Twenty-Fifth Week of Ordinary Time: Sept. 23 - 29, 2007

Abstract

"'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead." Luke 16The Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time|On the Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time Jesus tells the parable of the unjust steward who finds out he's been caught squandering his master's property, and goes out and makes deals to make friends for the future. Jesus acknowledges his prudence and calls us to have, at the very least, prudence about our future. "If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,who will trust you with true wealth?"|Thursday is the Memorial of Saint Vincent DePaul. Saturday is the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels.|The week begins a three-week sampling of readings from the Old Testament. In readings from Ezra, Haggai and Daniel, we read of Israel's struggle with the monarchs who rule them.|In Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells us to take care how we hear his Word. When his family comes looking for him, Jesus uses the occasion to tell us that we are family to him, if we hear his Word and act on it. Herod is wondering who Jesus really is. Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is. He doesn't want them to announce he's the type of Messiah they were looking for. Instead, he tells them of his upcoming passion and death.|The story of the rich man and Lazarus is the focus of the Luke's Gospel on the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time. This is a classic story of how the tables are turned in the afterlife. The rich man has it good in this life and ignores the plight of poor Lazarus. In the afterlife, it is the rich man who is in torment and Lazarus is the one who is enjoying heaven. The double irony comes when the rich man asks that Lazarus be sent to warn his brothers. Jesus responds: "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead." Will we listen to the one who has risen from the dead?Daily Prayer This Week|This is a great week to stay a while with Sunday's parable about the unjust steward who, having been touched by his master's mercy is not able to turn around and share that mercy with others. It is a clear call for us to examine how we share God's love for us with others.|How do we do such serious reflection when it seems we don't have time for it? We can be "contemplatives in action" by beginning our day with a desire, letting that desire come to our consciousness throughout the day in the "background" moments, and by giving thanks for what graces we received at the end of the day.|How do we come up with the desire? The first step to finding "intimacy with God in the midst of our daily lives" is to develop the habit of naming a desire for the day, while we are still just getting started with the day, before our concentration becomes pre-occupied with the worries of the day. These guides can help by suggesting desires that flow from the readings of the week, but the best desires are in the very needs and anxieties that are deep in our hearts. That is where God is working in us, revealing things we can turn over to the Lord and form into a prayer. It can often be just 45 seconds, when we throw on a robe or slippers, or while in the shower or getting dressed. It is deep prayer if we can just say, "Help me, today, Lord. My day is so full. Give me courage, and let me know you are with me all day."|We can use the readings of the week in a variety of ways. We can take a day to image being part of Jesus' family, with a desire to to hear his word and keep it. We can let Jesus address us one day this week, asking us who we say he is.|The story of the reversal of fortunes in the coming Sunday's gospel is rich preparation for the weekend.