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Contents: Volume 2 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)August 31, 2025
1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP -2. -- Dennis Keller OP - 3. --
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****************************************************** Twenty Second Sunday of Ordered Time August 31 2025
The reaction to this first reading and to the Gospel message about humility by many “card carrying” Christians is probably a subtle work in progress. Among those people are :
1. the athletes who point upward after excelling at their sport,
2. the effective speaker who relies on the Divine for inspiration before giving a powerful statement, homily or speech,
3. those who don’t take credit for any “big things” but feel just a bit better as a person than those who fall into any visible more “serious” sin,
4. those who push harder to attain a difficult goal, and
5. those who wonder how to react when the gifts they have been given are recognized by others. More than likely, there are sub -categories to this off -the -top- of-my -head list!
I admit to the last category I mentioned though. I have a few gifts that many people don’t have, along with several deficiencies in common skills that almost every adult does have. I have never parallel parked on the first try. I can not tell the direction where a building or house is in my neighborhood from inside my own house although I can from outside of it. I won’t go on!
Some people, and we all can manage to list a few famous ones, who accept God’s gifts with grace and humility while others demand instant and often outrageous recognition. The humility that Jesus describes is perplexing to me at times because I think false humility creeps into our lives as easily as does bragging! God sees each of us as unconditionally loved and in that sense, equals.
How we get to a more Jesus-like approach to humility is based on the fact that all good gifts are from God, period. How we acknowledge this can be variable, but efforts need to be based in prayer. Embracing the common humanity of us all, including family, friend or foe, is a starting point, but a difficult one. How to level that internal playing field is also a choice each of us must make every day… starting today.
Blessings, Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP Southern Dominican Laity
****************************************************** Twenty Second Sunday of Ordered Time August 31 2025
In the world of political retribution that is evident across the globe consistently and in every age, the message of the Gospel this Sunday is counter intuitive. To gain power, wealth, and fame, the world’s methodology insists on always tooting one’s own horn, loudly, without affection for truth, with great shows of wealth, power, and fame. The Gospel takes the words of wisdom from the first reading from the wisdom of Sirach. It teaches that the humble person, one who does not go about tooting his/her horn is loved. For in the tooting, the tooter drowns out others. But the humble person is skilled in appreciation of the other. The one who is learned in the practice of listening without interrupting, learns wisdom. Sirach compares the braggart, the boastful, the running off of the tongue to a blazing fire. The humility of the wise person is like water quenching the blaze. Arguing with a braggard is a task of futility.
In the Gospel, Jesus is invited by prominent Pharisees to a dinner. It looks like a trap. In the part of Luke’s Gospel not included this Sunday, there is a man there with dropsy. This is the Sabbath. For a wise observer, knowing the ploys of the Pharisees in applying the law as a way of discrediting prophets, this looks like a set-up. Jesus disregards restrictive Sabbath regulations that have no place for the good of others. The welfare of persons is more important than following the interpretation of a law meant to be a guide to successful living in a community. That is God’s stated purpose in the Law from Sinai.
Along this line of thinking, the reading from Hebrews compares the experience of the Hebrew tribes at Mount Sinai with the reception of God’s law with the new covenantal law of the Messiah. The first part of the reading recounts the experience at Sinai. The second part of this reading from Hebrews is about the pilgrims in life approaching Mount Sion, the City of the Living God. There is found countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of those who are first-born in the Kingdom of God. There are the spirits of the just with Jesus. The contrast is between the fear filled giving of the Law of Moses and the welcoming of the New Covenant, the Covenant sealed with the sprinkled Blood of Jesus that speaks more eloquently than the blood of Abel. It is a new Kingdom. It is a Kingdom of acceptance and love. This is no phony love. It is a loving Kingdom where there is no boasting, no flaunting of self, no tooting of one’s own horn. Those who do that are not invited there.
The Gospel sets a standard for our behavior. We are granted dignity and worth in the very action of our conception. That Image and Likeness of God is granted us then. That makes each one of us – no exceptions, worthy of dignity and respect. To respect others, to listen to others, is not always easy. The discipline required is a matter of conscious practice. It takes being mindful of the other as a person, worthy of our respect and appreciation. We cannot write off the braggard, the boastful, the manipulative person. They as well are images and likeness of God. First, however, we must believe we are images and likenesses of God. The peace and calm that comes to us when we have faith in the God who creates and sustains, that peace allows us to be of help and examples of God’s presence. That can change the world, starting with the world of family, expanding to neighbor, then expanding to community, expanding to state and the nation. That is the revolution of the message of Jesus. As Rabbis have taught for centuries, God’s will is that all creation, all creatures have what each needs to flourish. This is no mere survival. It is what is needed.
The way of the world is always, “me first.” The way of the world is accumulation. There is never enough, there must always be more. If others have any, it is an affront to those who lust for more. Such persons have no need to care for others who lack what is necessary for survival.
Dennis Keller Dennis@PreacherExchange.com
****************************************************** ****************************************************** ****************************************************** 4. ****************************************************** ****************************************************** 5. ****************************************************** Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections, and insights on the next Sunday's readings can influence the preaching you hear. Send them to Chuck@PreacherExchange.com. Deadline is Tuesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
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