview of the Gospel:
· Jesus continues his teaching on prayer from last Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 18:1-8).
· Two opposite types are presented here. Pharisees were respected as meticulous interpreters and keepers of the law. Furthermore, by their code of “separateness,” especially regarding non-Jews, they were admired as non-compromisers with the occupying Romans (Pharisee is from the Hebrew perushim—“separated ones”).
· Tax collectors, on the other hand, were often dishonest and were considered collaborators with the Romans besides. They were often mentioned in the same breath as “other sinners” (Luke 5:27-32, 19:7; Matthew 18:17).
· As he often does, Jesus turns the assumptions of his listeners completely around. The prayer of the “holy” Pharisee accomplishes two things: it focuses on himself as the center of his prayer, and leads him to despise others. The prayer of the tax collector, however, is a prayer of humility and dependence on God (Psalm 51:1-4; Daniel 9:18; CCC 2559, 2839). Jesus points out only one “went home justified.”

Questions:·
To whom did Jesus direct this parable?
· What group of people would be the Pharisees today? The tax collectors? What would be the “Pharisee’s prayer?”
· Why might it be dangerous to compare your practice of the faith to that of others?
· How does this parable complement the one we heard last week on persistence (vv 1-8)? How do both demonstrate faith?
· When have you been like the Pharisee? The tax collector? What accounts for the difference?
· Right now, knowing your attitude toward others, who are you most like?
· How do you walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8. See 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6)?

Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 2559, 2513, 588, 2631, 2667, 2839

Closing prayer

**Remember to read and meditate on the daily Mass readings! **

*For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to Heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy. Finally, it is something great and supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. *
–St. Therese of Lisieux

2004 Vince Contreras

More to come…

 

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**No Favorites

Readings:
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
Psalm 34:2-3,17-19, 23
2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
Luke 18:9-14**

Jesus draws a blunt picture in today’s Gospel.

The Pharisee’s prayer is almost a parody of the thanksgiving psalms (see for example Psalms 30,118). Instead of praising God for His mighty works, the Pharisee congratulates himself for his own deeds, which he presents to God in some detail.

The tax collector stands at a distance, too ashamed even to raise his eyes to God (see Ezra 9:6). He prays with a humble and contrite heart (see Psalm 51:19). He knows that before God no one is righteous, no one has cause to boast (see Roman 3:10; 4:2).

We see in the Liturgy today one of Scripture’s abiding themes - that God “knows no favorites,” as today’s First Reading tells us (see 2 Chronicles 19:7; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 2:11).

God cannot be bribed (see Deuteronomy 10:17). We cannot curry favor with Him or impress Him - even with our good deeds or our faithful observance of religious duties such as tithing and fasting.

If we try to exalt ourselves before the Lord, as the Pharisee does, we will be brought low (see Luke 1:52).

This should be a warning to us - not to take pride in our piety, not to slip into the self-righteousness of thinking that we’re better than others, that we’re “not like the rest of sinful humanity.”

If we clothe ourselves with humility (see 1 Peter 5:5-6) - recognize that all of us are sinners in need of His mercy - we will be exalted (see Proverbs 29:33).

The prayer of the lowly, the humble, pierces the clouds. Paul testifies to this in today’s Epistle, as He thanks the Lord for giving him strength during his imprisonment.

Paul tells us what the Psalmist sings today - that the Lord redeems the lives of His humble servants.

We too must serve Him willingly. And He will hear us in our distress, deliver us from evil, and bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom.

salvationhistory.com/

More to come…

 

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Navarre Bible Commentary On Psalm 34:

Psalm 34. The previous psalm invited the righteous to praise the Lord (cf. Ps 33:1); this one is spoken as an individual. It proclaims that “the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous” (v. 15; cf. Ps 32:8; 33:18). The alphabetical structure of Pslam 34 is similar to that of Psalm 25; that psalm asserted that “the Lord is God” (25:8), and here we are invited to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (v. 8). In fact, the goodness of God has been coming across in this whole sequence of pslams: the Lord is the vindicator (Ps 26), he protects and guides (Ps 27), he is a rock of refuge (Ps 28), he lets his voice be heard (Ps 29), he heals the sick (Ps 31), He rescues man from his enemies (Ps 31), he forgives sin (Ps 32), and he is the creator and provident LOrd (Ps 33).

To be continued…

 

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Navarre Bible Commentary On Psalm 34 (continued):

The psalmist begins by resolving to praise the Lord and by inviting the afflicted to unite themselves to God (cf. 1-3). The rest of the psalm spells out why they should do this (VV. 4-22). First the psalmist tells of his personal experience of salvation (vv. 4-6) and, on the basis of that, invites others to experience the goodness of God and to fear him (vv. 7-10); he speaks like a wise man imparting instructions, leads his listener to reflect and tells him how to lead a good life (vv. 11-14); he goes on to proclaim that the Lord sees the righteous and listens to them (vv. 15-16) and saves those who appeal to him (vv. 17-18), for the Lord always looks after the righteous man, whereas he allows the impious to fall foul of their evil doing (vv. 19-22).
When praying this psalm, the Christian can hear in it the voice of the Wisdom of God, Christ, or that of the Blessed Virgin, who also bore witness to God’s mode of action (cf. Lk 1:46-55).

34:1-2. The whole psalm talks about the Lord, without saying anything directly to him. The Lord is the God of Israel who has demonstrated his might in the history of of the people and the temple.
**
34:17-18.** Righteousness does not depend solely on upright conduct (cf. vv. 13-14); what really identifies the just man is his repentence and humble recourse to the Lord.

**34:19-21, 22. ** The Lord is also he who leaves evildoers (vv. 16, 21) to their fate (“condemns”: v. 21). Verse 22, which is outside the alphabetical sequence )it begins with the letter “p”, as also happened in Psalm 25:22) is a sort of summing up of the psalmist’s teaching. This can be interpreted more easily if one bears in mind that the letter “p” is the last letter of the root of the wood “alp” meaning “to teach.”

The height of wisdom, then, is to always have recourse to the Lord. The psalm is therefore a prayer of trust in the Lord…

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From the Navarre Bible Commentary on the Psalms (excerpt)
(Note: This commentary is based on the RSV-CE translation. The numbering of the verses may differ from other versions)

More to come…

 

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**2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Commentary:**

6-8. Conscious of his closeness to death, St Paul writes in poetic strain about his life in the service of the Gospel, about the meaning of death and his hope of heaven. The imagery he uses shows how he interprets his experience in the light of faith. “On the point of being sacrificed”: literally “poured out in sacrifice”: death is an offering to God, like the libations of oil poured on the altar of sacrifices. Death is the beginning of a journey: “the point of my departure has come”, the anchor is being weighed, the sails unfurled.

The Christian life is like magnificent Games taking place in the
presence of God, who acts as the judge. In Greece the Games had close connections with religious worship; St Paul presents the Christian life as a type of spiritual sport: “races” indicates the continuous effort to achieve perfection (cf. Phil 3:14); training for athletics indicates the practice of self-denial (cf. 1 Cor 9:26-27); fighting stands for the effort required to resist sin even if that means death, as can happen in the event of persecution (cf. Heb 12:4). It is well worthwhile taking part in this competition, because, as St John Chrysostom points out, "the crown which it bestows never withers. It is not made of laurel leaves, it is not a man who places it on our head, it has not been won in the presence of a crowd made up of men, but in a stadium full of angels. In earthly competitions a man fights and strives for days and the only reward he receives is a crown which withers in a matter of hours . . .]. That does not happen here: the crown he is given is a glory and honor whose brilliance lasts forever (“Hom. on 2 Tim, ad loc”.).

All Christians who “have loved his appearing”, that is, who stay true to Christ, share St Paul’s expectation of eternal life. “We who know about the eternal joys of the heavenly fatherland should hasten to reach it by the more direct route” (St Gregory the Great, “In Evangelia Homiliae”, 16).

9-18. In his letters St Paul often asks people to do things for him; his messages here are particularly moving, given as they are on the eve of his martyrdom. He is following the example of Christ: he puts his trust in God even though his friends desert him (vv. 10-12, 16); his enemies harass him more than ever, yet he forgives them (vv. 14, 16); in the midst of his sufferings he praises the Lord (v. 18). His mention of Thessalonica, Galatia, Dalmatia, Ephesus, Troas, Corinth and Miletus show how warmly he remembers places which were very receptive to the Christian message. These few verses constitute a mini-biography.

His generosity of spirit is shown by the fact that he mentions so many disciples by name; to all he gave of his best; some of them fell by the wayside but most of them stayed faithful; some are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles or in other letters, but for others this is the only mention in the New Testament. However, all without exception must have been very present to the Apostle who became “all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:22).

**16-17. ** St Paul points to the contrast between the way men treat him and the way God does. Because of the hazards involved in staying with Paul or defending him, some of his friends, even some of his closest friends, have deserted him; whereas God stays by his side.

“You seek the company of friends who, with their conversation and
affection, with their friendship, make the exile of this world more
bearable for you. There is nothing wrong with that, although friends
sometimes let you down. But how is it you don’t frequent daily with greater intensity the company, the conversation, of the great Friend, who never lets you down?” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 88).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. **

 

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**Luke 18:9-14

Commentary:**

9-14. Our Lord here rounds off His teaching on prayer. In addition to being persevering and full of faith, prayer must flow from a humble heart, a heart that repents of its sins: “Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies” (Psalm 51:19); the Lord, who never despises a contrite and humble heart, resists the proud and gives His grace to the humble (cf. Peter 5:5; James 4:6).

The parable presents two opposite types–the Pharisee, who is so
meticulous about external fulfillment of the Law; and the tax
collector, who in fact is looked on as a public sinner (cf. Luke
19:7). The Pharisee’s prayer is not pleasing to God, because his pride causes him to be self-centered and to despise others. He begins by giving thanks to God, but obviously it is not true gratitude, because he boasts about all the good he has done and he fails to recognize his sins; since he regards himself as righteous, he has no need of pardon, he thinks; and he remains in his sinful state; to him also apply these words spoken by our Lord to a group of Pharisees on another occasion: “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, `We
see,’ your guilt remains” (John 9:41). The Pharisee went down from the temple, therefore, unjustified.

But the tax collector recognizes his personal unworthiness and is
sincerely sorry for his sins: he has the necessary dispositions for God to pardon him. His ejaculatory prayer wins God’s forgiveness: “It is not without reason that some have said that prayer justifies; for repentant prayer or supplicant repentance, raising up the soul to God and re-uniting it to His goodness, without doubt obtains pardon in virtue of the holy love which gives it this sacred movement. And therefore we ought all to have very many such ejaculatory prayers, said as an act of loving repentance and with a desire of obtaining reconciliation with God, so that by thus laying our tribulation before our Savior, we may pour out our souls before and within His pitiful heart, which will receive them with mercy” (St. Francis de Sales, “Treatise on the Love of God”, Book 2, Chapter 20).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”.**

Last entry…Have a blessed week!