Readings for Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Gn 18:20-32
While the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is not specifically known (the account from Genesis says homosexuality, Isaiah lack of social justice, Ezekiel disregard for the poor, and Jeremiah general immorality) we find Moses interceding for the innocent who reside in those cities. The Lord agrees to spare them if there are 10 innocent people from those towns.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Psalm 138 is a song of praise. In this selection we find an individual hymn thanking God for salvation.
Reading II Col 2:12-14
St. Paul refers to the “death of baptism”. He is referring to the process where the baptized die to their sins and rise as a new creation. Paul also talks about “… obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims” this is a reference to breaking or transgressing against Mosaic Law and the proscribed punishments for such violations.
Gospel Lk 11:1-13
The focus of this passage from the Gospel of Luke is prayer. First we are given the Lord’s Prayer from Luke’s Gospel which differs somewhat from the same prayer offered in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6:9-15). We are taken further in this case to be reminded that God answers prayers. He does this, first as a parable, and then in a litany of assurances.
Reflection:
The readings today speak of the efficacy of prayer and our call to be a people of prayer. This call starts as we hear in St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, with our baptism in Christ and the resulting death to sin, rebirth to innocence in the Holy Spirit and the grace provided in that resurrection. As a new creation, Christ tells us in the Gospel of St. Luke, we are called to be people of prayer.
Do we ask, “Lord teach us to pray? “ No, because that question is already answered. In scripture today it is answered three times! First, we hear Moses in what is perhaps one of the first intercessory prayers as he talks to God’s messengers who are sent to investigate the prayerful cries against Sodom and Gomorrah. He pleads with God to spare the innocent and his prayers are answered. (Note – his prayer is not answered in the way he thought it would be. Moses thought that if there were innocent people in those cities the Lord would spare the city. Instead he told Lott and his family to leave and destroyed the cities none the less.)
The second prayer form scripture gives us today is song. Psalm 138 given for us today is a beautiful example of how we praise God in song. For those in Holy Orders and in vowed religious life, the Psalms are sung (said) at least twice a day in the prayer of the Church – the Liturgy of the Hours. This prayer form offers up in a very real way the words of our ancestors echoed through all the ages of the Church, a song of praise and thanksgiving constantly floating up to our Heavenly Father as each successive region takes up the chant.
Finally, in the Gospel, the Lord offers us the Lord’s Prayer. We note it starts with a blessing of praise to the Father – Holy is His Name. We pray that the Kingdom of God might come to us here on earth so we may live in the purity and joy of the Heavenly Kingdom. We then ask God for our needs, both spiritual and physical as we reference bread for our bodies and bread for our souls in the Eucharist. Finally we ask for forgiveness and the strength to forgive others as Christ has done and we pray most fervently that we not be required to face the same test as our savior.
This compact prayer that we utter most frequently (and in many cases without thinking) is the template upon which the Lord tells us to speak with God. Most important in the Gospel passage is the assurance from God’s only Son that our prayers will be answered. That promise is our great hope and the hope of all the faithful. Today, may our prayers rise up to God and his grace flow back to us. As a people of prayer may we always have faith in the gentile Father who hears our call and answers.
Pax
[1] After Links to the Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is “Decent Toward Sodom” by Marc Chagall, 1931-39
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Gn 18:20-32
While the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is not specifically known (the account from Genesis says homosexuality, Isaiah lack of social justice, Ezekiel disregard for the poor, and Jeremiah general immorality) we find Moses interceding for the innocent who reside in those cities. The Lord agrees to spare them if there are 10 innocent people from those towns.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Psalm 138 is a song of praise. In this selection we find an individual hymn thanking God for salvation.
Reading II Col 2:12-14
St. Paul refers to the “death of baptism”. He is referring to the process where the baptized die to their sins and rise as a new creation. Paul also talks about “… obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims” this is a reference to breaking or transgressing against Mosaic Law and the proscribed punishments for such violations.
Gospel Lk 11:1-13
The focus of this passage from the Gospel of Luke is prayer. First we are given the Lord’s Prayer from Luke’s Gospel which differs somewhat from the same prayer offered in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6:9-15). We are taken further in this case to be reminded that God answers prayers. He does this, first as a parable, and then in a litany of assurances.
Reflection:
The readings today speak of the efficacy of prayer and our call to be a people of prayer. This call starts as we hear in St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, with our baptism in Christ and the resulting death to sin, rebirth to innocence in the Holy Spirit and the grace provided in that resurrection. As a new creation, Christ tells us in the Gospel of St. Luke, we are called to be people of prayer.
Do we ask, “Lord teach us to pray? “ No, because that question is already answered. In scripture today it is answered three times! First, we hear Moses in what is perhaps one of the first intercessory prayers as he talks to God’s messengers who are sent to investigate the prayerful cries against Sodom and Gomorrah. He pleads with God to spare the innocent and his prayers are answered. (Note – his prayer is not answered in the way he thought it would be. Moses thought that if there were innocent people in those cities the Lord would spare the city. Instead he told Lott and his family to leave and destroyed the cities none the less.)
The second prayer form scripture gives us today is song. Psalm 138 given for us today is a beautiful example of how we praise God in song. For those in Holy Orders and in vowed religious life, the Psalms are sung (said) at least twice a day in the prayer of the Church – the Liturgy of the Hours. This prayer form offers up in a very real way the words of our ancestors echoed through all the ages of the Church, a song of praise and thanksgiving constantly floating up to our Heavenly Father as each successive region takes up the chant.
Finally, in the Gospel, the Lord offers us the Lord’s Prayer. We note it starts with a blessing of praise to the Father – Holy is His Name. We pray that the Kingdom of God might come to us here on earth so we may live in the purity and joy of the Heavenly Kingdom. We then ask God for our needs, both spiritual and physical as we reference bread for our bodies and bread for our souls in the Eucharist. Finally we ask for forgiveness and the strength to forgive others as Christ has done and we pray most fervently that we not be required to face the same test as our savior.
This compact prayer that we utter most frequently (and in many cases without thinking) is the template upon which the Lord tells us to speak with God. Most important in the Gospel passage is the assurance from God’s only Son that our prayers will be answered. That promise is our great hope and the hope of all the faithful. Today, may our prayers rise up to God and his grace flow back to us. As a people of prayer may we always have faith in the gentile Father who hears our call and answers.
Pax
[1] After Links to the Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is “Decent Toward Sodom” by Marc Chagall, 1931-39
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