26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C - September 29, 2013

Ignoring the Poor

Many people profess faith, but conduct their daily lives as if the Almighty Dollar was the only thing that mattered. Some preachers encourage that view: “Jesus came to save you from sin and give you the goodies of life.” Some public figures go so far as to condemn any notion of social justice: “I've got mine, too bad for you; God wants you to go get your own.” Ignoring the poor, whether out of the blindness that comes from greed or from some ideological dogma about self-reliance, does not address the problem of poverty or the need for Christians to reach out to the needy.

STUDIES FOR THE 25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

READINGS FOR THE 25TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

WEEKLY BLOG Are wee the rich man in the parable?

MP3 PODCAST In this week's audio podcast, we investigate the lack we sometimes experience. That lack could be simply be the blindness that comes from selfish pride, and attitude of “me and only me.”

FIRST READING The prophet Amos railed against the arrogance of the comfortable. He defended the poor and those cheated by the arrogant.

PSALM Psalm 146 presented YHWH as the eternal who acted in the temporal, the distant God who participated in my world. Such is his power, such is his love for us.

SECOND READING The author of 1 Timothy melted the social and spiritual aspects of Christianity together. Effective evangelization required both faith and charity.

GOSPEL In Luke 16, Jesus told his followers the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Like many parables in Luke, Jesus turned the popular images of status upside down. In the popular mind, the rich were blessed, while the destitute were evidence of God's displeasure. Yet, the poor Lazarus was the saved and the selfish rich man was damned because of his disdain for those beneath him.

CHILDREN'S READINGS In the story for the first reading, selfish, screaming Nancy got her way until her family had enough of her antics. Would people trust a chastised Nancy? Would the rich chastised by Amos really change? In the story for the gospel, we meet three good friends. One of those good friends was “different.” Could that friend be trusted, just like poor Lazarus from the gospel?

CATECHISM LINK In this week's Catechism Link, we explore the notions of sin and virtue.

FAMILY ACTIVITY In this week's parable, Jesus implied that charity begins with awareness. We need to open our eyes to the poor, so we can act for the poor. Increase that awareness with “The Poor Among Us” box, a place where family members can place notes describing the poor they see during the week.

Upcoming Studies

September 22: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Daily Reading: 25th Week in Ordinary Time

September 29: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Daily Reading: 26th Week in Ordinary Time