Sunday Readings' Discussion Questions
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sep. 22, 2013 (25C)
From the Center for Liturgy at Saint Louis University
Sunday Mass Readings
Podcast of the Readings
Video of Reflections on Readings
Lecturas y Comentarios
Prayer of the Hours
Burning Question: Would you leave a job for moral reasons?
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Questions on Sunday's Readings for use by discussion groups,
prayer groups, or for individual prayer.
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First Reading
Book of the Prophet Amos, Chapter 8, Verses 4-7
1. Who are the poor today? Who are the powerful that take advantage of them? When you hear Amos’s words (“The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: never will I forget a thing they have done!”), what comes to your mind? What can you do to help correct an unjust situation?
2. Israel’s covenant, which required the love of neighbor, was on a collision course with the behavior in this reading. What drives people to be oppressive and exploitive? Compare and contrast greed with love of neighbor.
Responsorial Psalms
Psalm 113: 1-2, 4-6, 7-8
1. Our Psalm reminds us that the Lord on high reaches down to our human level to lift us up. How can it be that our God, who is exalted above
all nations, is willing to stoop to our lowly level and show concern for us?
2. What does it mean when our psalmist says that God raises up the lowly from the dust and seats them with princes?
Second Reading
First Letter of St. Paul to Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 1-8
1. Paul was appointed preacher and apostle to take the good news to the Gentiles. Explore the meaning of this fact. How can you take this message beyond the sphere of the Church?
2. Paul asks prayers for kings and authority. Do you think the Church should address political, economic and social problems? Do you address them?
Gospel
According to Luke, Chapter 16, Verses 1-13
1. Was the unjust steward dishonest or just clever? How would the kingdom of God benefit if you were more resourceful about promoting it here on earth?
2. Can you think of one way you can be more resourceful in your spiritual life?
Online Sunday Bible Study Group
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On the Gospel:
ReplyDeleteFirst off, in my mind there is no difference between "being dishonest" and "just clever." Being "just clever" carries with it a good portion of dishonesty.
We all have to carry the Kingdom of God around with us in every corner of our lives. We have to balance our need for sustainable resources with our need to maintain a dynamic relationship with God. "Training" for living this dichotomy in Grace starts with a sincere dedication to a prayer life. This dedication starts with being faithful to 15 minutes of quiet prayer every day. Find a corner of the abode and dedicate it to this exercise. Make yourself a chapel. You'll come to achieve a level of spirituality that will sustain you in every aspect of daily life. I have seen it and live it in my personal life and I know others who have achieved greater levels of spiritual intimacy with God than I have by practicing this simple discipline.
“He raises up the lowly from the dust.”
ReplyDeleteThis Psalm teaches us once again that
our God, who is at once exalted above
all men, is willing to stoop low and to raise
us up to His own level. God reverses common
wisdom, and we who are called His servants
are lifted up out of the dung heap of life and
treated as royalty in His kingdom.
“Who is like the Lord, our God, who is enthroned
on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth
below.” It is God's nature to seek out the lowly
and the afflicted ones of this world, and who is to say
that we are not all afflicted?
Christ Jesus shows an amazing ability to bring up
to His level the outcast of society – the poor, the
lowly, the barren. Often criticized for eating and
drinking with sinners, our Savior shows us how
to behave toward our neighbors, to understand
the it is the sick who need a physician.
Jesus' behavior is in sharp contrast to the conduct
of the merchants described in our 1st reading (Amos 8).
They have undisguised contempt for the poor whom
they are exploiting. But Jesus reminds us that the
poor have a divine and powerful advocate. The
compassion of our Lord reaches down to those
whom the powerful of the earth regard as nothing.
Jesus devotes his spiritual wealth and loving attention
not to those who can give something in return, but to
those whom the world disregards.
With such a loving God in our midst, we are inspired
to become like Him, and to join with our psalmist and
sing praise to our God, and praise his name.
Amen