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Sunday Readings Commentary and Reflections

Sunday Readings Commentary and Reflections. 29 th Sunday in Ordinary Time A World Mission Sunday October 19, 2014 In preparation for this Sunday’s Liturgy As aid in focusing our homilies and sharing. Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM. 1 st reading: Isaiah 45,1.4-6.

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Sunday Readings Commentary and Reflections

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  1. Sunday ReadingsCommentary and Reflections 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time A World Mission Sunday October 19, 2014 In preparation for this Sunday’s Liturgy As aid in focusing our homilies and sharing Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM

  2. 1st reading: Isaiah 45,1.4-6 • 1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, subduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service, opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred: 4 For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. 5 I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, 6 so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other. The focus is on the call of Cyrus.

  3. 1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I grasp, subduing nations before him, and making kings run in his service, opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred: 4 For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. 5 I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. It is I who arm you, though you know me not, 6 so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun men may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other. Commentary In v.1, God talks to Cyrus (the Great), a pagan king of Persia. The author is aware of Cyrus’ successful activities: Subduing nations, kings (Babylon, Elam) Leaving doors open to the Lord V.4 contains the message of God to Cyrus. God has called him, though Cyrus was ignorant of him, to liberate Israel from the bondage of the Babylonians. In v.5, God introduces himself to Cyrus. He is the Lord and God, no other besides him. (He picks up Ex 20,2-3) It is God who makes him powerful. In v.6, God states his purpose for empowering him: That people may realize there is no other God than God. 1st reading: Isaiah 45,1.4-6

  4. Reflections on the 1st reading • We, as individuals, may not know much about God, but he may use us, like Cyrus, to be his instrument in bringing peace and salvation to his people. • It is God who makes us accomplish great things. • If we feel that God is calling us to do some mission, we must say Yes to him. We learn more about him later.

  5. Resp. Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10 • (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.1 Sing to the LORD a new song;sing to the LORD, all you lands.3 Tell his glory among the nations;among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. • 4 For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;awesome is he, beyond all gods.5 For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,but the LORD made the heavens. • 7 Give to the LORD, you families of nations,give to the LORD glory and praise;8 give to the LORD the glory due his name!Bring gifts, and enter his courts. • 9 Worship the LORD, in holy attire;tremble before him, all the earth;10 say among the nations: The LORD is king,he governs the peoples with equity.

  6. (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.1 Sing to the LORD a new song;sing to the LORD, all you lands.3 Tell his glory among the nations;among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. 4 For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;awesome is he, beyond all gods.5 For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,but the LORD made the heavens. 7 Give to the LORD, you families of nations,give to the LORD glory and praise;8 give to the LORD the glory due his name!Bring gifts, and enter his courts. 9 Worship the LORD, in holy attire;tremble before him, all the earth;10 say among the nations: The LORD is king,he governs the peoples with equity. Commentary The psalm is classified as royal psalm of Yahweh King. V.1 exhorts everyone to sing to the Lord. V.3 exhorts everyone to proclaim God’s wonderful deeds to all. Vv.4-5 recognize the God of Israel as the greatest and true God. Other gods are nothing. They did not create anything. Vv.7-8 exhort all families of the earth to give praise, glory and gifts to God in his Temple. Vv.9-10 exhort that people worship God with proper attire (holy attire), that they acclaim God as King, who governs with fairness. Resp. Ps 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10

  7. Reflections on the Psalm • We are called to give praise to God. • We are enjoined to proclaim his greatness and wonderful deeds. • We don’t keep quiet about God. • Our liturgies help us to express our praise in an organized manner.

  8. 2nd reading: 1 Thess 1,1-5b • 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly 3 calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, 4 knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and (with) much conviction. You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake. The focus is on the church of Thessalonica.

  9. A simple outline! 2nd reading: 1 Thess 1,1-5b Greetings of Paul • 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. Thanksgiving of Paul • 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly 3 calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, 4 knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. The gospel preached that effected change • 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and (with) much conviction. You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake.

  10. Greetings of Paul 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. Thanksgiving of Paul 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly 3 calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, 4 knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. The gospel preached that effected change 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and (with) much conviction. You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake. Commentary In v.1, Paul, together with Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy send their greetings to the Christians in Thessalonika. 1 Thess is the first letter written by Paul. It displays his affection and concern to his spiritual sons and daughters, his new friends, the fruits of their missionary efforts. 2nd reading: 1 Thess 1,1-5b

  11. Greetings of Paul 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. Thanksgiving of Paul 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly 3 calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father, 4 knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. The gospel preached that effected change 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and (with) much conviction. You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake. In vv.2-3, St. Paul is thankful to God for the active faith of the Thessalonians Their labor of love Their endurance in hope In v.4, Paul indicates how they were chosen by God. V.5 indicates how the gospel preached by Paul came to them - in word - in power - and in the holy Spirit V.5b indicates how well Paul and the others behaved for their sake, so that they would not be scandalized. 2nd reading: 1 Thess 1,1-5b

  12. Reflections on the 2nd reading • Do we love people, whom we try to evangelize? • Do we treat them with delicadeza or scandalize them? • If we are not careful with our dealings with them, we cannot be missionaries. • Like St. Paul, all missionaries, we, should leave pleasant memories to those who welcome our preaching.

  13. Gospel reading: Matthew 22,15-21 • 15 Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. 20 He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" 21 They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." The focus is on rendering to God what belongs to God.

  14. A simple outline! Gospel reading: Matthew 22,15-21 The Malicious Scheme of the Pharisees • 15 Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" The wise response of Jesus • 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. 20 He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" 21 They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

  15. The Malicious Scheme of the Pharisees 15 Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech. 16 They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. 17 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Commentary V.15 reveals the evil intent of the Pharisees on Jesus. The Pharisees plotted to destroy him, by entrapping him in speech. V.16 reveals how they connive with the Herodians (followers of Herod Antipas) as accessories. In v.16b, they lace their evil intent with sweet talk. They enumerate the good traits of Jesus (which are actually true). The trap is in v.17. It is a question of paying, or not, the census tax to Caesar. Gospel reading: Matthew 22,15-21

  16. The wise response of Jesus 18 Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. 20 He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" 21 They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." In v.18, Jesus responds to their malicious question, by striking back, calling them hypocrites. In the first place, Jesus should not be talking to them. But in vv.19-21, he asks for a coin. They hand him a Roman coin with an image and inscription of Caesar. In v.21b, Jesus gives his enigmatic answer. They got more than what they needed to know. He inserted God. What belongs to God is Jesus. They should not destroy him. Gospel reading: Matthew 22,15-21

  17. Reflections on the gospel reading • When we approach God, we must have the proper motivation. • Bad motivation does not lead us anywhere. • In the same way, it is not right to put our brothers and sisters to the test (ilagay sa alanganin). • We should purify our motives when dealing with our fellowmen. • We better give justice to God and to our fellow human beings.

  18. Tying the 3 readings and the Psalm • The first reading reminds us that God may use temporal powers to restore his people. • The psalm celebrates God’s power and glory. • The second reading reminds us to make good of what we have learned from the gospel. • The gospel reminds us to give God what is his. We must be open to the new missionaries.

  19. How to develop your homily / sharing • We, Christians, must realize that God can use (choose, anoint, send) any person to touch us. • That “anointed” person may be someone, who, we have met for the first time, new, ignorant, does not know theology very well, or, may besomeone who is powerful and talented. • Like what God did to Cyrus in the first reading, God sends him to liberate Israel from the Babylonians.

  20. In the second reading, Paul and company became God’s instruments of spreading the gospel. They were successful evangelizers (missionaries), though nobody trained them formally. They might be neophyte missionaries, yet, they were able to deliver the message of the gospel. They were happy to hear from their converts of their faithfulness to the gospel and to Jesus. Their steadfast faith built the missionaries’ self-confidence and gave them more courage to do more.

  21. The gospel reading, teaches that we must approach God with a pure heart and mind. The Sadducees approached Jesus with malice (with bad intention). They did not get what they want. Their plans were foiled and they were put to shame, by being reminded that they should render to God what is God’s.

  22. Jesus is God’s instrument (missionary par excellence) in saving his people. Our mission is to teach people restore all things back to God, and not appropriate anything as their own and to accept Jesus.

  23. In our communities, we have the tendency to deny God of his rights. This is manifested when we drive away someone who is new, who might be sent by God. Usually, members of a cliché (group, club, barkada) plot against a newcomer who disturbs us, because of his/her better ideas and ways.

  24. We better not continue with our evil schemes. God will put us to shame. Everyone should be allowed to do his mission. As a church, we must do our mission. We cannot do our mission if we are busy persecuting one another.

  25. The eucharist is the sacrament in which we recognize that Jesus is the anointed one of God, the one sent by God. • When we receive the eucharist, we render to God what is God’s. • With the eucharist, God opens to us a lot of possibilities in which he accomplishes his will for us. • The eucharist strengthens us in our mission.

  26. Insecurity Plotters, barkada, syndicate Conspiracy Controlling personality Bad influence Back stabbing Character assassination Bad intention Missionaries, local and foreign Open to everyone Respecting God’s rights Recognizing talents of each one Non appropriation of place, time and positions Detachment from things Our Context of Sin and Grace The End

  27. Suggested Songs • Go Tell Everyone • It’s Time to Prepare • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIandBaBMck

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