Commentary for Sunday

26th Sunday of Year A

October 1, 2003

October 1, 2003

26th Sunday – Cycle A

THEME OF READINGS: Personal Responsibility

Fr. Paul
Galetto, OSA

Catholic Sunday Scriptures in Context

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Catholic Climate Covenant

INTEGRAL FAITH

INDEX

Catholic Climate Covenant

26th Sunday of Year A

26th Sunday – Cycle A

In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis echoes this theme, holding out the hope that humanity will accept and fulfill its responsibility to care of our common home. We are challenged to remember that we are truly members of one family, called to share concern and care for one another. And this includes caring for the environment, God’s creation, that sustains all life.

At the same time, we humans need humility to recognize that we have often abrogated that responsibility. We do so by choosing short-term wealth and comfort over the well-being of the earth. We also do so by turning a blind eye to government and corporate policies that devastate forests, pollute the air, oppose climate action, and obliterate whole species with whom we share this planet – the only one we have.

Although the post-industrial period may well be remembered as one of the most irresponsible in history, nonetheless there is reason to hope that humanity at the dawn of the twenty-first century will be remembered for having generously shouldered its grave responsibilities. (165)

In any event, if in some cases sustainable development were to involve new forms of growth, in other cases … we need also to think of containing growth by setting some reasonable limits and even retracing our steps before it is too late. (193)


Catholic Bible Study

26th Sunday of Year A

Small group faith sharing scripture study by VInce Contreras

26th Sunday of Year A

Vince
Contreras

YEAR A

“The tax collectors and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you?”

FIRST READING

In the 1st Reading, what are Ezekiel’s listeners objecting to? (see Ez 18:25-28) Why might they see God’s ways as unfair? Why are they not, in fact, unfair?

SECOND READING

In the 2nd Reading, what overriding quality or qualities of Christ should be ours when it comes to our dealings with God and neighbor?

GOSPEL

In the Gospel Reading, what links this parable to Matthew 21:23-27?

In the parable, what is the father’s request? What does each son say and do? Why?

What group of Jesus’ listeners (Matthew 21:23; Matthew 21:31-32) is like what son? How?

CONTINUE READING

How do you suppose each group of listeners felt about this story?

Are you more like the first son or like the second one? In what ways?

Do you look on any group of people as sinners or as “spiritually inferior”? Do you see any danger in thatattitude? What is it?

Have you said “yes” to God? What in your life is a direct living out of that “yes”?

How can you better respond to God’s invitation through John the Baptist to repent, to bear good fruit,and to follow Jesus?

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SOURCE: SundayScriptureStudy.com

Matt
Zemanek

St. Timothy Catholic Church, Laguna Niguel, CA

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This week’s study is on Matthew, chapter 21, verses 28-32, the Gospel reading for Sunday, October 1st, 2023, The Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A.

0:00 – Welcome
0:54 – Opening Prayer
2:24 – Introduction
4:17 – Gospel Reading
7:52 – Teaching
20:19 – Q & A
48:29 – Closing prayer

AGAPE BIBLE STUDY

Michal
Hunt

The Way to Salvation Through Humility and Repentance 

26th Sunday of Year A

Today’s readings invite us to think about the unfathomable ways of God’s justice and mercy.  

1st Reading

Virtue and Repentance

The First Reading takes up the topic of personal accountability, the consequences of sin, and God’s mercy to the repentant sinner.  The prophet Ezekiel asks the question: “If the sinner must live with the consequences of his sins, what is the purpose of repentance?”  The answer includes one of the most beautiful summaries of divine mercy in Scripture.  God gives the assurance that He is always ready to forgive the sinner who humbly repents, turns away from his sins, and restores his fellowship with God.  In His mercy, God even promises not to remember the transgressions which the sinner committed and repented (Ez 18:22).

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

2nd Reading

The Humility of Christ

In the Second Reading, St. Paul writes that Christians should think about unity based on the Christian community’s threefold experience with the Holy Trinity: Christ’s gift of salvation, God the Father’s love, and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  Paul’s appeal to Christian humility and obedience is rooted in what appears to be an ancient Christian hymn that focuses on Jesus’ humility and self-offering demonstrated in His obedience unto death for the sake of our salvation.  

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

Gospel

The Parable of the Two Sons

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus confronts the religious leaders who oppose Him and His ministry in the Parable of the Two Sons.  Sometimes it is human pride that prevents repentance, as in the case of the chief priests and elders to whom Jesus addressed His parable.  Their failure to humble themselves prevented them from serving God’s divine plan in acknowledging Jesus’ Messiahship and His invitation to eternal salvation.  We should all heed the same warning.  In the obedience of faith, we must humbly submit ourselves to Jesus Christ and His Gospel of salvation as taught to us by Mother Church.  We must not allow pride to harden our hearts so that we fail to come to repentance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or close our ears to understanding the message of the Living Word, like the proud and hard-hearted chief priests and elders.  It is a humble and contrite spirit that pleases the Lord and provides a sure path to follow on the journey to eternal salvation

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

Fr. A Paul

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Wiki Connections

26th Sunday of Year A

Gospel Connections

Mt 21:28-32

26th Sunday of Year A

1st Reading Connections

Ez 18:25-28

26th Sunday of Year A

2nd Reading Connections

Phil 2:1-11

26th Sunday of Year A

Responsorial Connections

Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Non-Catholic Commentaries

26th Sunday of Year A

18th Sunday after Pentecost / Proper 21A

Sermons
that Work – Episcopal Church, USA

YEAR A

Episcopal Church, USA

ABOUT

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Conflict is part of every day. There are some conflicts that need to be reduced. Other conflicts are part of the human condition. What does not help is ignoring conflicts – whether they are conflicts to be solved, or conflicts to be learnt from. The gospel texts are replete with dynamics of conflict: occupation; internal conflict between people about whether one should or shouldn’t work for an occupying force; conflict about the inclusion of others; conflict about the role of leadership and the role of popular voices. 

NLT Life Recovery Bible, 2nd Edition: Addiction Bible

USED WITH PERMISSION: Arterburn, Stephen; Stoop, David. NLT Life Recovery Bible, Second Edition: Tyndale House Publishers.

Life Recovery Bible Notes

1st Reading
Psalm

Psalm 25:1-7 — When we place our faith in God, we can trust him to care for us and help us overcome the things in our lives that would destroy us. We need to ask him to show us how to live according to his truth. Because of his great love and compassion, he will forgive our past sins when we ask him to. And while forgiveness for our sins is important, it is also important for us to forgive others who have harmed us. As we forgive others, we can release our anger and focus on our own recovery.

Psalm 25:8-10 — We need to let God change us, yet we cannot expect him to work his transformation in our lives if we are still proud and unwilling to admit that we are helpless apart from him. The first step in recovery is humbly admitting that we are powerless over our dependencies. Only after we do this can we experience God’s healing work in our lives.

2nd Reading

Philippians 2:1-4 — We are never an island unto ourselves; we are a part of a whole, a member of Christ’s body. If we are part of a loving community, when others hurt, we hurt; when we hurt, others hurt. Early in the recovery process we may need to concentrate on our own welfare. But as we grow, we have to move beyond self-centeredness and become interested in others. Part of making amends to people we have harmed is showing them that we have changed. As we love others, we will find that others will love us. As our relationships grow stronger, our addictions will lose their grip on us.

Philippians 2:5-11 — Jesus Christ is our ideal model for humility in obedience and service. Our thoughts, attitudes, and actions are to be patterned after Christ. His willingness to humbly obey his Father is a great example for us. As we take an honest moral inventory of our lives, we must humbly admit our faults so we can begin to change our destructive patterns. If we follow Jesus Christ in humility, learning to admit our failures without hesitation, nothing will be able to stop our recovery.

Gospel

Matthew 21:28-32 — Before we began the recovery process, we were like the first son, saying no to his father’s wishes. We turned our back to God and indulged our selfish desires. But later we saw where we were headed, changed our mind, and followed our Father. Although we have messed up our life, we are now obeying God. This is in sharp contrast to the son who said he would obey and then didn’t. People like this may be part of the established “church” and think they are following God but are really far from his ways. Our change of heart and lifestyle will gain us eternal life; their denial will lead to eternal punishment.

USED WITH PERMISSION: Arterburn, Stephen; Stoop, David. NLT Life Recovery Bible, Second Edition: Tyndale House Publishers.