Scripture Reflections for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year B, Lectionary 155
As representatives of God, there may come a time where we will need to ask the assistance and cooperation of another believer. We can be like Elijah and offer God's blessings or we can be like the scribes and exploit others for our own benefit. We can choose to take advantage of the faithful 'widows' in our lives or we can choose to help them out of their troubles. Let us remember, though, that Jesus is observing us and will pass judgment on us.
Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: Anger • Ascension • Burden • Church • Community • Corruption • Disciple • Division • Drought • Elijah • Essential • Eucharist • Evil • Exclusion • Exploit • Faith • Forgive • Generosity • Gift • Give • Grace • Heaven • Hope • Hospitality • Institution • Judgment • Love • Marginalized • Mass • Mercy • Moses • Offering • Pharisee • Poverty • Priest • Relationship • Respond • Sacrament • Sacrifice • Scribe • Sin • Suffering • Support • Temple • Trust • Wealth • Widow • Women •
“what the Ascension does, the mystery of the Ascension does, is it reveals how Jesus takes the earthly sacrifice of Calvary into eternity”
“So just as Jesus fulfills the Passover Sacrifice on Earth at the time of the Passover through his words and actions at the Last Supper and then his death on the cross, he also fulfills the Jewish day of Atonement, not on Earth, but in Heaven”
“So the idea here is that the earthly Temple is a kind of visible outward sign of the invisible heavenly reality of the sanctuary of God. We have a term for that, an outward sign of an invisible supernatural reality, yeah, it's a sacrament.”
“as human beings...we do not have what it takes to judge for we see only very little but God sees the whole picture”
“Keep your heart open, keep your mind open, keep your eyes open because grace is being made manifest here. Faith is taking hold, it is being grounded in her simple action, in her very profound action but when a heart is closed off, we can't see that.”
“we could ask the question who in the congregation has contributed the most in the collection plate...Jesus would probably answer the question differently than you and I...Jesus measures by how much is held back, how much we've held back”
“So Jesus, in other words, is trying to teach us, trying to teach the disciples, about what offerings to God, what a true offering to God is. It’s the one where we give everything.”
“come to Christ, be converted in your heart because that's where the Holy Spirit, that's where God has this intimate relationship with you, in your heart, in your faith and that's what changes you”
“It is a strange and a lovely thing that the person whom the New Testament and Jesus hand down to history as a pattern of generosity was a person who gave a gift of two small coins, just a few cents”
“God's enduring love secures justice for the oppressed and God's people, especially God's Church, must reform systems that continue to discard the poor and favor the wealthy”
“God is on the side of the oppressed because they are in need of God's protection”
“That's what faith is about. How do we bring light and direction and healing in our life when all we see and experience is darkness.”
“A disciple does not lift themselves up, puff them up, but the disciple of the Lord lays down in the dust and waits for the Lord to lift them up because when the Lord lifts you up, you will truly be lifted up”
“when we forgive it is like setting a prisoner free and later realizing that we ourselves are the prisoner”
“In the midst of deep tiredness as parents of five young kids, we have felt God giving us what we've needed every single day. Giving up safety baskets allowed us to experience God's miraculous abundant provision. What extra baskets do you have?”
“How are we allowing our titles, honor, ego and a reputation to get in the way of being present to others? What needs to happen in our lives to be more attentive to the widows of the world?”
“Church is not supposed to be about the in-crowd. Church is supposed to be about communion and community. Church is supposed to be about relationship, among us and with God.”
