Faith Sharing
22nd Sunday of Year A
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Word Sunday
CARMELITES
Lectio Divina
- Why does Peter try to deter Jesus from facing the passion?
- Why does Jesus call Peter Satan?
- How do you confront life, with the logic of God and of Jesus or with human logic and that of Peter?
- In your concrete everyday life, what does it mean to lose one’s life for the sake of Jesus?
- What are your crosses and who are your Peters?
22nd Sunday of Year A
Desperation, Not Despair
How can you be mad at a person, yet love him or her at the same time?
In these few verses, Jeremiah outlined his rage against and his surrender to the Lord. Are these two attitudes incompatible? Can one be mad at God? Can he or she say “Yes” to God at the same time?
A priest I know once said, “It’s okay to get mad at God. It’s not okay to give up on God.” Jeremiah clearly proved this point. – READ MORE
Have you ever been mad at God? Has serving the Lord caused you so much stress, you’ve doubted his wisdom? What keeps you loyal to him?
SOURCE: Word-Sunday Permission for use. All materials are the property of Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2022). Viewers may copy any material for use in any non-profit ministry. Materials may not be sold or used for personal financial gain.
22nd Sunday of Year A
Morning Prayer
What is your morning routine? How does prayer fit into that routine?
Have you ever noticed that activities done first thing in the morning become easily acquired habits, while those activities done later become sporadic? Wise people “front load” their day, so those activities they deem important will be accomplished. Of course, a wise person limits the number of activities in the morning, so they don’t conflict with demanding time schedules.
What does the wise Christian do first thing in the morning? The obvious answer is prayer. But is the prayer merely habitual reaction or is it a deeply felt yearning for God that day?
Psalm 63 was a morning prayer that cried out for divine intimacy. The speaker in the psalm prayed for God to come close; he saw worship in the Temple as the highest activity in life. – READ MORE
As you place your day before God, give him praise and reflect on your need to give him praise.
SOURCE: Word-Sunday Permission for use. All materials are the property of Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2022). Viewers may copy any material for use in any non-profit ministry. Materials may not be sold or used for personal financial gain.
22nd Sunday of Year A
Faith As Self Surrender
What bad habit or vice do you find difficult to give up? Why is it difficult to rid yourself of this nuisance?
God works in strange ways. He shows mercy when we expect his wrath. He gives humanity goodness in the face of evil. He transforms evil into a greater good. Death becomes life. The sinner becomes the saved…
Like the old analogy about the Christian lifestyle as a tandem bicycle ride, the believer was to allow Christ to drive. In this way, the follower sacrificed pride and self-determination for the will of God. No matter how fast, bumpy, or dangerous the ride might be, the believer was only to trust and peddle. – READ MORE
How do you offer your day to God? How do you make seeking his will day-by-day process? How do you include you bad habits or vices in your prayer of daily offering?
SOURCE: Word-Sunday Permission for use. All materials are the property of Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2022). Viewers may copy any material for use in any non-profit ministry. Materials may not be sold or used for personal financial gain.
22nd Sunday of Year A
Live for Tomorrow
Why is it easier for us to focus on today than the future? Why do we make decisions for the future based upon today’s needs?
As the 1960’s pop hit from the Yardbirds states, “Live for today.” Many people use that phrase as a motto. Our material culture uses it as a mantra. Enjoy life today and postpone pain until tomorrow. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
Sometimes this attitude seeps into our prayer life. We ask God with expectation, not anticipation…
eter had expectations for Jesus. What do we expect from God? Why are we surprised when he chides us for our selfishness?
Jesus compared two ways of life, the way to true life and the way to death. This analogy was popular in the early Church. As one of the first Christian catechisms ever written, the Teachings of the Twelve Apostles (circa 110 A.D.) painted the Christian life in these terms. One road led to self-giving, light, and life. The other road led to selfish sin, darkness, and death.
Notice how Jesus compared the two ways as focal points. The road to life traveled through suffering and death. To follow him meant looking beyond what the disciple possessed at the present moment, even at the risk of losing it all. In fact, physical death meant total loss, possessions, power, and relations. “We are born into the world alone. We will die alone.” – READ MORE
What are the benefits of sacrifice? How does desire postponed bring you closer to Jesus?
Make a short list of your important possessions, relationships, and powers. Offer that list to the Lord. Pray for guidance and prudence. And pray for faith when those things and people are taken from you.
SOURCE: Word-Sunday Permission for use. All materials are the property of Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2022). Viewers may copy any material for use in any non-profit ministry. Materials may not be sold or used for personal financial gain.
Discussion Questions
22nd Sunday of Year A
FIRST READING
Jeremiah was a young prophet who spoke out against King Jehoiakim. The King was so upset with Jeremiah’s words pointing out injustice he burnt Jeremiah’s writings. Prophets were passionately aware of the call to love God and show this in true worship. To care for the poor and the stranger through hospitality and giving. Often this put them in conflict with the religious, political and social systems of their day. Do you see in the world a cause for ‘crying out’? Do you see and wish to share outrage at what is accepted by society? What would you feel is a desire ‘burning in your heart, imprisoned in your bones’?
SECOND READING
Both Roman citizens and Jews in Rome were familiar with offering sacrifices in a temple. St Paul leads them on. It is not an external sacrifice of food to God which is required, but your very bodies offered in loving service. Do you consider your daily faithful service as an ‘offering’ pleasing to God? How could you offer your body more to God? Are you conformed to this age or the will of God?
GOSPEL
Within minutes of Peter being made the ‘rock’ upon which the Church would be built, Jesus now calls him ‘Satan’. Although Peter recognised Jesus as the Christ and Son of God he was wrong in understanding what this actually meant. The Jewish hope was of a glorious ruler who would put to death all enemies of Israel. It was inconceivable that the ‘Christ’ the ‘anointed one’ should suffer. He was supposed to make others suffer. Can you glimpse how difficult it would have been for Peter and the disciples to have their understanding of the ‘Christ’ changed? Would you naturally presume glory rather than suffering is fitting for God?
Satan is a Hebrew word meaning ‘adversary’. One who puts another pathway against you which leads away from God. Peter is suggesting ‘another way’ from the path to suffering in Jerusalem. He is acting as Satan does. He is told to ‘get behind’ (the position of a disciple following his master). What are you arguing with God about in your life? Does it involve the pathway of comfort and glory, or suffering and self denial? Will you ‘get behind’ or stay arguing?
SOURCE: Living the Word resources are created by Fr Frank Bird a Marist priest and Mrs Bev McDonald, ACSD, distributed by Marist Laity Auckland, NZ
GOSPEL
1. Short-term loss is sometimes neces- sary for long-term gain as a student studying or an athlete training can testi- fy. When have you found that denying yourself proved to be worthwhile be- cause of what you gained afterwards?
2. Jesus was teaching his followers that the path of discipleship would involve pain and suffering. Peter would have none of it. When have you found that taking up your cross brought you life, even though at the time it may have been difficult?
3. Jesus knew that because his good news message was not acceptable to the authorities he would suffer and die, but God would see that evil would not have the last say. Have you seen a good news message survive even though opponents tried to stifle it?
4. Jesus promised that those who suffer for the kingdom would be rewarded. Perhaps, even in this earthly life, you have experienced reward.
SOURCE: Hearers of the Word
FIRST READING
Jeremiah couldn’t ignore the call to prophecy even though it brought him much ridicule. Who today speaks out about injustice in areas like human trafficking, racial discrimination, police profiling, gun violence, climate change, the death penalty?
SECOND READING
How do you discern God’s will? Does certainty about the will of God’s come suddenly? Can it emerge gradualIy? Do you imagine you have made the decision and then check for feelings of consolation or desolation?
GOSPEL
You cannot take your money and possessions with you when you die. If you “lose your life” in love for others, does that give you something to take with you? Is it the love in your heart that goes with you when you die?
SOURCE: Sunday Web Site at Saint Louis University
GOSPEL
1. In what ways has the cross become so familiar that it is no longer a sign of suffering and of dying? Is it good that in America we have shied away from the bloody crosses and crucifixes that were part of the Spanish heritage? Can there be a dying that is not bloody and not painful?
2. Do you suppose that Peter resisted Jesus’ version of messiahship because he had some intuitive knowledge that if Jesus was to suffer and died then he, too, would have to follow the same path? Is it true that we also tend to gloss over the sufferings of Jesus so that we will not have to face up to our own suffering and dying in his name?
3. Why does Jesus rebuke Peter in this Gospel? Does the rebuke apply in some way to the path that many of us have chosen in the Church today? How can we avoid the rebuke of Jesus in our lives? Can the Church community be so committed to the cross of Jesus that it will not even seek any worldly honors or prestige?
SUGGESTION FOR CHRISTIAN ACTION
Each day this week, be on the alert for the many ways in which we have chosen to be conformed to the world rather than to be crucified with Christ on the cross! Make a list of the worldly values which have infiltrated themselves into our church practices.
SOURCE: Portland Diocese
FIRST READING
Jeremiah felt ‘duped’ by God. What do you think he meant by that? Have you ever felt that life without your ‘yes to God’ would be easier?
Jeremiah compares his relationship to God as “a fire burning in his heart.” What might be an image you would use to describe your relationship with him?
SECOND READING
In the second reading, Paul tells us that we must not “let our lives be conformed to this world.” Can you name some ‘ways of the world’ that it can be easy enough for Christians to embrace?
GOSPEL
The ‘Covid-19 event’ is and may continue to be a big cross for many people to carry. How did it most impact your life?
Name one thing today’s Gospel says to us that we disciples of Jesus need to heed and act on.
RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD
Share with the person next to you one way you can act on this week’s readings. Suggestion: Be aware of how you are or may be embracing worldly ways. Do what you can to push back against them.