Reflecting On Sunday’s Readings
June—2016
The following series is free, downloadable small-group materials based on each week’s Mass readings and taking into account the seasons of the liturgical year. Each study provides an introductory reflection on some aspect of the readings or on personal spirituality. Each of the readings is provided along with a few questions designed to engage the heart and stimulate the group’s discussion. These small-group materials will be provided on a continuing basis in monthly segments.
We would suggest the following 60-to-90 minute format for the small group:
1. Open with a moment of quiet reflection and prayer.
2. Discuss the introductory reflection with a question or comment like, “What do you feel is important for us to grasp in this introduction?” or “What stood out to you from these opening paragraphs?” As the facilitator of the discussion be ready to share one or two things which were important to you from the introduction.
3. Have someone read the First Reading and ask several people to share their answers to the reflection questions. Effective group-dynamic techniques should be used to further stimulate the discussion and affirm the participation.
4. The Responsorial Psalm provides a reflective transition from the First Reading to the Gospel Reading, so have the Psalm read aloud. You may do this without additional comment, or you may want to draw their attention to something you feel is pertinent.
5. You can either read this week’s Second Reading next and ask several people to share their answers to the reflection questions, or cover the Second Reading after you cover the Gospel Reading. The Second Reading does not always have a clear connection to the other Sunday Mass readings, so do not feel like you need to force a connection. However, you can provide an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to draw a connection by asking, “How do you see this passage tying into the theme of the readings?”
6. Move on to the Gospel Reading, repeating the process by asking several people to share their answers to the reflection questions.
7. Approximately equal time for discussion should be given to each of the sections: Introduction, First Reading, Gospel Reading, and the Second Reading. Obviously, if one section is especially stimulating, you should give some additional time to discussing it.
8. Close the discussion with group prayer, using various prayer formats.
We trust that God will use these materials to make His Word more meaningful to you, both within the small group environment and during Mass as you hear the Scripture is read and taught. We would appreciate knowing if you are using the Reflecting on Sunday’s Readings, and would welcome your feedback, either through the Emmaus Journey web page form, or by direct e-mail.
Sincerely in Christ,
Richard A. Cleveland
Reflecting On Sunday’s Readings
TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—June 5, 2016
Introduction: This Sunday’s readings all speak of raising someone from the dead. In the First Reading Elijah by the power of God raises the son of the widow of Zarephath from the dead, and in the Gospel Reading Jesus, demonstrating his own power, raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead. Paul’s testimony in the Second Reading, though different is similar, inasmuch as Saul was spiritually raised from a deadening legalism to new life wherein he was also given a new name; Paul.
Each passage reveals a God who is merciful and all powerful. God is merciful inasmuch as he hears our every prayer, both the expressed and unexpressed groaning’s of our heart. And though we do not know how God will respond to our expressed and felt prayers these passages demonstrate that he is all powerful and able to do the miraculous on our behalf, able to raise the dead both physically and spiritually.
God is not put-off by our groaning’s, not does he ignore them because we are not able to articulate to him either the problem or the solution to our feelings of desperation. In fact he has provided a remedy for this inability which is explained in Romans 8; “…When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. … For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” So in our desperate times we can groan to God in hope—but as the psalmist reminds us in the second reading we also must remember to sing praises to the Lord, … and give thanks for his favor is for a lifetime, and from our mourning will come joy.
Commenting on Romans 8 Pope Benedict XVI explained, “Prayer does not exempt us from trial and suffering; indeed—Saint Paul says—we ‘groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ (Rom 8:23). He says that prayer does not exempt us from suffering, but prayer does permit us to live through it with a new strength, with the confidence of Jesus, who—according to the Letter to the Hebrews—‘In the days of his flesh, … offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him [God] who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear” (5:7). The answer of God the Father to the Son, to his loud cries and tears, was not freedom from suffering from the Cross, from death, but a much greater fulfillment, an answer much more profound; through the Cross and death God responded with the Resurrection of the Son, with new life. Prayer animated by the Holy Spirit leads us, too, to live everyday a journey of life with its trials and sufferings, with the fullness of hope, with trust in God who answers us as he answered the Son.” (From A School of Prayer, by Pope Benedict XVI, page 209.)
First Reading — 1 Kings 17:17-24
17 Some time later the son of the woman, the owner of the house, fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. 18So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?”
19Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20He called out to the LORD: “LORD, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” 21Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the LORD: “LORD, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” 22The LORD heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived. 23Taking the child, Elijah carried him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.” 24The woman said to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God, and it is truly the word of the LORD that you speak.”
1. What did the widows initial statement to Elijah reveal about her self-image, and about her image of God?
Responsorial Reading — Psalm 30: 2, 4-6, 11-13
2 I praise you, LORD, for you raised me up and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
4 LORD, you brought my soul up from Sheol; you let me live, from going down to the pit. 5 Sing praise to the LORD, you faithful; give thanks to his holy memory. 6 For his anger lasts but a moment; his favor a lifetime. At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn there is rejoicing.
11 Hear, O LORD, have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper.” 12 You changed my mourning into dancing;
you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. 13 So that my glory may praise you and not be silent.
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
Second Reading — Galatians 1:11-19
11Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, 14and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions. 15But when [God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years* I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days. 19But I did not see any other of the apostles, only James the brother of the Lord.
2. What are some positive and negative characteristics of zealousness?
3. What truths transformed Paul’s negative zealousness into positive Christian enthusiasm and commitment?
Gospel Reading — Luke 7:11-17
11 Soon afterward he journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. 12As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” 17This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
4. To what extent can you identify with the grief of the two widows mentioned in this week’s readings?
5. What does this passage teach you about the nature and characteristics of Jesus?
6. How are the three responses of the crowd similar or different? In what way do they imply a growth in understanding?
The New American Bible, (Nashville, Tennessee: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) 1997.
Reflecting On Sunday’s Readings, Copyright 2002-2016, Richard A. Cleveland.
Reflecting On Sunday’s Readings
THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—June 12, 2016
Introduction: The burden of guilt is a heavy load to bear, a load made even more heavy when we awake to how the consequence of our sin has negatively impacted others—which it almost always does. David, in this week’s first reading found himself in just such a predicament. David, entrapped by the lust of his eyes, pursued the gratification of his flesh through adultery without considering the consequences of his actions. When his paramour became pregnant he attempted and failed to conceal his guilt and in desperation manipulated the circumstances so that they resulted in the death of her husband, Uriah. But he learned a valuable truth the hard way: sin cannot be hidden from God, and usually not from others either.
Though David responded in true repentance when the prophet Nathan confronted him, and sought and gained forgiveness from God, he could not change the lingering affects of his sin and the dire consequences they brought upon both his family and his nation, Israel. You see, sin can be likened to spikes driven into a healthy tree. Though the wielder of the hammer may later regret his actions and pull the spikes from the tree, the scarring affects linger forever. So it is with some sins, though repented of and forgiven, their scarring affects on ourselves and others are hard to remove. And so awakened to the reality of his sin and its affects, David sought and obtained forgiveness. He could attest with the Psalmist, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity.”
In the Gospel reading we see another long-lasting affect, one that should be forever, namely the overflowing gratitude that comes from knowing that one’s sins are forgiven. This story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and her precious perfume, and dried them with her hair and her kisses, is an illustration of how gratitude should move us to action. This is the mark of the Christian life—“the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all … that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthian 5:14,15) Gratitude for sins forgiven is a force that propels us to Christ honoring dedication and action. Where there is little dedication and action there is little gratitude.
David and the woman who anointed Jesus stand in stark contrast to one another when it comes to how they dealt with their sin. One concealed the other revealed. The Psalmist advises us to “acknowledge our sin,”—to call a spade a spade, to identify and name our sins for what they are. Further he cautions us to not try and cover them up, to diminish their significance, excuse, or mislabel them. It is only when we openly confess and acknowledge our sins that the burden of guilt can be removed and the joy of a restored relationship with the Father can be experienced.