Tuesday, August 23, 2022

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are:
  1. Sirach 3: 17-18, 20, 28-29
  2. Psalms 68: 4-5, 6-7, 10-11
  3. Hebrews 12: 18-19, 22-24a
  4. Luke 14: 7-14
  • Getting involved in your giving
    • We all know that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9).  Does God also cherish an involved giver?
    • Think about the giving that you do.  How are you involved?  Do you have an automatic withdrawal, you have to write a check regularly, you go to the charity of your choice and volunteer time, you serve on their board of directors, ...?
    • Does it matter how you are involved, as long as the needy people get their needs met?
    • Why is it that you give?
    • Has that giving changed you at all?
    • Is it more than just a noble habit?
            • God helps those who help themselves
              • None of us likes to see someone take advantage of other's generosity.  The person who is permanently short of funds, always looking for a handout, never able to make good on their commitments, ... would appear irresponsible, even lazy, and hence not deserving of generosity.
              • How would you separate the deserving needy from the undeserving needy?
              • What should we do with/for the undeserving needy?
              • If God loves a cheerful giver, does it matter whether the giver is generous towards someone who is deserving or not?
              • Awesome God
                • We all agree that God is awesome.  So what?
                • What are some things/memories/people/events in your life that are truly awesome?
                • What made/makes them awesome?
                • Do any of those criteria apply to our God?
                • What awesome thing has God done for you /to you lately?
              • Heavenly rank
                • In many contexts, we know where we stand.  Where I work the deans have department chairs reporting to them, the department chairs have faculty reporting to them, the researchers among the faculty have graduate assistants reporting to them.  Everyone knows their place by means of well-established criteria.
                • In the kingdom of heaven, things are a little harder.  What makes for greatness in the Kingdom of God?
                • Is it our place to aspire to such greatness?
                • Where does humility factor into those aspirations?
              • Preparation for Reconciliation
                1. Where might God be calling me to let my giving transform me?
                2. Where might God be calling me to be generous to those that I have little in common with?
                3. What does God's awesomeness tell me about God?  About me?
                4. Where might God be calling me to awesomeness of my own?

                 Shalom!

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