A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B. Reflection\n& Dialogue: <\/strong>\u201cThe light of faith and questions of our own day\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A. The Bible as Guide in Life\nand Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First Reading <\/em>(Amos 6:1, 4-7). Those who sprawl and those who bawl will be\nexiled.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last\nSunday the first reading was from the prophet Amos in which he severely\ncriticized the Northern Kingdom of Israel for its misuse of riches and the\noppression of the poor. The wealthy were enjoying the benefits of political and\nsocial rapid developments. Today\u2019s reading describes the lives of the wealthy\nin some detail. They are enjoying life to the full in the Northern Kingdom of\nIsrael (which could be poetically called \u201cJoseph\u201d), just as others were in Zion, Jerusalem, in the\nsouthern kingdom\n of Judah. They feel safe\nin the northern capital Samaria, quite unaware\nof the danger looming from the advance of the armies of Assyria\nwhich would soon destroy them and take the capital and the people into exile.\nThe height of their life of luxury is described, with the best and most costly\nof everything, spread out (sprawling) on their rich couches (divans), with the\nmost tender of meats (lamb and veal), bawling (NRSV \u201csing idle songs\u201d), and\npresented as inventing new musical instruments, like David (proverbial for his\nmusical skill rather than for inventing musical instruments), not just sipping\nwine but drinking the finest wines by bowlfuls. They are here condemned not so\nmuch for this luxury but for their neglect of the dire situation of their\nnation. They enjoyed their years of luxury (neglecting the poor) and will be\nrepaid by being the first to be exiled (in the oncoming march of the empire of Assyria). As the heading to the reading puts it: \u201cThose\nwho sprawl and those who bawl will be exiled\u201d. It is a fitting Old Testament\nreading to go with the Gospel reading and the parable on the rich man and\nLazarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 145[146]). My soul, give praise to the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Second Reading\n<\/em>(1 Timothy 6:11-16).\nDo all that you have been told until the\nAppearing of the Lord. <\/em>This is the last reading from this First Letter to\nTimothy and comes towards the end of the letter. It follows immediately on a\nsection on which Paul advises Timothy on attitudes and practices of some in the\nChristian community to be avoided. Among other matters he instances those who\nimagine that religion is a way of making a profit, on which he comments that\nreligion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are\ncontent with what the have (1 Timothy 6:3-6). Timothy as a man dedicated to God\n(literally \u201ca man of God\u201d) is to be a living witness to true Christian values,\ninstances of which are given, beginning with mention of faith. Timothy is called\non the fight the good fight of faith, by his way of life and attention to true\ndoctrine. The life of Timothy, and Church leaders, is a witness to faith.\nTimothy is said to gave made profession of it and spoken up for the truth in\nthe front of many witnesses \u2013 when, actually, we are not told, possibly at his\nbaptism, rather than at his ordination as leader (see 2 Timothy 1:6). The\nemphasis is on the witness, the testimony; and the example and fountain head of\nall Christian witness is that of Jesus Christ who made testimony and made good\nconfession before Pontius Pilate. This good witness and testimony of Jesus\nbefore the Roman governor Pontius Pilate may have been his very presence, even\nif silent. But there may be reference to Jesus\u2019 words to Pilate that he had\ncome into the world to bear witness to the truth (see John 18:37). Timothy is\ntold to keep \u201cthe commandment\u201d without fault or failure, where by commandment\nhis entire missionary mandate, rather than any particular commandment, is probably\nmeant. The passage ends with a mention of the Second Coming of Christ, and with\na hymn of praise, a doxology, to the unseen God, similar to that already given\nin 1:17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gospel<\/em> (Luke 16:19-31). Good things came your way, just as bad\nthings came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in\nagony. <\/em>In its Gospel context, this well-known parable of he rich man (in\nLatin Dives) and Lazarus is linked with texts immediately preceding in Luke\u2019s\nnarrative, notably last Sunday\u2019s reading with the parable of the wasteful\nsteward and Jesus\u2019 comments on it. This is followed (Luke 16:14-18) with\nsayings addressed to the Pharisees on the Law and the Prophets, the Law, as\nunderstood by Jesus, said to be still valid, but at times made more radical as\nin the case of divorce. Then comes today\u2019s reading with the messages drawn from\nthe parable. The parable is in three sections which can be considered\nseparately. First there is the description of the rich man\u2019s life of luxury and\nthe misery of the poor man Lazarus, and the death of both. Lazarus is taken to\n\u201cAbraham\u2019s bosom\u201d. Abraham, apparently, is presented as reclining at the\nmessianic banquet, and Lazarus now reclining on his bosom. The rich man is also\nburied, consigned to Hades, the eternal place of torment. The second section\ngives the conversation between the rich man, now in Hades, and Abraham. Abraham\nspeaks on behalf of God. The rich man may call on Abraham, father of the Jewish\nrace, as \u201cFather Abraham\u201d, but to no avail. His request for some alleviation of\nhis pains is rejected. The third section contains the rich man\u2019s appeal on\nbehalf of his five brothers still alive, with the request that Lazarus return\nand warn them to avoid torment. The request is rejected. Their religious\ntraditions, found in the Law of Moses and the prophetic writings, are guide\nenough with regard to the dangers of riches and to concern for the poor. If one\nis not open to the voice of God present in these writings, the voice of one presumed\nreturned from the dead would not be heeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n B. Reflection & Dialogue<\/strong>: \u201cThe light\nof faith and questions of our own day\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today\u2019s readings, and in particular the\nfirst reading and the gospel, invite us to reflect on belief in Christ and in\nthe next life and our mission as members of the human race and all its\nconcerns. This is a topic in which the modern world is in dialogue with us, and\nthere are loud voices putting forward the view that faith and the Christian\ntradition are obstacles to human progress and the care of the poor. Pope\nFrancis has recently spoken of this in his encyclical Lumen Fidei<\/em>, \u201cThe Light of Faith\u201d, an encyclical which is really\nthe work of his predecessor, the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Josef Ratzinger).\nAlthough the Pope\u2019s views have already been drawn to the attention to the users\nof this internet site earlier this year (Reflection 19th Sunday) they merit\nrepetition here. The Pope notes (paragraph 2) that in speaking of the light of\nfaith we can hear the objections of many of our contemporaries. In modernity,\nthat light might have been considered sufficient for societies of old, but was\nfelt to be of no use for our times, for a humanity come of age, proud of its\nrationality and anxious to explore the future in novel ways. Faith thus\nappeared to some as an illusory light, preventing mankind from boldly setting\nout in quest of knowledge. Faith was thus understood either as a leap in the\ndark, to be taken in the absence of light, driven by blind emotion or as a\nsubjective light, capable perhaps of warming the heart and bringing personal\nconsolation, but not something which could be proposed to others as an\nobjective and shared light which points the way. The Pope goes on to say that\nthere is need, then, to see once again that faith is a light, for once the\nflame of faith goes out, all other light begin to dim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\nthe prophets and for Jesus faith is not an illusory light, nor just a\nsubjective light capable perhaps of warming the heart. This is clear from the\ntext of Amos read today and from the parable of he rich man (Dives) and\nLazarus. And this parable is not a stand alone text. It is reflected again in\nthe words of the Son of Man at the judgment of the Last Day, where the eternal\ndestiny of individuals is made to depend on how they behaved towards their\nfellow men and women in their hour of need \u2013 the hungry, thirsty, naked, the\nstranger, the sick, the one in prison. Central to belief in God and in Christ\nare the two commandments, the love of God and love of the neighbour. And as\nJesus reminded the person who questioned him on the subject in the parable \u201cThe\nGood Samaritan\u201d, the implication of the command to love one\u2019s neighbour can\nmake demands, broadening one\u2019s understanding of the neighbour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis these two commandments that has had the Church down through the centuries \u2013 the\nChurch as institution, clergy, religious, lay organizations, lay individuals \u2013\nwork for the wellbeing of humanity, when there were no state organizations to\ndo so. Faith is not an obstacle, but rather a help in facing the problems of\nour age, or of any age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: \u201cThe light of faith and questions of our own day\u201d A. 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