{"id":919,"date":"2019-10-15T12:12:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T12:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=919"},"modified":"2019-10-15T12:12:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T12:12:32","slug":"20-october-2019-c-twenty-ninth-sunday-of-year-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=919","title":{"rendered":"20 October 2019 (C) Twenty-Ninth SUNDAY of Year (c)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

B. Reflection & Dialogue: P<\/em><\/strong>rayer without\nceasing. Reading the Scriptures<\/em><\/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>(Exodus 17:8-13). As long as Moses kept his arms raise d, Israel had the\nadvantage. <\/em>In its biblical context this reading represents an episode\nduring Israel\u2019s journey from\nEgypt to the Holy Land, the Promised Land. The Amalek were a fierce\nfighting tribe of the wilderness. They were sworn enemies of Israel and enmity and war between\nthem would last over centuries. The war against them Israel\nregarded as a Holy War, which in keeping with a Semitic mentality would lead Israel to\ntotally annihilate them. This is the first recorded battle between them. The Holy\nWar, in so far as it was carried out, was a barbarous tradition, but connected\nin part with self-preservation. However, it is not on such aspects that today\u2019s\nreading directs our attention, but rather to Moses\u2019 prayer and its\neffectiveness. The young hero Joshua is mentioned here for the first time in\nthe Bible, and as the leader of Israel\u2019s\narmy. Hur, whose name also occurs here, is mentioned only once more (Exodus\n12:14) in the Old Testament, and again on the same standing as Aaron, Moses\u2019 brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 120[121]). Our help is in the name of the Lord who made\nheaven and earth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading\n<\/em>(2 Timothy 3:14-4:2).\nThe person who is dedicated to God\nbecomes fully equipped and ready for any good work. <\/em>Immediately before this\npassage (2 Timothy 3:1-9) Paul warns Timothy to be on his guard against false\nforms of religion and false religious views which are to come. Timothy has an\nexample of true religion and true moral behaviour in Paul himself, and in all\nthat he has suffered. In today\u2019s reading Paul tells Timothy to be firm in the\nfaith and faithful to the teaching that has come to him from his teachers\n(including his own family; 2 Timothy 1:5), and from the scriptures. Paul then notes\nthat from the scriptures Timothy (and others) can learn the wisdom that leads\nto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament scriptures are\nintended; the New was not yet compiled, if not composed. The basis for this\nbelief is then given, with a well-known text on the inspiration of the\nscriptures. All scripture writings are inspired by God. God has been active in\na very special way in their composition, present with his power as he also is\nwhen they are being read in the proper spirit. This makes them especially\nuseful in Christian teaching, so that Christian teachers and leaders (\u201cmen of\nGod\u201d) and all believers become fully equipped and ready for their Christian\ntasks. The Church in our own day lays great stress on the importance of Scripture\nfor Christian life and encourages all her members to become acquainted with the\nBible, to read and interpret it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that\nSpirit by which it was inspired and written. Paul ends this present exhortation\nto Timothy appealing to him to proclaim the Good Message and, welcome or\nunwelcome, to insist on it, to refute falsehood, correct error, call to\nobedience, but with all patience and with the intention of teaching. Thus it\nwas in the days of Paul and Timothy and thus it remains today. There is however\nthis difference: Paul could call on Timothy as a Church leader. Today this task\ncannot be left to Church leaders alone. Witness to the faith, and its defence,\nis the duty of all believers, each as their condition indicates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Luke 18:1-8). God will see justice done for his chosen who\ncry to him.<\/em> Situating the Sunday Gospel reading in its original Gospel and\nbiblical setting can often help us get a better and a deeper understanding of\nthe passage\u2019s message. The passage immediately preceding today\u2019s Gospel reading\n(Luke 17:20-37) concerns the second coming of Christ. The Pharisees asked Jesus\nwhen the kingdom\n of God was coming. Jesus\nreplied that the coming of the kingdom\nof God was not something to be observed,\nand that in fact the kingdom\n of God was among them. He\nthen goes on to speak to his disciples of the coming of the Son of Man, his own\nSecond Coming. The delay in Christ\u2019s return was something that caused upset among\nsections of the early Church. In such an atmosphere faith and faithfulness,\nfostered by prayer, were required for a living Christianity. Today\u2019s parable is\nintroduced by Jesus as being about the need to pray continually and to never\nlose heart. The parable speaks for itself. Jesus compares, or rather contrasts,\nGod with the unjust judge of the parable. God will see that justice is done to\nhis chosen ones who cry to him day and night. The Lectionary text continues:\n\u201cday and night, even when he delays to help them\u201d which is probably the most\nacceptable reading as it goes with the delay in Christ\u2019s return. Other possible\nrenderings are: \u201cWill he delay long in helping them?\u201d (NRSV), or \u201cHe will do it\nwithout delay\u201d. The essential message of the parable, however, and of Jesus\u2019\nexplanation, is that God will most certainly help those in distress \u2013 even if\nin his own good time. The reading ends with a return to the topic of the Second\nComing, with the question: \u201cBut when the Son of Man (Jesus) comes will he find\nfaith on earth?\u201d, where the faith in question is not belief in God\u2019s existence\nbut the faithfulness, the patience, that is required while waiting for\nfulfilment of the promises. \u201cThe righteous live through their faithfulness\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue<\/em><\/strong>: P<\/strong>rayer without ceasing. Reading the\nScriptures<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s readings provide two clear topics for our\nreflection, topics mutually related. These are Jesus\u2019 call for prayer without\nceasing and Paul\u2019s emphasis on the Bible as a guide for Christian life, an\napproach to the Sunday Scripture readings which this internet site attempts to\nfollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            With\nregard to prayer, it must be regarded as necessary, since belief in Christ\ncannot be understood without a personal relationship with God in prayer.\nChristianity is a mystery, a mystery that demands this personal relationship.\nWithout this there is no living faith. Of course there are many\ndifferent forms of prayer, both public and private, but any of the forms need\nto have this personal relationship with God, and in the Christian tradition\nunder the guidance of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            With regard to the reading and the\nstudy of the Bible there is no better place to begin to examine their importance\nthan today\u2019s reading from the Second Letter to Timothy. This reading can serve\nas a timely reminder of the importance attached by the Vatican II Council to\nthe reading of Scripture in the new revised liturgy, especially in the readings\nat the Sunday Mass. The Council goes beyond this and in its Constitution on\nDivine Revelation (Dei Verbum<\/em>) there\nis an entire chapter on the place of scripture in the life of the Church, and\nin the various aspects of Christian living. In this chapter special mention is\nmade of its importance for the all clerics \u2013 priests, deacons, catechists, and\nall with direct contact with the ministry of the Word, and a call on them to\nimmerse themselves in the Scriptures by constant sacred reading (lectio sacra<\/em>) and diligent study. In\nanother Council document, in the Decree on the Ministry and the Life of\nPriests, the matter is attended to in greater detail, with a special section on\nthe priests as ministers of God\u2019s word, with an expressed desire that they\nendeavour to treat of contemporary problems in the light of Christ\u2019s teaching \u2013\nsomething this Internet site has been attempting to do over the years, from\n2011 onwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Prayer without ceasing. Reading the Scriptures A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy … <\/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-919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919","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=919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":920,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919\/revisions\/920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}