26th Sunday - C (September 25, 2022)

 

Do I Raise My Eyes and See?

Luke 16: 19-31

 

In this parable, the first time Jesus describes the rich man “raised his eyes and saw” is after he has already died.  Now he sees Lazarus, whom he recognizes and knows by name, “at Abraham’s side.” 

 

Prior to this, there was no indication of the rich man ever “raised his eyes and saw” Lazarus suffering “at his door.”  Was it because he was so caught up with his “purple garments and his daily sumptuous dinners”?

 

We can all be caught up with our own lives and fail to raise our eyes and see our brothers and sisters around us, particularly those who are suffering.

 

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26th Sunday - B (September 26, 2021)

 

“An Ever Wider We”

Mark 9: 38-48

 

John and his fellow disciples “tried to prevent” a person who was “driving out demons in [Jesus’] name” because the person “does not follow us.”  In other words, this person is an outsider.

 

Curiously, twenty verses early in this same Chapter 9, the disciples could not drive out one mute spirit.

 

Do we allow jealousy prevent us and others from doing good, even when the good is done in Jesus’ name?

 

This year, this Gospel happens to be the Gospel on the annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees.  In his message for this day, Pope Francis invites all believers and people of good will to work “towards an ever wider we” for all people.  He invites us to pray, “Bless each act of welcome and outreach that draws those in exile into the “we” of community and of the Church,
so that our earth may truly become what you yourself created it to be: the common home of all our brothers and sisters. Amen.”

 

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26th Sunday - A (September 27, 2020)

 

The Son Who Does the Father’s Will

Matthew 21: 28-32

 

Today’s Gospel passage comes from Chapter 21 of the Gospel According to Matthew.

The chapter began with Jesus entering Jerusalem.  Prior to this passage, Jesus had purified the Temple by chasing out the vendors and money changers.

 

The plot is thickening leading to his arrest, unjust trial, and crucifixion. 

 

Jesus is the son who “does the Father’s will” to the point of death.  This is also the emphasis of the 2^nd reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians. 

 

Thanks to Jesus who does the Father’s will, sinners who believe in him may now enter the kingdom of God.

 

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26th Sunday - C (September 29, 2019)

Indifference

Luke 16: 19-31

The rich man does not send his servants to chase Lazarus away from his door.  He does not harass or beat up Lazarus.  He even knows Lazarus’ name.

But he seems so into his fancy clothes and his exotic banquets that he becomes indifferent to Lazarus and his sufferings.

What keeps me from seeing the people around me and what’s going on in their lives?  

Image source:   Fyodor Bronnikov, 
"Lazarus at the rich man's gate," 1886 

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26th Sunday - B (September 30, 2018)

Small

Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

The word small is one of the themes of today’s Gospel. 

Be small.   Thinking of themselves as important, the disciples tried to stop a person who was driving out demons.  The man did so in Jesus’ name, but the disciples said, “he does not follow us.”

Care for the little ones, Jesus tells us.

And even a cup of water is enough.  Small things.

St. Therese, the Little Flower, whose feast day is tomorrow lived the spirit of Jesus’ Gospel well.  She did small things with great love. 

 Image source:  Diocese of Westminster Youth Ministry, http://dowym.com

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26th Sunday - A (October 1, 2017)

Matthew 21: 28 – 32

Commentary

“Son”

Last week’s parable was the story of some laborers hired by the landowner to work in his vineyard.  This week, the landowner asks his own sons to go to his vineyard.

In the 2^nd reading for this Sunday, St. Paul reminds us of the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ who “emptied himself,” became one with us, and by his death of the cross, made us children of God.

Do we see ourselves as hired laborers or God’s children who God offers a share of the Kingdom?

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26th Sunday - C

Commentary

Luke 16: 19-31

Dining Sumptuously

The rich man “dines sumptuously each day.”  Think Thanksgiving (or Lunar New Year for those of Oriental background - Tết cho người Việt).  Imagine dining like that every day.

What if the parable is about each one of us – those who God graces with the feast of the Eucharist?  Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we dine sumptuously at the banquet of heaven.  And it is God’s only Son who serves us his own Body and Blood. 

Let us not take for granted the sumptuous gift of God’s love. 

Let us not fail to share the gift of God’s love – Jesus in the flesh – with the Lazarus at our door.    

26th Sunday - C (September 25, 2016)

Readings

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26th Sunday - B

Commentary

Mark 9: 38-48

In or Out

The disciples focus on separation, and distinguish who’s in and who’s out.  Their criteria is self-centered, “He does not follow us.”  One also wonders if the disciples are jealous or embarrassed.  A few verses prior to this incident, they were “unable” to drive out a demon in a boy (v. 18).  Yet, they then “were discussing among themselves who was the greatest” (v. 34, last week’s Gospel).

Jesus is about the universality of God’s Kingdom.  There are rooms for those “who do mighty deeds in [his] name” as well as “the little ones.”   In fact, he safeguards the little ones.  And he rewards those who offer the smallest gesture of kindness to those who belongs to him.   

What small gesture can I offer to invite and welcome people into God’s Family?

26th Sunday - B (September 27, 2015)

Readings

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Commentary

Matthew 21: 28-32

Freedom and True Love

The father, a figure of absolute authority in an ancient culture, only asks his sons to go and work in the vineyard.  He does not force them.

God gives us free will, and God allows us to freely choose how we would respond to God’s love. 

The father does not check on the son who said “yes,” to see if he keeps his words.

We know we do not always deserve the trust and respect God puts in us.  But God stills respect the freedom that God has given us. 

There, God does not impose on us God’s love with a kind of force obligation.   Rather, God offers us a constant invitation to grow in true love.

Lastly, we have Jesus, who is the exemplary Son of the Father.  By this time in Matthew’s narrative, Jesus has entered Jerusalem.  There, he would soon offer the supreme act of obedience and love to the Father: he freely chose to do the Father’s will by accepting the cross.  His whole life, in attitudes, words and action, is an act of love.

26th Sunday - A (September 28, 2014)

Readings

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26th Sunday - C

Commentary

Luke 16: 19-31

The Friend “Lying at the Door”

Last week, Jesus told us to “make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (16: 9)

Today’s Gospel parable is also taken from the same Chapter 16 in Luke, separated from that command by 10 verses, with Jesus’ brief teachings on some other topics.

Unfortunately, the rich man in today’s parable fails to make friends with his earthly wealth. 

The opportunity was there.  Lazarus was found “lying at his door.”  He even knows Lazarus by name.  For sure he knew the man because now, though being separated from Lazarus by that “great chasm,” he could still recognize Lazarus. 

Yet, he did nothing! 

The parable is quite clear on who we should make friends with.

26th Sunday - C (September 29, 2013)

Readings

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