2022-Aug-14: Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

 2022-Aug-14: Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

 


Opening prayer

Heavenly Father, send forth your Spirit to enlighten our minds
and dispose our hearts to accept your truth.
Help us to listen to one another with openness and honesty,
eager to learn from the talents and intuitions that you have given each of us. Never let differences of opinion diminish our mutual esteem and love.
May we leave this meeting with more knowledge and love for you and your Son.
In the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Theme of the liturgy 

The theme is persistence in doing the work of God even at great personal cost.

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10

Jeremiah went on preaching to King Zedekiah as his privy-counsellor. Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah, who were princes went on with their wicked ways and conspired with the insecure and unpopular puppet King Zedekiah, set up by Nebuchadnezzar after the exile of Jehoiachin to put Jeremiah into the dungeon of Malchiah, King Zedekiah son. Like Pontius Pilate, King Zedekiah was not strong enough to stand down the plotter. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian; yet he spoke to King Zedekiah faithfully, These men have done ill in all they have done to Jeremiah. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress. Orders were given for the prophet's release, and Ebed-melech saw him drawn up. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. Let this encourage us to bear bold testimony for God. 

Psalm 40

This psalm is titled, "To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David". The scholars believe the reason for the song in all probability was that of the deliverance of David from all the long experience of exile and suffering; and the fact that he had been brought to his coronation.

Hebrews 12:1-4

Race (Greek agona), is a word used for conflict or struggle of many kinds, and a favorite word of Paul. Endurance (Greek hupomone), does not mean the patience which sits down and accepts things but the patience which masters them … It is a determination, unhurrying and yet undelaying, which goes steadily on and refuses to be deflected. Jesus did not regard the cross itself as a joyful experience, he was well aware of the shame associated with this painful death sentence. But Jesus could look past the horror of the cross to enjoy the joy of Eternal life beyond it. Jesus doesn't ask more of us than what He has Himself experienced, and that He knows exactly what we are going through keeps us from becoming weary and discouraged in our souls. In Romans 8:17, Paul says, "if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

Luke 12:49-53

Fire is an ambivalent image in scripture. There are burning bushes of revelation (Exodus 3:2) and fiery conflagrations of sin (Genesis 19:24). Luke has already told us, through John the Baptist, that Jesus is coming with a fire of purification and refinement (Luke 3:16-17). The fire Jesus wants to kindle is a fire of change, the fire of God’s active presence in the world. Jesus in Luke speaks of repentance as a changed mind and heart. Jesus implies a fire of cleansing judgment that spreads the good news and the baptism of his death in order to conquer death. That means that oppression has to go. Greed has to go. Idolatry has to go. Same with exploitation, dehumanization, narcissism, and any other evils you can name that prevent the flourishing of all people and all creation. Looking ahead a little in Luke 13:1-9, Jesus teaches about repentance and the urgent circumstances in which humanity currently finds itself, as we stand at the thresholds of our own mortality and the promised arrival of God’s kingdom.
In 51-53, Jesus talks about religion dividing families. There certainly is disagreement or strife in families as to how the call of the Holy Spirit is understood. Whether it be to attend church, go to seminary, engage in social justice issues, etc. This is the gospel’s effects that create division. But the division is not the problem, it is how we choose to respond to it that matters. We are left to trust that it is God at work and resist our attempts to control the outcome.
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