18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 3, 2025

A warning against consumerism and any kind of greed

Luke 12: 13–21

Saying Against Greed

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Parable of the Rich Fool

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.

“He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God:

Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Lord, you are my Good Shepherd. Keep me from wanting what I do not need. Help me to be generous with my. Time and my worldy possession, for they are only here on loan. I am only here on loan.

Companions for the Journey

From a homily delivered at Memorial Church 2004: My name is Nancy Greenfield, and I am a shoe-a-holic. This is my sick little secret. Well, not so secret—one of the priests I worked with a number of years ago used to refer to me as Imelda—as do my children. I just loooove shoes, and I keep them in little plastic boxes so they won’t get dirty. These boxes are organized in my closet by color. And AND when I had too many shoes to fit in those cute little boxes, I went out and got more boxes Do see any parallels here between me and the guy in the parable? I don’t think we Americans fully understand why Luke inserted this parable as an example of a bad person. To us, this farmer seems like a reasonable and prudent man. Enterprising. Successful. Almost American. We are told to save for a rainy day, to be careful in monitoring our expenses so that we won’t run out of money. We are told that when the “baby boomers” start to retire, there won’t be enough to go around, so we’d better make sure our IRA’s and our savings will provide a relatively comfortable retirement. Whole magazines are devoted to the art of making our money grow and preserving our assets from the rapacious hands of the government. We lionize those rugged individualists who have struck out on their own and created companies, amassing millions for themselves. This is the American way. Just what did this guy do that was so wrong? First we need to understand that this parable is found only in Luke, and underscores one his great themes: that there is a definite link between discipleship and use of possessions. Luke is full of admonitions about the dangers of wealth. In this gospel passage, when Jesus is approached to adjudicate an intra-family dispute about inheritance, he refuses to do so but does use the opportunity to admonish the crowds listening to guard against greed. Greed is seen by the culture of Jesus’ day as the most dangerous of vices because it threatens family and village solidarity. That is not so say that riches are necessarily deplored—it is what we do with them that reveals the heart’s true allegiances (Reid: Parables for Preachers Year C, p.137). The rich man’s soliloquy is a dead giveaway to his character, but because of our particular culture, we may not realize the problem. A modern day Western notion of individuality did not exist in the culture of Jesus’ world. Every decision was hammered out in a community of family and village; all sides of the issue were looked at and argued over. The process of decision –making was as important as the decision itself. Understanding this, it is shocking to look at the isolation of this man—his self-absorption. Where are his family, his tenants, his clients, his peers? He asked Himself, what shall I do, I do not have space, This is what I shall do, I shall tear down and build, I shall store, I shall say to myself—eat drink and be merry And now that he has this wealth, with whom will he share it? His greed seems to have kept him from meaningful relationships, so the first problem of his wealth is that it isolates him from everyone else. And how did he get all this land? Did he wrest it from his tenants who borrowed money in bad years, money which they could not pay back? Did he produce this abundance with the sweat of his own brow, or was it the toil of his hired hands that was responsible? Did he allow his employees who worked so hard to produce this harvest a piece of his success? Since he doesn’t speak of others sharing his wealth, the assumption is that he doesn’t share it. With anyone. So, obsession with money and possessions blinds him to the needs of others, especially the poor. Has he forgotten that the land ultimately belongs to God, and he is merely its steward? Has he exhausted the land in order to wring every possible profit from it? His greed has kept him from a sense of perspective toward creation, and his place in it. Egotism and arrogance have taken over his soul. He forgets to thank the God of all gifts who created the conditions for his bountiful harvest. He acts as if his success was all his doing. This is idolatry. And the biggie—he forgets that only God controls life and death--—until it is too late. What about us? Is it too late? Here’s a provocative statement I read this week: The one single, most reliable, most accurate practical measure of our spiritual lives, of how we stand with God, is our use of money. Money is necessary to live. We work for it, spend it, save it. We need it, want it, and spend most of our human energy, most of our time acquiring it. And yet, with money being such a hugely proportionate part of our lives, we still claim that it is neutral, private, and totally irrelevant to who we are as Christians. That doesn’t make sense. (Bausch, Sixty More Seasonal Homilies, pp177, 178) The gospel writers understood this—sixteen of the 38 parables in the gospels deal with money; one verse in ten discusses money. The whole bible offers 500 verses on prayer, fewer than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2000 verses on money and possessions (adapted from IBID) It would seem that money, or particularly the obsession with it, can cause all sorts of spiritual dislocation. This obsession, which we can call greed, is present when we have a drive to keep accumulating more and more when we already have what is “sufficient and reasonable.” Let us acknowledge, however, that the term “sufficient and reasonable” is an ever- moving target. Prodded by what Pope John Paul calls a ”civilization of consumption”, we begin to believe that we are what we own—and that the bigger house, or fancy car which once was a luxury now is a necessity to support our “lifestyle”. Our spouses and our kids take a distant second or third place in our time and attention as we go about “building our careers” or “building for our future”. And then we build ever-bigger houses where more rooms and more walls and more television sets keep us from interacting as a family. So one fallout from greediness is isolation and pride—just like the rich fool. A tycoon was once visited by the chairman of a local fund drive : ”Our records show that you have not yet contributed to the building of our local hospital”. “Oh,” says the tycoon, “ And do your records show that my mother died penniless, my brother is disabled, and my sister was abandoned and left to support four kids?” The chairman was ashamed: “Oh, I didn’t know that. I’m so sorry.” Well, responded the tycoon: “If I didn’t help my own family, why should I help you?” The Jesus of the gospels is telling us that money is not something we earn for our private use, but a lucky gift for the use of public good. If you don’t believe me, sit down and read Luke from beginning to end. Someone once said that a good spiritual exercise was to look at one’s checkbook and credit card bills for the last three months. A quick perusal will give us a picture of how we spent our time and our money. How much of our time was spent in stores or restaurants? How much was spent with our families? What did we spend our money on? How do we as Catholics spend our money? How much of it do we earmark for the poor? for the church? In a recent year, American Catholics gave 1.3 percent of their income to their parish and to charities. In that same time span, Protestants gave 2.4 percent and Jews 3.8 percent. (Bausch, 60 More Seasonal Homilies, p179) (Just a statistic—but interesting). Sadly, the greedy increase the needy. (Burghardt: Let Justice Roll Down Like Water, p106) 90% of the world’s goods are consumed by 10% of the world’s population. Food stamps now sustain one American in 10—a lot of them the elderly who have to choose between food and medicine. And some of this is going to be ending in the next few years The poverty rate for children in our country is one in five. One in five! In the wealthiest country in the world, 14.6 million children grow up poor, hungry, ill-housed. The world’s sixth largest economy is California, and it has a state school system that is near the bottom of the 50 states. It is helpful to remember that money used for others—for feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the cold and the naked—are precisely those works of mercy that, according to Jesus, form the basis –the only basis-- of our judgment when we die. (Bausch 179) How has our own version of greed kept us spending so much of our lives acquiring, working. making money, building our egos through possessions that we no longer have time to spend with those we love—our families and our friends? Are we generous with our time and money? Are we too busy building for a better life down the road that we miss life itself as it unfolds before our eyes? Anna Quindlen had some advice for college graduates several years ago which I have excerpted or adapted from her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life: So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over the Golden Gate Bridge, a life in which you stop and watch the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of the azaleas, or the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of live. Get a life in which you stop to consider the lilies of the field—a homily for another day Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure; it is work. Each time you think of your accomplishments, your successes, remember that you are still a student, still learning how to best treasure your connection to others. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your dad. Hug your nieces and nephews. Get a life in which you are generous. Care so deeply about life’s goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of us want to do well. But if we do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough. * Oh, as to those shoes? Bad knees required that I stop wearing many of them. A gave a third of them away this week, but I kept the boxes……

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

Have I ever had a family squabble about money? What are my particular money issues? Do I come from a mentality of scarcity” Do I ever fear that I will not have enough, and does this worry consume a lot of my thoughts? How much is enough? What does our culture tell us about how much is enough? How has the internet influenced our cultural attitudes about shopping and spending on stuff? Is money a problem only for the rich? What sorts of anxieties are caused by money issues? Warren Buffet once said that what causes unhappiness in contemporary times is not really greed, it is envy. How does our culture foster envy and competitiveness? Does my family thrive on envy? Greed, the excessive desire for more wealth, had shaped our economic landscape. Is this a problem for me? What feeds my greed? How has my attitude toward money and possessions been shaped by my childhood? How has my attitude toward money and possessions changed as my circumstances have changed? Is wealth itself a problem? What was the rich man’s basic problem about his riches? What is mine? Is our culture fascinated by wealth? How can I work to overcome this? How does wealth give someone a sense of empowerment and control? How can this sense of empowerment and control be a false one? How does wealth give someone a sense of value? How does wealth give someone a false sense of value? In what ways can money make someone fearful? In what ways can money isolate someone? In what ways can money help the world?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style:

(source unknown) Here’s the problem: it’s too easy for you and me to read this parable and think, Oh, that doesn’t apply to me, because I’m not rich. Let me give you some statistics on wealth and poverty in the world today. If you make 25,000 dollars a year, you are in the top ten per cent of the world’s most wealthy. If you own a house or a car, if you never have to worry where the next meal is coming from, if you have clean water, you’re in the top ten per cent. Did you know that there are over one billion people in the world who live on less than one dollar a day, and two billion who live on less than two dollars a day? Over 20,000 children die every day of starvation or preventable disease. If you’re not worried about your kids starving to death and you’re able to get them basic medical care, you are rich according to the standards of today. So this does apply to us, and this is not an isolated saying of Jesus. Jesus actually says a lot about wealth, a lot about riches. This is found over and over again, especially in the Gospel of Luke. So, the challenge for each of us is to determine what in our lives is truly necessary, what is comfortable, and what is downright excessive. Where can I loosen my grip on stuff, and tighten my grip on compassion and service?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

I reflect on the dangers of wealth, how it can insulate us from the cares of this world, but also from caring about others. It can make us arrogant, callous, and cruel. It can make us anxious, selfish and greedy. No one who has money never has enough (Eccelsiastes). It can lead us to believe that we live by a different set of rules than the hoi polloi around us. It can lead us to put our happiness in things we acquire; getting and spending we lay waste our lives. How does the desire for wealth square with Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom?

(from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford p.94, by Anne Greenfield)

Meditation in the Auagustinian Style/Relationship:

I read Psalm 49: “In their riches, people lack wisdom; they are like beasts that are destroyed.” Do any of the verses in this psalm possibly refer to me? Rewrite this psalm in the first person and meditate on what needs to change in your life.

Literary Reflection:

Did you know there’s a character in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress named Little Faith? Little Faith was from the town of Sincere, and on his journey to the Celestial City he took a nap in a place called Dead Man’s Lane, which was the haunt of thieves and murderers. While napping there he was robbed by three thieves whose names were Faintheart, Mistrust, and Guilt. It was only through a man named Great Grace that Little Faith was rescued. Great Grace came and he chased the thieves away, the robbers who had stolen Little Faith’s spending money. They’d taken his money, but they didn’t get his most valuable jewels or his certificate for entering through the Celestial gate. But Little Faith was so discouraged by his losses that he failed to draw comfort from his most valuable assets.

Are you like Little Faith? Are you more anxious about financial needs than you are grateful for spiritual blessings? Do losses of temporal wealth so distress you that you’re unable to draw comfort from the Scriptures’ assurances of God’s love and care and faithfulness? Have faintheartedness and mistrust or unbelief or guilt robbed you of peace of mind? If so, then Jesus’ exhortations for you, little faith. He’s saying, don’t fret. Don’t be anxious. Your Father knows what you need; he cares for you; he will take care of you.

(By Brian Hedges, the lead pastor of Redeemer Church in Niles, Michigan)

Poetic Reflection:

How does this poem by Donald Justice reflect the theme of this gospel?

Incident in a Rose Garden (2)

The gardener came running,
An old man, out of breath.
Fear had given him legs.
Sir, I encountered Death
Just now among our roses.
Thin as a scythe he stood there.
I knew him by his pictures.
He had his black coat on,
Black gloves, a broad black hat.
I think he would have spoken,
Seeing his mouth stood open.
Big it was, with white teeth.
As soon as he beckoned, I ran.
I ran until I found you.
Sir, I am quitting my job.
I want to see my sons
Once more before I die.
I want to see California.
We shook hands; he was off.

And there stood Death in the garden,
Dressed like a Spanish waiter.
He had the air of someone
Who, because he likes arriving
At all appointments early,
Learns to think himself patient.
I watched him pinch one bloom off
And hold it to his nose–
A connoisseur of roses–
One bloom and then another.
They strewed the earth around him.
Sir, you must be that stranger
Who threatened my gardener.
This is my property, sir.
I welcome only friends here.

Death grinned, and his eyes lit up
With the pale glow of those lanterns
That workmen carry sometimes
To light their way through the dusk.
Now with great care he slid
The glove from his right hand
And held that out in greeting,
A little cage of bone.
Sir, I knew your father,
And we were friends at the end.
As for your gardener,
I did not threaten him.
Old men mistake my gestures.
I only meant to ask him
To show me to his master.
I take it you are he?

Closing Prayer

Jesus, help us to keep our priorities straight. Help us keep our eyes focused on you and on the needs of the kingdom, which are far beyond our own. Teach us to be content with the things we have, especially our relationship with you and our relationships with our friends and family. Even in times of financial distress or uncertainty, let us know that you will always be there for us, that you will not leave us to fend for ourselves alone. Give us gratitude for the good things we have and give us the wisdom not to seek that which is in excess or that which is ultimately not good for us. Teach us to be generous.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2025

How and when to pray

Luke 11: 1–13

He 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.”

Further Teachings on Prayer.

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 him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

The Answer to Prayer.

“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?”

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God:

Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Lord, teach me to pray as you did, with utter trust in the father’s love and care. Help me to treat you, Lord, not as a dispenser of favors and punishments, but as a confidant and friend. Give me patience when the answers to my prayers are not what I expected. Help me to be open to messages I may not want to hear, but especially open to messages of concern and comfort. Please listen to my pleas on behalf of those who are suffering in any way. In short, Jesus, help me strengthen my relationship with you.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Today’s gospel has several segments, but they come under a general rubric: a teaching on prayer. What’s striking about the passage is something we might just take for granted—Jesus prayed. Jesus and his disciples are journeying to Jerusalem and he has told them that suffering awaits him and those who would follow him. Prayer is a major theme in Luke’s gospel and today we are reminded how important prayer was for Jesus. He was on familiar terms with God and the intimate way he spoke of God aroused the ire of his opponents. His disciples have heard how he has spoken about God, have seen him pray on numerous occasions and now ask him to teach them to pray. They must also have sensed how important prayer was in Jesus’ life.

They aren’t asking for a catalogue of prayers, an “approved list” of Jesus’ favorite prayers, or a list of required prayers that disciples should pray if they are to qualify being called Jesus’ disciples. They sense that the relationship Jesus has with God is unique and they want to learn about it and share in it. Jesus doesn’t disappoint them because the prayer he prescribes, “the Lord’s Prayer,” while exceptionally succinct, reveals the familial relationship he has with God. He wants to reveal and share this relationship with his followers.

First, he teaches them a prayer. It begins with Abba/Father. He is telling his disciples that for them, God is not a distant potentate, not a God on a smoking mountain somewhere. Rather, God is close, like a tender and loving parent. Jesus could have stopped right there, for he is not telling us some secret code name for God that, if we use it, will get us special favors. Rather, he is inviting his disciples to believe in the God he intimately knows, a God who is a close and loving parent, one who is bound to us and cares for us the way parents tend to and love a little child. What he revealed would have been enough for his disciples to learn and act upon. He has resealed the relationship we can have with God. He has opened a way for us to approach God in prayer with a sense of trust that, because of Christ, we too share in an intimate relationship with God. Jesus’ life was not without pain, disappointment and death; but he was sustained through it all by his faith in his Abba. That is what he is offering his disciples when he reveals his God to us. What follows is, as they say, “just a footnote,” to what he has just said.

The prayer Jesus teaches has brief statements that reflect what he has said about God: “When you pray, say Abba/Father, hallowed be your name.” So, believing what we do about God, we want God’s name to be hallowed. God is loving creator of us all and is holy. We want the rule of this loving God to be over all creation and all human affairs. May all life be guided by and obedient to God’s ways. Having praised and acknowledged the goodness and holiness of God, the prayer turns to naming our personal needs. What Jesus has told us about God enables us to pray with confidence that each day we will be given the bread we need—our “daily bread.” God is the One who can and will provide with what we truly need to live the life Jesus calls us to live.

Since we are still in the process of becoming disciples, we continue to fall short and so we pray for forgiveness for our sins. Because we have been forgiven we forgive those indebted to us. And, because we have not forgiven others we continue to ask for forgiveness. Followers of Christ who call upon God as he taught us to, are assured of forgiveness and there is no excuse for us not to do the same for those who have offended us. It is what God wants; it is what we pray to be able to do.

Along the way we notice that Jesus is teaching us to pray in the first person plural: “give us...forgive us...do not subject us....” The very prayer Jesus teaches us also reaffirms our unity with one another in Christ. Baptism has united us into a praying community and praying “the Lord’s Prayer” continues to strengthen the bonds that unite us. We pray as a community and at the Eucharist each member of the community is fed the same bread—the community’s daily bread.

The prayer ends with an acknowledgment. We know our fragility; we know how easily we give into daily temptation. How will we be sustained in both daily testing and “the final test”—at the end of time? The prayer Jesus teaches us in response to his disciples’ request, flows from what he says at the beginning, “When you pray, say Abba/Father.” It is as if he is saying, “Since your God is your loving parent, here is what you should pray about.” Notice how brief and general the prayer is? Even in the face of daily testing and “the final test,” we place our trust in the God Jesus has revealed to us. He encourages us to believe in our loving Parent. This God will not let us be swept away because of either small or ultimate testings.

The subsequent parable on prayer only reinforces what Jesus has already said—in case we didn’t get it! In the parable of the midnight visitor the peasant family has already retired for the night. The whole family would be asleep in one room and so they would have been disturbed by the inopportune knock on the door and the request for bread. The petitioner is shamelessly persistent and his needs are eventually met. Jesus is suggesting that since a neighbor would respond to a request for bread, even when asked at the wrong time and when the response would have been an inconvenience—how much more would “Abba” respond to the person who prays constantly? God will far exceed even what our “friend” and “neighbor” might do for us.

So we shouldn’t be ashamed to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock,” since we know the goodness of the One we asking, seeking and imploring. But Jesus isn’t teaching us how to pray for whatever we want. He continues his teaching, again reminding us of the One to whom we are praying. No loving parent would give a snake or a scorpion to a hungry child seeking a fish. Jesus’ example of a snake and scorpion is vivid, and we easily get the point. Our Parent knows what we need and will not give us anything that will harm us. Sometimes children reach out for what can hurt them, but a loving parent uses caution and wisdom to feed them what will truly nourish them. Jesus’ brief parables have driven home his teaching. Our God is not harsh or demanding, but is a loving Parent who gives us only what is good for us and is ready to respond when we ask: “How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?”

We are “seekers,” searching for God’s kingdom, yearning for it to come and hoping to recognize it when it comes into our daily lives. For that we need the Holy Spirit, for on our own we can readily miss what is of God. Luke’s gospel is a story about the Spirit: the Spirit brought Jesus into the world and filled him at his baptism. Jesus’ ministry demonstrated what a Spirit-filled and Spirit-directed life looks like. Jesus promises this same Spirit to his disciples and The Acts of the Apostles shows that when the Spirit descends on the community, they too begin to live the Spirit-filled life Jesus lived: the poor were cared for; the dead were raised; the blind and lame were healed; the crippled walked and three times, when the disciples were imprisoned, God opened their prison doors and set them free. The Spirit worked through the disciples to help them live Jesus’ life in the world. When the early church met opposition, it was the Spirit that sustained them and gave Paul and the other disciples the words to respond to their accusers.

Jesus ends his teaching on prayer by inviting us to ask God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit who will enable us to pray in the confident and trusting manner Jesus has taught us. Judging from the subsequent account in Acts, of the community’s life after Pentecost, it is also the Spirit who will be an assuring presence, encouraging us to seek and find the divine in our lives and helping us to make the world a place of love and justice for all people. It is the Spirit who moves us to pray and acts to bring about this kind of world when we pray, “Your kingdom come.”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy spirit to those who ask him?

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Do I think of prayer as a real conversation with God?
  How do I address God when I pray?
• Have I ever found it hard to pray?
  Do I find prayer difficult or intimidating?
• Do I think there is a “right” way and a ”wrong” way to pray?
• What do I expect when I pray?
• Have I ever had an experience of a meaningful connection with Jesus, His Abba, The Spirit, Mary, or another saint in any prayer experience?
• Credo is translated I believe, and I trust. Both are elements of faith. In my prayer do I really trust God?
• How often do I pray from a communal stance (we us our) as opposed to a singular stance?
  Do I pray for myself and my loved ones communally?
  Do I pray for myself and my Church communally?
  Do I pray for my country any myself communally?
• “Give us today our daily bread” may actually mean that we should ask for the bare minimum of what we need, and not hoard to ourselves excess food and wordly goods. Do I agree or disagree?
• What do I hunger for?
  What do I think the world hungers for?
  What do we as Church hunger for?
  What do my relationships hunger for?
• What do I have to let go of to make room for what I really hunger for?
• In this parable about the neighbor, we see that he finally gives in, not out of compassion but just to make the supplicant go away.
  Do I see God in that way, as someone we can wear down by persistence?
  Do I read further and see that Jesus is saying the God is quite different, more loving and more careful?
• Have I ever asked God for something and later discovered that if I had gotten what I wanted it would have been very bad for me?
  Have I seen the wisdom and providence of God in my life?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

"Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us." "Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more." "Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" and we may be "grounded in love." "Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the "Yes" of the Son becoming servant and the Fiat of God's lowly handmaid."(#2709-#2719 Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Centering Prayer is one method of prayer, which prepares us to receive the gift of God's presence, traditionally called contemplative prayer. (http://www.centeringprayer.com/) The Guidelines for Centering Prayer Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within. When you become aware of thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.

(Submitted by Anne and Bill Werdel, from the parish bulletin of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh, NC)

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

At this time, our national response to the poor who cry out for daily bread in not good. Benefits have been cut back, the number of homeless is on the rise. "Give us this day our daily bread." We hear the poor crying out to God for help that we as a nation and as a Christian community should do something about. While the economy is again thriving for part of our society, the bishops of North Carolina note that, “we are still haunted by how the least among us are faring. There is too much poverty and too little economic opportunity for all our citizens. Our faith tradition as Catholics calls us to put the needs of the poor and the vulnerable before all else. In our job-oriented economy, this tradition is expressed in the security of gainful employment.”

Jesus said in the gospels: “Feed them yourselves”. What is my church community doing to deal with the issues of hunger and homelessness? Am I part of this project? Should I be? What about hunger for learning? How does my local community serve those with special needs or who have issues at home that make it impossible for them to concentrate, or study, or stay in school?

Poetic Reflection:

An honest prayer from Father Ed Ingebretzen, S.J.:

Our Father, who art in heaven and who are possible deaf: You hear our prayers; you see how impossibly weak they are— these words strung together, woven, stitched , knotted into shapes of futility. If our words were threads We’d dream of gold gowns But wake up wearing burlap. Lord, give us this day our daily hope Do you see? these hands once dreamed; our words once clothed kings.

Poetic Reflection:

Stubborn Prayer

(17th Sunday, Ordinary time)

Sometimes we hate To pray either because our Mood will not allow us or because We are angry with God and have Also witnessed too many people Claiming too much or too little For prayer and those that Sell it or demean it seem Almost terminally angry And judgmental **** There may also be A wee bit of guilt about not Praying when we promised we Would and maybe even a kind of Spiritual fraud when we recite Words we do not even mean and Even sometimes we pretend by Giving marvelous speeches to The Father while trying to Hide our true selves From Him as if He Did not know Everything Anyway **** But Luke takes Away any excuses we might Try to invoke when he has Jesus Remind us that prayer must be Honest and communal and asking Without guile that His will be Done but maybe just maybe The most vital aspect is That we keep at it for All requests of the Divine must always Be made by a Stubborn Pray-er

—Father Michael Kennedy, S.J.

Further reading:

There is great and readable book by James Martin, S.J., called Learning to Pray. It is readable and very encouraging as well as informative. Highly recommended!

Closing Prayer

Teach me to go to this country beyond words and beyond names.
Teach me to pray on this side of the frontier, here where these woods are.
I need to be led by you.
I need my heart to be moved by you.
I need my soul to be made clean by your prayer. I need my will to be made strong by you.
I need the world to be saved and changed by you.
I need you for all those who suffer, who are in prison, in danger, in sorrow.
I need you for all the crazy people.
I need your healing hand to work always in my life.
I need you to make me, as you made your Son, a healer, a comforter, a savior.
I need you to name the dead.
I need you to help the dying cross their particular rivers.
I need you for myself whether I live or die.
It is necessary.
Amen.

—Thomas Merton (from A Book of Hours, Ave Maria Press, p. 67)

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 20, 2025

The first step in following Jesus is to listen to His word

Luke 10: 38–42

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."

Music Meditations

Open My eyes Lord, Jesse Manibusan Give Me Jesus---Fernando Ortega Change our Hearts---Rory Cooney ( feat. Teresa Donohoo) I’d Rather Have Jesus--Selah

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God:

Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Adapted from Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Lord, I so often identify with Martha, because she is doing what needs to be done, and accomplishing good things. Help me, Lord, to see that sometimes it is better to be than to do. Keep me from settling for what satisfies me and makes me feel justified, and give me the grace to want only what You want.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2007,a service of the Southern Dominican Province,written by Father Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

Jesus and his disciples continue their journey to Jerusalem. Along the way with them we meet various groups of people: the crowds, who are drawn by their own desperate needs or are curious about the spectacle; the “teachers of the law,” who are growing more and more hostile; Jesus’ disciples, enthusiastic but confused because of Jesus’ talk of his coming passion. Just prior to today’s Martha and Mary story a lawyer “tested” Jesus about who constituted “neighbor,” and last week we heard Jesus’ response in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Have Jesus’ followers and antagonists really been listening to what he has been saying? Have we? Today we have a story of someone who shows respect for Jesus and sets an example for us by listening to his word.

The Martha and Mary account is only found in Luke and so we would expect to find in it and the surrounding accounts, typical Lucan touches. For example, typical of Luke, it features women ministering and listening to Jesus. Also, the story is situated between action and prayer: the preceding story of the Good Samaritan encapsulates the ideal of Christian love and service; while the following account after the Martha and Mary one, has some of Jesus’ teaching about prayer. Are we listening to the cumulated message of these narratives? Does it take prayer to help us discern and follow-through on our call to serve others in need? Will prayer help us recognize the needy so that we not “walk on by on the other side,” as the religious leaders did to the man who had been set upon by bandits? The stories of the Good Samaritan, Mary and Martha and the teaching on prayer are intimately related--- they are of a piece.

What a relief it must have been for Jesus to be “welcomed” by Martha. This is Martha’s only appearance in Luke. Martha’s sister Mary is also in the story and she sits at Jesus’ feet to hear him speak---literally, to “listen to his word.” To sit at someone’s feet was to acknowledge his or her authority. Thus, Mary treats Jesus as one sent with an authoritative word, a prophet. Martha is often described as “the heavy” in this story---the one who is fretting and bossy. But initially, at least, she is the hospitable one who welcomes Jesus and tries to do much to follow-up on her hospitality. Since Jesus is journeying to Jerusalem with his disciples, I wonder if they weren’t close by. If so, Martha had much to do and could be overwhelmed with work and feel abandoned by her sister.

Jesus tells Martha that she is “anxious and worried” about many things. Luke Timothy Johnson (SACRA PAGINA, page 174) says that in the original these terms suggest: being “anxious” about the entanglements of life in the world and “making an uproar.” Johnson goes on to say that Jesus’ response, “there is a need for only one thing,” had been variously interpreted. Some say Jesus is suggesting she could have served fewer dishes, just “one” of a “few.” But Johnson thinks Jesus is responding to the virtue of hospitality, that is, the importance of paying attention to the guest. That’s what’s important. Everything else is secondary. So, Mary made the right choice. Mary’s way of being hospitable was not only to welcome the Prophet in their home but to also listen to his words. She has done what people should do---listen to the one who speaks God’s word---”the one thing necessary.”

Which makes us ask ourselves: how do we offer hospitality to the prophets? How open are we to hearing from the “guests” among us, our God speaking to us? A guest comes from the outside world. They bring us a presence and a perspective we don’t ordinarily get because we are immersed in our daily routine, companions and usual thought patterns. When someone speaks from a different world view, or another perspective on daily life, our first response is to put up barriers; we feel our borders threatened. It is an act of faith and trust in the Spirit within us to pay attention to what we hear and see and to reflect on it. We can sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his words just by being more attentive to those around us; especially those who are from the “outside,” who initially act and speak in ways foreign to us. Before we bolt the door of our minds and hearts, we might practice hospitality and openness. Who knows what we might hear? Who knows what riches we might experience? Who knows, we might even be welcoming the Prophet---the one sent by God with a word for us disciples.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

How shocking were Jesus actions concerning women as described by Luke? How countercultural were those actions (Eating in the presence of women not related to him? Teaching about spiritual matters not in a synagogue with men, but with a woman?) What was the role of women in Jesus’ society? How was his message to Martha and his approval of Mary liberating for women? Do any religions today engage in obvious or tacit misogyny? Do we tend to criticize Mary because hospitality and serving is the natural role of women, even today? Have I ever played the Mary role (letting someone else do all the serving of others) In my everyday interactions? Did anyone ever call me on it? Do we tend to sympathize with Martha because she is doing what needs to be done, when no one else is doing so? Have I ever played the Martha role (being a martyr) in my everyday interactions? Did anyone ever call me on it? Instead of directly asking for help from someone who was in a position to render same, did I ask someone else to do so for me? What was the payoff for me? (Attention, Pity? Anger on my behalf?) If my plea for help was rejected, how did I feel? If my plea for help was answered positively, how did I feel? How hard is it to remember that God loves me, not for what I do/accomplish, but simply because I am? Do I use my good behavior or good deeds to earn God’s love and approval? How often do I try to elicit God’s attention though frantic activity? Am I afraid Jesus will find me lazy in doing his will? Do I talk too much? Am I a good listener? Am I only open to hear those ideas which reinforce my own opinions? Am I willing to listen to ideas and thought which are new or unsettling to me? What do I think is the purpose of prayer? Do I expect a result when I pray? How often do I talk at God instead of to God? How often do I simply listen? How hard is it to listen? Do I believe that Jesus favors those cloistered behind a grill or those out actively working for the poor and marginalized? Are both choices foreign to my life as an everyday Catholic? Does that make me insignificant or even a failure in the eyes of Jesus?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

There are several explanations for Jesus’ response to Martha in this story: Some suggest that Jesus is telling her that the contemplative life is superior to the active life. That is a modern day stretch, because most women at that time did not have the means or the household help, nor the social standing to absent themselves from the everyday running of a household. The real “contemplatives” would be some men who devoted themselves, not to work, but to study of the scriptures. Others have suggested that he was telling her to keep it simple and not try to overdo the hospitality thing. Again, a bit of a stretch, since that was the expected and approved role of women in Jesus’ time and culture. The noted preacher Walter Burghardt, S.J. suggested in Christ in Ten Thousand Places that Jesus was telling Mary that no matter what she was doing, she needed to listen to God, listen to Jesus. He suggests that all of our actions should come from a place where we have listened to and are responding to Jesus. He calls those actions “biblical” Is it hard to root our actions in some preliminary listening? How can I train myself to start here instead of starting with action and ending with reflection? How might the results of my activity be changed if I started with listening to Jesus?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” I notice that there is no accusation, no rejection of all she has done to welcome Jesus and be a good host. His words are not a reproof, nor a rejection of her actions, but encouragement, a simple reminder that she chose to be active instead of listening, a reminder that action without listening is less than it can be. Aren’t we all worried and distracted like Martha? I speak to Jesus of the times I have been worried that my best would be judged as not good enough, and have been fussing over details no one else cared about. I speak to him about the times I have been surly and resentful in performing tasks for others because I don’t consider myself appreciated enough, and of the times that I have been jealous of those who seem to be appreciated when they have done little to earn that appreciation. I listen carefully to Jesus’ (and maybe others’) silent gratitude for all that I do. I listen prayerfully to Jesus inviting me to find the one thing necessary for me, and ask for his help to be more focused on what is most important in my life.

Literary Reflection:

What does the Poet E. E. Cummings have to say about how we humans spend our time in this life, mostly to make “progress” of some sort?

pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Progress is a comfortable disease: your victim (death and life safely beyond) plays with the bigness of his littleness --- electrons deify one razorblade into a mountainrange; lenses extend unwish through curving wherewhen till unwish returns on its unself. A world of made is not a world of born --- pity poor flesh and trees, poor stars and stones, but never this fine specimen of hypermagical ultraomnipotence. We doctors know a hopeless case if --- listen: there's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go

Poetic Reflection:

Father Michael Kennedy S.J., who has been a pastor at Mission Dolores Parish in Los Angeles, muses on what Martha actually did contribute to this story:

Martha Stalwart

(16th Sunday Ordinary time) The two sisters Martha and Mary are Examples used by Luke to Remind us that that the attitude Of Jesus toward women was truly Remarkable in the first century And even not common today Among our modern cavemen But there is more than one Point the author wants to Make so that the listener Or the reader will See a new side of The Master **** There is the lesson That this first century Woman was able to be at The feet of Jesus just Like any male disciple and This would be a great shock To all who heard the story But it clearly describes the View of Jesus toward women And which Luke more than any Other Gospel writer clearly Shows in the rest of his Work for it is at the Core of who Jesus Really is **** And the other point That is underlined by Jesus is That He listens to Mary’s sister And does not call her out about her Whining but rather points out that She and all disciples need to listen To the Word of Jesus and so Probably she got the message And gave her attention to Jesus so much that after This day perhaps she Was forever known As Martha Stalwart

Poetic Reflection:

Another amusing, but true, perspective from Father Michael Kennedy on Mary and Martha:

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happenstance

(16th Sunday Ordinary time) Just about everyone Has relatives or friends Who almost never help When real help is needed And use some partly true Allegation to worm their Way out of some task or To get out of doing jobs That are too hard for Their precious Hands or their Fragile egos **** But to see this In the Martha and Mary Story is reading back just From our own perspective as We see Martha as offended By the Master and Mary as The lazy sister who is Praised for her simple Adoration when the Truth of the story is Remarkably and Wonderfully Different **** The Lord would Never put down Martha For doing hospitality nor Over praise Mary for Focusing on him for The message is just That if he is at the Core then it makes Little difference Whether we serve like Martha or stare with Enchanted eyes we Still will be doing his Will and both will be Conscious decisions Not a loose pursuit Of life, liberty and The pursuit of Happenstance

Closing Prayer

Jesus, Did you ever feel the fierce force the push the pull of days and nights that were far too full of people and programs you thought willed by one whose way must be fulfilled? When at the end of a difficult day with barely time to pause and pray before the crowds began to press upon you did you also bless each God-given opportunity? If so, Jesus, remember me.

(Winter, Sister Miriam Therese, Womanword 126-127)

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 13, 2025

How can I be a better neighbor. and who exactly, is my neighbor?

Luke 10: 1–12, 17–20

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Music Meditations

You've Got a Friend—Judy Collins

The Summons

Love Goes On-- Bernadete Farrell

Whatsoever You Do

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God:

Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Open my eyes, Lord, to the needs of those around me, to a world that is broken and in which the ‘unimportant” suffer. Give me courage to go beyond my discomfort and my fears to make someone’s life a little better, even if there is a cost. Give me compassion to see those with whom I disagree or whom I dislike as your children, beloved by you and hurting. Teach me to love my neighbor, in whatever guise I find “neighbor”.

Companions for the Journey

From a homily delivered at Memorial Church 2010:

Jesus' parable is not about the result, it's about human motivation and love. Which brings us to several questions we all face when confronted by the needs of others:

What is going to happen to me if I get involved?

To be honest, we learn early on is that being a "neighbor" might carry some risk. Risk of failure, risk of being misjudged, and worse, risk of being harmed. What's the payoff? Will I feel good for having done this? Will I be thanked, or even rewarded? Often we are prudent to the point of paralysis. The safest course of action is never to venture into the unknown, especially when it is to help someone who might be an unknown quantity. The gang member in the gutter could have been a decoy. The wounded man could have been lying in wait to rob a traveler who stopped to help We build walls between us: in our homes, neighborhoods, nation and in the world. Huge walls, whether physical, emotional, or simply metaphorical seem to be there to protect us, but in reality, they lock US into a world where our growth will be stunted and our generous impulses squelched, and our fear magnified.

Jesus wants to dismantle those walls, stone by stone. That's not an easy thing to do in a suspicious and selfish world.

What will happen to this person if I do not get involved

The reason the Samaritan stopped and helped is because he asked a totally different question: "What is going to happen to HIM if I DON"T get involved?".

What will happen to him if I don't get involved makes us realize that loving my neighbor is not optional. We are called to be neighbor to anyone who needs our help, whether they deserve it or not. (What exactly do we mean by the term "deserving poor?") Whether they were born here or not. Whether they are grateful or not. When another has need, Jesus teaches, then we are neighbors. There are no reserve clauses. The categories of family friend, stranger, enemy blur together when people are in need and I have the ability to respond. We don't even have to like the people who need our help, or agree with what they stand for. But what we can't do is turn our backs, ignore their desperation. Almost all of Jesus' actions of healing were responses to need, not rewards for good behavior. The first letter of John asks: "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?"

Eli Weisel, the great Jewish writer said: "In the face of suffering, one has no right to turn away, not to see. In the face of injustice, one may not look the other way. When someone suffers, and it is not you, he comes first. His very suffering gives him priority".

What, possibly, can my involvement do to help?

When we talk about sin, we usually focus on bad things we have done, but the fact is that we commit way more sins of omission (inaction) than commission. There is nothing we can do to help, because the problem is so big. Overcoming hopelessness which leads to inertia is a big challenge. I am going to suggest that we can follow Blessed Teresa of Calcutta who said "If you can't feed a hundred hungry people, feed just one". We need to stop finding excuses for inaction, and pick something, anything, however small, and do it with great love: whether it is sending money to doctors without Borders working in Ukraine, campaigning for a candidate who is working for racial justice or for refugees, or the undocumented in this country. Anyone can do something.

And finally: Should I care?

Unfortunately, we have domesticated this parable into a pius platitude: "Love your neighbor," ignoring the real challenge Jesus puts to us: Just who is my neighbor, anyway? If the violence and anger that were on display this week is an indication of where we are as a country, we aren't feeling very "neighborly" right now. And that angry, judgmental feeling flies in the face of the hard message of this parable. Our neighbor is not just some who looks like us, speaks the same language, holds the same political opinions and prays in the same way we do. Our neighbor is often “the other": Our neighbors are refugees, immigrants, homeless people, people who are angry over the way those and others who look like them are treated, people who are in prison and people who put them there. Our neighbors are denizens of Main Street and denizens of Wall Street, citizens of this country and citizens of a country we are fighting with.

The major message of Jesus is hard to take: we cannot decide that certain people merit our concern and certain people are outside the pale. We have seen this week what comes of fear and hatred of "the other"--the "not-our-neighbor".

Who, exactly, is my neighbor?

Would not the Christian life look different if we spontaneously and unquestioningly heard "Save your soul" as "Save your neighbor"?

Christ has no body now but ours, so we are required to save one another in this lifeboat we call planet earth.

Who needs me to BE neighbor?

What will it cost me to make his life change for the better?

What will it cost her if I do nothing?

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today's session….

Go and do likewise

Living the Good News

Reflection Questions:

From Sacred Space:

Who is my neighbor? Jesus seems to suggest that it is the person whom I view with suspicion and don't like, or who views me with suspicion and doesn't like me.

Do I have any neighbors in this challenging sense of the word?

What is Jesus trying to say to me?

Who is the modern day equivalent of a Samaritan for me—someone from a different country or culture, someone from a different religion, someone with political views I find repellent, someone from the wrong neighborhood?

Do I mistrust them?

Dislike them?

Do I care what happens to them?

Do I think they care what happens to me?

Is there a “pecking order” of obligations, starting with family and only reaching those not in my “circle” when—“oops!”-- my funds and compassion are depleted?

Has God ever put someone in my path whom I would prefer to avoid?

When has loving someone else been inconvenient, costly, or difficult?

Were my efforts appreciated?

What are my expectations when I go out of my way to help someone else?

What happens when these expectations are not met?

How do I define mercy

To whom do I own mercy?

After praying with this parable, do I see that there are any changes in my schedule or financial priorities that I need to make?

Specifically, where do the poor and the marginalized fit in?

How am I like the injured man?

Am I willing to admit that I need help?

Has Jesus been a source of that help for me?

Has another, maybe even someone I do not know or admire, been a source of that help to me?

What does : moved with pity” say to me?

Have I ever been ‘moved with pity “ for someone and did it affect my behavior towards that person?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style: Asking Questions:

Father Patrick LaBelle, O.P. our first Dominican Campus Mininstry Chaplain, loved to preach on this parable. He said that the main lesson from this parable is that a lot of us, when faced with a need that is inconvenient, costly, or even dangerous, ask themselves the WRONG question. Our first question is very likely to be: “What will happen to me if I help this person?”. Father Patrick suggested that the question the Samaritan asked himself was the one we need to make our question: ”What will happen to this person or this situation if I do NOT intervene?” That is a difficult question to be asking ourselves sometimes and one we often fail to ask because the answer is not one we want to consider. Have you ever been in a situation where you were faced with someone else’s crisis and need to respond? What was your first question? Why is it sometimes a difficult thing to ask what might happen to this person if I do not help?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Set this scene in today’s Gaza. Who is the sick or wounded person needing your help? Imagine the situation more fully. Where is this person? where are you? What else is going on? Is it night or day? What kind of help might this person need? Who would be the equivalent of the priest in this story? The Levite ( someone charged with caring for holy places or perhaps places sacred to one group or another) Why do you think they pass this person by? Noe it is your turn. What if this person is a decoy and the whole situation is a trap? Is this person from a group you have been known to fear? What, exactly do you think is wrong with him? How might you be able to help? What if it is a woman in a culture tht has strict rules about touching someone you are not married to? What can you do? What will you do? What do you think Jesus asks you to do?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

This parable makes us realize that loving our neighbor is not optional. We are called to be neighbor to anyone who needs our help, whether they deserve it or not. Whether they were born here or not. Whether we admire them or not. Whether they are grateful or not. Almost all of Jesus' actions of healing were responses to need, not rewards for good behavior

When another has need, Jesus teaches, then we are neighbors.

Jesus' command is very clear: "Go and do likewise".

This is the bottom line of this gospel.

We can't let ourselves off the hook.

You and I are to go and do likewise.

You and I are to go and do likewise

Go, and do likewise!

Poetic Reflection:

IN THE EVENING WE SHALL BE EXAMINED ON LOVE

-St. John Of the Cross

And it won't be multiple choice,

though some of us would prefer it that way.

Neither will it be essay, which tempts us to run on

when we should be sticking to the point, if not together.

In the evening there shall be implications

our fear will turn to complications. No cheating,

we'll be told and we'll try to figure the cost of being true

to ourselves. In the evening when the sky has turned

that certain blue, blue of exam books, blue of no more

daily evasions, we shall climb the hill as the light empties

and park our tired bodies on a bench above the city

and try to fill in the blanks. And we won't be tested

like defendants on trial, cross-examined

till one of us breaks down, guilty as charged. No,

in the evening, after the day has refused to testify,

we shall be examined on love like students

who don't even recall signing up for the course

and now must take their orals, forced to speak for once

from the heart and not off the top of their heads.

And when the evening is over and it's late,

the student body asleep, even the great teachers

retired for the night, we shall stay up

and run back over the questions, each in our own way:

what's true, what's false, what unknown quantity

will balance the equation, what it would mean years from now

to look back and know

we did not fail.

from Lights & Mysteries, by Thomas Centollela

Closing Prayer

Jesus, you have shown us how to live and how to love. Why do we sometimes find it so hard? Open our hearts, strengthen our resolve and give us your mercy. Accompany us on our journey ….

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 6, 2025

What might a call from Jesus to go out and preach the gospel look like?

Luke 10: 1–12, 17–20

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
'The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.'
Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town."

The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Music Meditations

• The Summons
• Here I am, Lord
• Lead Me, Guide Me
• Servant Song

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God:

Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

From Sacred Space:

Jesus, you came as one bringing peace, and told us to greet people with a word of peace, not hostility, or judgment. May your blessing flow through me, so that when I leave people, they may feel approved of, contented and tranquil

Companions for the Journey

From Living Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits

In addition to the inner circle of the Twelve, we are told today that he appointed another 72 (12×6) and sent them two by two to the places he himself would be visiting (note that only Luke mentions this group). That is a good description of our Christian role. We are supposed to go first to prepare the ground, but then it is Jesus himself who comes to plant the seed of faith.

Jesus then goes on to give an instruction to his disciples. We, too, should be listening to his words.

First, he points out that the harvest is great and there are very few laborers—few who are willing to do the harvesting work with Jesus.

This is a text which is often thrown at us during “vocation” campaigns. We tend to hear it as a call for more priests, brothers and nuns. It is that, of course, but when Jesus spoke there were no priests, brothers or nuns. The challenge was being thrown out to all his followers to find more people to join in the harvesting work.

We have to be careful as we listen to these words not to exclude ourselves because we are middle-aged, or married, or already have a career. The words are addressed to all of us and call for some kind of response from every one of us. It is never too late to respond to the call.

Second, Jesus warns his followers that it may not be easy. “I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.”

In spite of the message of truth, love, compassion and justice that we bring, it does not mean that we will be received with open arms. On the contrary, we may meet with strong opposition and even persecution. Our message will be seen as threatening. It will be distorted and misunderstood.

Third, the disciples are called on to travel light. Jesus himself “had nowhere to lay his head” and he only had the clothes he wore. 

So many of us are weighed down by the things we own. Some of us have to protect our property with the latest in security devices. In our search for prosperity and material security we have lost the more precious gift of freedom. The disciples are not to stop to greet people in the sense of carrying on lengthy conversations. Their mission was urgent—there are few laborers for a potentially huge harvest.

Fourth, they are to be bearers of peace. Peace, shalom, is much more than an absence of violence. It is a deep inner harmony with oneself, with others, with one’s environment, with God:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)

We could hardly bring a more precious gift to others than this inner peace. It is, in fact, the heart of our Christian message. Faith, hope and love are the keys to peace.

Fifth, the evangelizer is to stay in the first house that accepts him. He should not be going around looking for better accommodation. At the same time, he is to be provided with shelter and hospitality:

…for the laborer deserves to be paid.

This, it seems, was the way Jesus himself lived. And this was the overall ideal of the Christian community: a network of mutually supporting people sharing their resources with each other and with those in greater need than themselves.

Sixth, their work is primarily to heal the sick in the places they go to. ‘Healing’ should be taken in a wider sense of including body, feelings, mind and spirit. And ‘healing’ should also be seen not just as getting rid of a sickness, but of making a person whole again. Bringing healing and wholeness into the lives of individuals and communities is of the essence of the Kingdom and at the heart of Jesus’ work and that of his followers. The sign of that wholeness is inner peace. Today it is no different.

And they are to say:

…the kingdom of God has come near.

This is not just a statement they are to throw out. It is the core of Jesus’ message and an explanation of why people are experiencing healing and wholeness coming into their lives. This is the effect of the coming of the Kingdom; this is what the coming of the Kingdom means. God’s power is penetrating their lives, transforming them and making them whole again.

Luke mentions the kingdom of God more than 30 times; Matthew more than 50 times. Matthew’s is truly a Gospel of the Kingdom.

The term can have a number of meanings:

• the eternal Kingship (basileia) of God;
• the presence of the Kingdom in the person of Jesus; he is the embodiment, the incarnation of the rule of God in himself, an incarnation he wishes to be found in his disciples and the communities they establish;
• the future Kingdom in the life that is to come.

In short, the Kingdom—the rule of God—is intended to be both a present reality as well as a future hope.

And finally, seventh, if there is any place where they are not received, the disciples are to leave it to its own fate. Even then those people are to know that the Kingdom of God is near to them also. There is always the hope that the results of their very rejection of the Kingdom will lead to a deeper awareness later on. By rejecting the messengers of God, they have opened themselves to a fate worse than that of Sodom, a city utterly destroyed because of its shameful lack of hospitality to divine visitors. But those hearing the message of Jesus are even more accountable for hearing the message of the Kingdom proclaimed to them and turning their back on it.

Clearly, we cannot literally apply all of these points to our own work on behalf of the Gospel, but we need to make the underlying principles and values ours too. It will require some reflection on our part, both as individuals and as communities, on how we should effectively share the Gospel with those around us and be the harvesters that are so badly needed. Indeed, let us pray for vocations, but let us remember that every single one of us is being called to work in the harvest field and not just some chosen souls who are totally unknown to us.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Do I think of only ordained or consecrated individuals as the legitimate preachers of the gospel?
  What, exactly IS my role in spreading the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom?
  Do I understand that I have a role and a mission?
  Am I uncomfortable with that idea?
  Why?
• What might be the rewards of accepting this commission?
  What might be the costs of accepting this commission?
• What are some particular venues in which I might actually be a missionary of Jesus?
  What are some particular strengths or talents I possess that can be used to help others, heal others?
• What if I encounter resistance or downright hostility?
  What did Jesus tell the 72 to do?
• As I travel through life, am I burdened with the weight of all the “stuff” I am carrying?
  What material goods can I divest myself of?
  What resentments can I let go of?
  What guilt can I entrust to God?
• What, to me, is the difference between “curing” and “healing”?
• Am I ready to go wherever God sends me, even if I do not know the outcome?
• What “baggage” would I have to leave behind to be a disciple of Jesus?
• What intimidates me about the task of spreading the good news of the gospel?
• Are there any lines in the gospel which give me courage for the task of being disciple?
• Are there any people in my life right now who are actively living out their call?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/ Imagination:

Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20 Place yourself in the events of this gospel, and imagine that you are one of the ones Jesus is sending on a mission. How do you imagine yourself in that crowd of 72? What does Jesus look like as he speaks to yo?. Does he address you personally and look directly at you? How do you feel as he tells you of the importance of this mission? How do you feel when he send you are going to be sent as lambs among wolves? How do the others seem to react? Which of his directives make absolute sense to you? And which give you pause? How does it feel to know that you will be empowered to cure the sick? How does it feel when He hints that you might not be welcome everywhere? Stay with these feelings for a few minutes, imagining the reactions of others around you, the location where this is taking place, the sounds, smells, and concrete reality of the situation. Now project this scene into your own time and your own personal situation. What are you being asked to do in the here and now? What are your challenges? Think of one way that you can be a “missionary for Christ”, and get out there and get started!

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

There is an article in America Magazine on June 27 which chronicles the story of the Catholic sister who brought faith an social justice to New York’s airwaves for over 50 years. As a woman religious among male clerics of other faiths, she had to fight to get the job, but eventually were over three million listeners a week. Three times a day on Sunday, for the last 52 years, Sister Camille Arienzo, RSM, in her Queens-accented voice, offered stories of inspiration and challenged listeners to think about the moral questions surrounding them. This was on the local news station WINS 1010. She questioned the arrest of undocumented immigrants, reported on the murder of clerics in Central America, spoke out about genocide in Rwanda, among other more ordinary moral issues. She was against nuclear proliferation, for peace and forgiveness, for welcoming LGBTQ people into the church. She spoke her mind. Because of her public resistance to the Church’s refusal to consider allowing women in the priesthood, she had to declare that she did not speak officially for the Diocese of Brooklyn, but spoke simply as a Catholic sister. Finally retiring at 92, she has been the longest continuous voice on WINS 1010 in its history. An unlikely missionary in the modern world, but a missionary nonetheless, she follows in the footsteps of those first 72…. Make no mistake, we each are invited to be missionaries bringing the Good News of the Kingdom to the world around us. Each person’s calling is unique and comes with its successes and its pitfalls. What have I been called to do? What have I been called to be? Has my mission changed over the years? Am I an active spokesperson for Jesus and His message? Do I live what I preach? Am I willing to be one of the 72?

Poetic Reflection:

Read the following poem from former Stegner Fellow Thomas Centollela, calling us to an active ministry of love. Resolve to pick one thing you can start to do this week that reaches out to others and brings the love and message of Jesus to them. Take the risk:

“At Big Rec”

A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying.
Then the walk home, and the sudden rain
comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
you want it hitting you in the forehead
like anointment, blessing all the days
that otherwise would be dismissed
as business as usual. Now you’re ready
to lean on the rail above the empty diamonds
where, in summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
for one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
that unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man for a while,
tap along with his cane past the market stalls
and take in, as if they were abandoned,
the little blue crabs which within an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
all the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

Closing Prayer

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

—Thomas Merton