{"id":3016,"date":"2019-10-27T12:35:16","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T16:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2019-10-27T12:35:16","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T16:35:16","slug":"30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

30<\/a>th<\/a><\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 (7a)
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
October 27, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continue\nto hear about prayer in our readings this week. \nToday, the question addressed start with whose prayer gets answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we\nhear that God \u201cknows no favorites<\/em>.\u201d  God listens to everyone\u2019s prayers.  Yet, He is \u201cnot unduly partial towards the weak.<\/em>\u201d  One might be confused by this, if God is \u201cpartial<\/em>\u201d doesn\u2019t that mean He has favorites?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer\nlies in understanding what is meant by the word \u201cunduly<\/em>\u201d before the word \u201cpartial<\/em>.\u201d  Is there a reason for God to answer the\nprayers of the weak, the oppressed, and the widows before the prayers of others\nare answered?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes!  These words all describe people in great\nneed.  The very words \u201cweak<\/em>\u201d and \u201coppressed<\/em>\u201d indicate their need. \nThe weak don\u2019t have all that they need. \nThe oppressed are taken advantage of. \nAs to \u201cwidows<\/em>\u201d, today some\nwidows might be perfectly capable of taking care of themselves while others,\nlike a mother with young children whose husband died unexpectedly may live in\ngreat difficulty.  We should remember\nthat, In the days when Jesus walked on earth, the culture gave little status to\nwomen so widows would often need to rely on the help of others.  God knows their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our needs<\/em><\/strong>\nare what God is concerned with.  God is\nnot concerned with making the rich richer. \nActually, neither is the Lord interested in making the poor richer<\/em><\/strong>,\nbut He is interested in fulling their needs. \nGod is concerned if we have enough to eat and a place to sleep.  That\u2019s why God shows what the Church\nsometimes calls a \u201cpreferential option for the poor.\u201d  It is not about favoritism.  It is about need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The readings\ntoday never say that any one person\u2019s prayers will go unanswered.  In fact, Sirach says, \u201cThe one who serves God willing is heard<\/em>.\u201d  The psalm today speaks of the \u201cbrokenhearted<\/em>\u201d and the \u201ccrushed in spirit<\/em>.\u201d  The rich can be just as \u201cbrokenhearted<\/em>\u201d and the \u201ccrushed\nin spirit<\/em>\u201d as the poor.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn your\nhearts to God and strive to live as He teaches and your prayers will be heard.  When we sing, \u201cthe Lord hears the cry of the poor<\/em>,\u201d it might be just as much about\nthe poor in spirit as the poor in material things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do\nwe need to do, how should we pray, to ensure the Lord listens to our\nprayers?  Jesus answers this question\nwith a parable addressed \u201cto those who\nwere convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nparable we hear first about a Pharisee who seems convinced of his own\nrighteousness.  He goes to the temple to\npray.  That much is good.  He starts by saying, \u201cO God,<\/em>\u201d so he acknowledges there is a god.  This seems like a good start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we begin\nto see his attitude behind his prayer.  We are told that he \u201cspoke this prayer to himself<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d  To himself? \nNow, this might be interpreted as simply meaning that he prayed\nsilently.  However, his words that follow\nwould indicate a different attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pharisee\nsays \u201cI thank you<\/em>\u201d to God but we need\nto understand what he is thankful for, that he is \u201cnot like the rest of humanity<\/em>.\u201d \nThere lies a great pride.  He should\nbe thankful that he is not \u201cgreedy,\ndishonest, adulterous<\/em>\u201d but not in a way that makes himself to seem better\nthan others.  He goes so far as to say\nthat he is not like the tax collector.  He\nexalts himself<\/em><\/strong> with his words, even bragging that he fasts and pays his\ntithes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is full of\nhimself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see a very\ndifferent attitude in the tax collector. \nAs a tax collector, he would have been seen as a sinner for gouging\npeople and keeping the extra tax for himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admits his\nsin.  He comes to the temple to pray but\nhe stands \u201coff at a distance<\/em>.\u201d  He \u201cwould\nnot even raise his eyes to heaven.<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about the\nwords he prays?  The tax collector prays\nonly eight words, \u201cO God, be merciful to\nme a sinner.<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His words are\nsimple but powerful.  He admits he is a\nsinner.  Unlike the Pharisee who\nconsidered himself \u201csaved\u201d, the tax collector knows he must rely on God\u2019s mercy\nto be saved.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There lies\nthe difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector.  The latter is open to God at work in\nhim.  He submits to God\u2019s love.  He humbles himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to\nbring in a third person after the Pharisee and the tax collector to help us\nunderstand what it means to humble ourselves. \nPaul\u2019s words to Timothy may not seem much different than the\nPharisee\u2019s.  Paul says himself, \u201cI have competed well; I have finished the\nrace; I have kept the faith.  From now on\nthe crown of righteousness awaits me<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul\u2019s words\nmight seem not much different than the Pharisee\u2019s.  Paul speaks of what he has done.  What\u2019s different?  The attitude behind the prayer.  Paul goes on to say about the \u201ccrown of righteousness<\/em>\u201d that is the Lord\nwho will award the crown to him, that it is the Lord who stood by him.  Paul acknowledges that it is because of the\nLord that he has done good things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, rather\nthan being prideful, Paul humbles himself like the tax collector.  They are both open to allowing the Lord to be\nin work in them.  For this, they will be\nexalted by the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CSirach 35:12-14, 16-18Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 (7a)2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18Luke 18:9-14October 27, 2019 We continue to hear about prayer in our readings this week.  Today, the question addressed start with whose prayer gets answered. First, we hear that God \u201cknows no favorites.\u201d  God listens to everyone\u2019s prayers.  Yet, …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,12],"tags":[651,126,652],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-ME","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3017,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions\/3017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}