This Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle C. In yesterday’s two posts, we explored the content and setting of our upcoming gospel. Today will serve as a reminder that the importance of prayer is not appearing for the first time here in this gospel. Continue reading
This Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle C. Earlier today we considered the larger textual placement of this parable in the flow of Luke’s writing, noting that there is an apocalyptic tone skipped over in the Sunday sequence of gospels, that lends a tone and content to the parable of the unjust judge/persistent widow. Now, we’ll continue to explore the context of the gospel reading. (note: two posts just to break up the long introductory material… interesting, but still long) Continue reading
This Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle C. The gospel is the well known Lucan parable of the persistent widow encountering the dishonest judge. We do not arrive at this gospel directly from the gospel of last week telling of the 10 lepers who were cured and the one who returned to give thanks to Jesus. There is a portion of Luke’s gospel that is passed over in the Ordinary Time sequence – Luke 17:20-37. You can find the reading here. Continue reading
The Franciscan Order arose in the 13th century around the person of Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known to us as Saint Francis of Assisi. The Franciscan Order was established by the verbal command of Pope Innocent the mission statement given was to follow Christ and preach penance – and the second part was a surprise to Francis. What started as an informal fraternity of Francis and three followers before his death some 20 years later grew to some 3,000 friars. The first wave of friars were formed by simply watching the example of Francis. By Francis’s death most friars had not ever met Francis – they knew stories, but had no personal experience of him. In such a milieu, it is not surprising that differences would arise “about what Francis intended” for this fraternity of religious men. Continue reading
This Sunday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we considered how mercy and gratitude interplay in this narrative account. Today, let us turn to Alan Culpepper for a final thought (Luke, 328) :
This story also challenges us to regard gratitude as an expression of faith. At the end, Jesus says to the Samaritan, “Your faith has saved you.” That faith was expressed not primarily in the leper’s collective cry for help, but in the Samaritan’s act of recognition and cry of grateful praise. Only his “loud voice” of praise matched the leper’s raised voices to call out for help at the beginning of the story.
In what sense, then, is gratitude an expression of faith? Does gratitude follow from faith? Or is gratitude itself an expression of faith? If gratitude reveals humility of spirit and a sensitivity to the grace of God in one’s life, then is there any better measure of faith than wonder and thankfulness before what one perceives as unmerited expressions of love and kindness from God and from others? Are we self-made individuals beholden to no one, or are we blessed daily in ways we seldom perceive, cannot repay, and for which we often fail to be grateful? Here is a barometer of spiritual health: If gratitude is not synonymous with faith, neither response to God is separable from the other. Faith, like gratitude, is our response to the grace of God as we have experienced it. For those who have become aware of God’s grace, all of life is infused with a sense of gratitude, and each encounter becomes an opportunity to see and to respond in the spirit of the grateful leper.
Source: R. Alan Culpepper, Luke in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IX (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995) pp. 324-28
Image credit: CodexAureus Cleansing of the ten lepers, Public Domain, Wikimedia
In today’s first reading, the epistle to the Galatians, the apostles makes clear that justification does come by works of the law: “For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse.” The Church has, from its earliest times, condemned “works salvation” as I mentioned in my reflection earlier this week pointing to the Pelagian heresy. That heresy held that, while not very likely, man possesses the ability apart from God’s grace to gain salvation. To believe that premise would make one a full-on Pelegian. Many in the Reformed and Protestant traditions would suggest that Catholics are semi-Pelegians. Continue reading
This Sunday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we explored how the 10 lepers were all healed by only the one, the Samaritan, gained insight into Jesus’ as Messiah and encountered the inbreaking kingdom of God. Continue reading
The devastation in Southwest Florida has been prominent in the national news revealing what weather forecasters have always warned: hurricane winds can be significant, but it is tidal surge/flood that does the most property damage. Take a moment to watch this video from Ft. Myers Beach, FL. The surge is relentless. Continue reading
This Sunday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we engaged the meaning of the word sozo with its basic meaning, “to rescue from danger and to restore to a former state of safety and well being.” It was part of Jesus words “Stand up and go; your faith has saved [sozo] you” (v.19). Continue reading
This Sunday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we discussed the many layers of boundaries with this narrative. Today we consider the encounter of those boundaries by people of faith. Continue reading
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