{"id":841,"date":"2019-08-02T17:03:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T17:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=841"},"modified":"2019-08-02T17:03:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T17:03:18","slug":"4-august-2019-c-18th-sunday-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=841","title":{"rendered":"4 August 2019 (C) 18th Sunday of Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. <\/strong>The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue:\n<\/em><\/strong>From heaven the risen Christ continues to preach his Gospel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. <\/strong>The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(Ecclesiastes\n1:2; 2:21-23). What do mortals gain from\nall the toil?<\/em> The book of Ecclesiastes, known also by its Hebrew title\nQoheleth, belongs to a section of the biblical literature known as \u201cWisdom\nLiterature\u201d. The early wisdom literature was based on conclusions drawn from\nreason and human experience, not from revelation, God\u2019s covenant with Israel, or the\nLaw of Moses. It contains much valuable teaching for human living. Sometimes,\nnotably in the book of Job and in Ecclesiastes, it criticizes some of the\nshortcomings of traditional Jewish religious teaching. Ecclesiastes contains\nthe reflections of a philosopher rather that a testimony of Jewish belief. The\nauthor probably wrote during the Greek period, in the third century B.C., aware\nof Greek philosophical thinking. He has a rather pessimistic approach to life,\nmost of which he considers \u201cvanity\u201d, breath, passing, unsubstantial, but can also\ngive realistic assessments as in the present text on the vain pursuit of\nriches. His teaching on this, and other matters, can serve as a balance against\nthe use of wealth which is at times necessary. In today\u2019s liturgy it serves as\nan excellent matching text for the Gospel parable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial\nPsalm <\/em>(Psalm\n89[90]). O, Lord, you have been our\nrefuge from one generation to the next.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading\n<\/em>(Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11). You must look for things that are in heaven,\nwhere Christ is. <\/em>The first section of this reading (3:1-4) is chosen as an appropriate\ntext for Easter Sunday when we commemorate the resurrection of Christ and his\nreturn in glory to the Father, where he constantly prays that his work on earth\nthrough his Church be successful. Christians are united to Christ by baptism,\nand by God\u2019s grace are united with him in heaven. The passage calls on us to\nthink of these consoling truths. It is all in keeping with Christ\u2019s own words:\nStore up treasure for yourselves in heaven; where your treasure in, there will\nyour hearts be also (see Matthew 6:19-21). No one can serve two masters.\nToday\u2019s reading is no generic statement without substance. In its context in\nthe Epistle it is preceded by the exhortation: \u201cAs you therefore have received\nChrist Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up\nin him and established in the faith, just as your were taught\u201d (Colossians\n2:6-7). The passage read for Easter Sunday continues as follows: \u201cWhen Christ\nwho is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory\u201d. This\nwill be so provided the life of the faithful on earth is in keeping with their\nbelief in the risen Lord. For this reason the passage in today\u2019s reading\nreminds us of the demands made by belief in this new life in Christ. This means\nputting to death everything that belongs to the old \u201cearthly\u201d life, which is\nnot in keeping with the new life in Christ. Paul mentions four sexual practices,\nand immediately after these greed, which he equated with idolatry, adoring\nfalse gods. These belong to the \u201cold nature\u201d. The new nature would belong to\nthe image of its \u201cCreator\u201d, the risen Lord, or possibly the creator God\nhimself. The human person, the entire human race, was created in the image of God.\nThis image, however, was tarnished by sin and sinful ways. That is the \u201cold\nnature\u201d, to be created anew, as a new nature, in the image of Christ, and thus\nin the image of God the creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Luke\n12:13-21). This hoard yours, whose will\nit be? <\/em>In the text immediately preceding this, Jesus has been teaching his\ndisciples. Here the request that Jesus get involved in the distribution of family\nproperty comes from one in the crowd, not a disciple. Jesus naturally refuses; his\nmission is otherwise. Jesus is then said to address \u201cthem\u201d, probably his\ndisciples, possibly including the crowd. He cautions against avarice, noting\nits soul-destroying effects. Riches, even if in abundance, are not of\nthemselves enriching. Jesus then illustrates by telling \u201cthem\u201d (disciples;\npossibly all listeners) a parable or a  teaching\nstory. It is in the wisdom tradition, as the text from Ecclesiastes of today\u2019s\nfirst reading was. Note that in the parable all the rich man is thinking about\nis himself. The first person \u201cI\u201d occurs many times. The parable ends with the\nreflection on the consequences of greed. This teaching story is about the\nquestion: What is life about? Luke\u2019s answer is: acknowledge God, and lay up\ntreasure in heaven, rather than on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue:<\/em><\/strong> From\nheaven the risen Christ continues to preach his Gospel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two principles in\nthe interpretation of the scriptures in the Church are: \u201cdistanciation\u201d and\nimmediacy. \u201cDistanciation\u201d is recognition of the distance in time, full two\nthousand years, between the New Testament texts and our own day. They were\ncomposed in and for different social circumstances and mindsets, not\nnecessarily compatible with those of our own day. Humanists will regard them\njust as historical documents. Some believers advance the view that the original\ntexts are so removed from us that the New Testament has no message for our own\nday. The position of the Catholic Church, and of Christians in general, is\nquite different. God and Christ speak to us in and through the New Testament.\nWith regard to the ongoing relevance and use of these texts in the Church we should\ndistinguish at least two matters. In doctrinal matters the Church has used the\nNew Testament documents as central and essential in the developing theology on\nChrist and the blessed Trinity. Fidelity to the contents and implications of\nthe New Testament texts directed Council definitions and Church teaching. In other\nmatters one has to ask whether a given New Testament position represents teaching\nvalid for all times or is historically conditioned, arising from the social\nconditions and mindset, such as slavery and the role of women. The question\nwhether this is the case will determine discussion on matters of sexual\nmorality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            These are doctrinal matters, having\nto do with the mind. Together with these there is an immediacy involved with\nregard to the place on the Bible and the New Testament in the life of the Church.\nIt is a matter attended to in the Vatican Council in its Constitution on the\nsacred liturgy (paragraph 7). Just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he\nsent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might\npreach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God by his\ndeath and resurrection has freed us from the power of Satan (paragraph 6). To\naccomplish so great a work Christ is always present in his Church, especially\nin her liturgical celebrations. Among other ways \u201che is present in his word\nsince it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the\nChurch\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Today\u2019s second reading serves as an\nexcellent background to this Church teaching. The risen Christ, seated at God\u2019s\nright hand, has from the beginning through the apostles (Paul and others)\nreminded his followers that their life on earth should show forth the new\nnature, in keeping with his teaching and that of the Church. Paul instances\npractices to be avoided, and others to be followed. The Church has continued to\ndo so. Christ is preaching his Gospel at every reading of the Scriptures in the\nliturgy. Christ can also have his Gospel message activated in various other\nways, by charismatic figures such as Saint Francis and poverty, the Pope by calling\non all ministers of the Church to avoid career seeking and practice simplicity\nof life, by making clear that certain points of New Testament teaching and\npractice called into doubt are not historically conditioned but still valid,\nand even \u201cdefinitive\u201d, not open to discussion. The Church\u2019s teaching is not\njust some human invention. It is a reassertion and continuation of Christ\u2019s\nmessage. The centrality of Christ in Christian life should be constantly\nstressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: From heaven the risen Christ continues to preach his Gospel. A. The Bible as Guide … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions\/842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}