Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 4, 2013:

Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 2: 21-23
Psalm 90: 3-6, 12-14, 17
Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11
Luke 12: 13-21

One of the seven core principles of Catholic Social Teaching involves "Rights and Responsibilities".

People have basic rights and responsibilities because of their human dignity which reflects the fact that they have been created in God's image. Catholic teaching emphasizes that people have a right to life and to the basic necessities that provide quality to life: food, shelter, health care, education and employment. We are called to respect the rights of others and to seek the common good.

• What do the readings for this weekend have to do with this principle?
• What challenges you? What is affirming for you?
• What action might you be called to in response to Scripture?

120 Years of Catholic Social Teaching

May 15 marked the 120th anniversary of the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum (The Condition of Labor), and this link summarizes a panel presentation at a recent conference marking this significant occasion.

At its most basic, the consistent social teaching of the church (which itself is rooted in Scripture from Genesis onward) is concerned with five themes:

1. Affirming Human Dignity
2. Valuing Work
3. Developing the Common Good
4. Creating Justice
5. Building Peace

Please don't think, 'oh how sweet, a nod to an old, out of touch document' and head straight back to updating your Facebook page. Please go to this recent editorial to read snippets of how both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI have continued and developed the tradition of social teaching, affirming the right of laborers to expect just wages and fair working conditions. This teachings may be a challenge to our American capitalist individualistic mindsets, but they are certainly rooted in the message of Jesus Christ - the One who brings us life in all its fullness!

Today in Scripture

(Well, yesterday in Scripture, technically)
An excerpt from Sunday's second reading, from the 5th chapter of Galatians:

For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.

But do not use this freedom

as an opportunity for the flesh;

rather, serve one another through love.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement,

namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you go on biting and devouring one another,

beware that you are not consumed by one another.

At our creation, God granted us free will. Through our redemption, Jesus freed us from the overwhelming power of sin. And the power of the infinite Love of the Holy Trinity made effective in us by the Holy Spirit helps us to reach out in loving kindness, service, sacrifice and joy to one another.

We have the freedom to treat every human interaction as a contest. The Scripture seems to suggest that will just make losers of us all. We also have the freedom to treat every 'contest' as an opportunity for learning more about ourselves and our so-called opponents as the sons and daughters or God that we all are. This invitation to grow in respect and love may not always be pleasant at that time, but if we embrace the freedom of caring for the good of others, we all benefit in the end.

There are seven basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Based in Scripture, these fundamental elements speak to how we as Christians are to live day to day, affecting our relationships in the home, at work, in society and as a resident of planet Earth!

One of these principles of Catholic Social Teaching is the "Rights and Responsibilities". Here is a summary of that principle, as provided by the Social Concerns Committee of St. Andrew the Apostle parish.

While public debate is often divided between those who focus on personal responsibility and those who focus on social responsibility, our tradition insists that both are necessary. People have basic rights and responsibilities because of their human dignity which reflects the fact that they have been created in God's image.  Catholic teaching emphasizes that people have a fundamental right to life and to the basic necessities that provide quality to life: food, shelter, health care, education and employment.  We are called to respect the rights of others and to seek the common good.

Today in Scripture

 Mark 6: 53-56
After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

Most of us are familiar with the Gospel story of  the paralyzed man being lowered through the roof of a house by his friends so Jesus could cure him. Striking about today's passage is the sense of the scale of that same action repeated multiple times. Consider the effort expended by friends and relatives to bring the sick to Jesus. The sense of community and strong connections to others is evident. The sense that helping another to find themselves in Christ's presence can effect real healing is an invitation to humble and gentle evangelization.

There are seven basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Based in Scripture, these fundamental elements speak to how we as Christians are to live day to day, affecting our relationships in the home, at work, in society and as a resident of planet Earth!

One of these principles of Catholic Social Teaching is the "Community and the Common Good". Here is a summary of that principle, as provided by the Social Concerns Committee of St. Andrew the Apostle parish.

The Mystery of the Trinity involves the relationship of complete love among the three Persons in One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Persons made in God's image, we must model God's self-giving love. Hence the human person is both sacred and fundamentally social. In community we realize the fulfillment of our dignity and rights in relationship with and to others.

• How does this principle relate to our Scripture for today? 
• How does it apply in your life?

Today in Scripture

Mark 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.

At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them, “Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”

Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Can't you imagine Jesus' exasperation with the Pharisees?

Have you ever had one of those experiences? Once I was visiting a parish with a school, and subtly (I thought) chewing gum so as not to offend anyone post-lunch. Yes, I saw the signs advising "no smoking or gum chewing on-campus", but I knew I was not going to stick the wad on a wall or under a chair and there were no children around to whom I could be a bad example. Well, the person in charge noticed and presented me with a trash can in which to dispose of my great offense. I did not protest- I WAS a visitor and I DID see the signs, but I will confess that I felt as if I had been treated like a child.

Granted, any society or institution needs a set of agreed-upon rules in order to function smoothly. You've got them in your own home (even if YOU are 'your household') - can dishes sit in the sink, are there limits to acceptable TV channels, what about that toothpaste cap? When we all understand what is expected (don't kill people, don't steal, pay and do your fair share) we can all accomplish more, and in a much more pleasant atmosphere, than any one of us hiding within our personal fortresses.

Sometimes though, we can hide behind the rules and miss the reason for them. Of course, the Sabbath is our weekly reminder to focus our praise and attention on God, who created all and sustains us in life. And we really should cut down or eliminate the things that distract us from that endeavor. Remember though - in ancient cultures, there was no 40-hour, 5-day work week; you might be working 7 days a week, sun-up to sundown! The concept of Sabbath then, was to attend to the very human need to rest, to restore energy and to nurture one's most important relationships (God and family). So the Sabbath laws were created to protect people from not getting their rest, as well as turn their hearts and minds to God on a regular basis. Some people (then and now) get so invested that every tiny regulation gets followed correctly that they miss the big picture. I can imagine that a number of Pharisees would be worn out at the end of the Sabbath from making certain that they and those around them had followed all the rules of resting!

So: this is not to counsel anarchy, but common sense. If you are faced with a tough choice between honoring a system or honoring the dignity of a person... consider your options, consider the consequences, and consider what option Jesus might have chosen.

One of the most basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching is the "Dignity of the Human Person". Here is a summary of that principle, as provided by the Social Concerns Committee of St. Andrew the Apostle parish.

All people are a reflection of the image of God and thus all human life, at all stages from conception through death, is sacred. The basic dignity that each person possesses comes from God, and therefore all discrimination is wrong. People take precedence over things and structures. Systems are meant to serve people, not vice versa.

• How does this principle relate to our Scripture for today? 
• How does it apply in your life?

Today in Scripture

An excerpt from the first reading today:
Beloved, we love God because he first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
(full text: 1 John 4:19-5:4)

Today's Gospel, Luke 4: 14-22
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

There are seven basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Based in Scripture, these fundamental elements speak to how we as Christians are to live day to day, affecting our relationships in the home, at work, in society and as a resident of planet Earth!

One of these principles of Catholic Social Teaching is the "Option for the Poor". Here is a summary of that principle, as provided by the Social Concerns Committee of St. Andrew the Apostle parish.

The Gospel calls Christians to put the needs of the poor first. A common moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable people. Wherever there is structural injustice Christians are called to oppose it. Those with the greatest need especially require the greatest response.

• How does this principle relate to our Scripture for today? 
• How does it apply in your life?