Scripture Reflections for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C, Lectionary 117


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: AbrahamAcceptAlmsgivingAnticipationArtAwakeAwarenessCommunicateCommunityConfidenceCourageDeathDivisionExodusFaithFearGiftGraceGratefulHappinessHeavenHistoryHopeJourneyJoyJudgmentKingdomLiberationLightLoveMercyMissionPeacePowerPrayerPreparePriorityPromisePurgatoryReasonRiskSacrificeSalvationServantServeShareSlaveStewardSufferingTrustUrgencyVigilantWealthWedding

Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-22
Luke 12:32-48

“when you give alms to a poor person don't just see it as like an act of benevolence on your part. See it as a liturgical act. Recognize in the poor the mystical body of Jesus Christ”

"Almsgiving and Atonement for Sin" | Brant Pitre |

“Jesus here uses both these parables, 'The Master's Return from the Wedding' and 'The Thief in the Night', to talk about the importance of being ready for the coming of the Son of Man but also the fact that you don't know exactly when he's going to come.”

"Purgatory in the Bible" | Brant Pitre |

“the Kingdom of Heaven isn't just, you know, eternal life. It's an everlasting wedding feast where the divine bridegroom is united to his bride.”

"The Second Coming and the Return of the Master" | Brant Pitre |

“there is nothing that God has given to us that he expects us to keep to ourselves but rather to share with others”

Fr. Emmanuel Ochigbo |

“to live mindfully, attentively and wakefully isn't just being vigilant to what's happening out there, we must also be vigilant to what is happening within”

"Have your lamps lit" | Fr. Geoffrey Plant |

“So you must ask yourself, 'how shall I prepare for the end? Shall I trust, shall I trust that God himself will feed me? That God himself will care for me?' And therefore I can feel safe to distribute for others all of the goods that I've been entrusted to.”

Fr. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ |
Overall Readings

“What are we willing to give up in faith to get us where God is calling us?”

Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP |

“I want somebody to know when I left that church this morning I'm better than when I came in because somebody said to me, 'don't you lose your joy'”

"Is it better or worse?" | Fr. Stephen Thorne |

“we can't just be waiting for this final grand intervention of God into life and then that will be the kingdom...we are to work to bring the kingdom...somehow there has to be a response to our awareness of the divine love for us”

GatherClip | "Journeying to God by Faith" | Sr. Joanne |

“We all have a part to play in this journey of faith, in this journey of believing in something greater than self. The process is laid out in the readings today. We're called to be a light to others and to use the gifts we have been given. We're called to allow others to be the light for us too.”

Jackie Minnock |

“many are getting by, day by day, while unbeknownst to them a great deal of suffering is occurring right beneath our eyes”

Michelle Pérez |

“that's why we work for the lifting up and the protection of all life from conception to natural death. And in that mission Jesus wants everybody to be saved...Do you really believe Jesus wants everybody to be saved? It's called the Universal Salvific Will.”

Monsignor Raymond East |

“Some folks will hear this, this Gospel passage and say, ‘well, Jesus is saying get ready for when it's time to go home.’ Uh, no. He's saying, ‘recognize the home that your Father has placed you in now and show how you can live as those grateful children of the most high God.’”

Fr. Oscar Pratt |