Welcome to our Bible Study

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

October 23, 2011World Mission Sunday

In preparation for this Sunday’s Liturgy

In aid of focusing our homilies and sharing

Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM

1st reading: Exodus 22,20-26

20 "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. 21 You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. 22 If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. 23 My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. 24 "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. 25 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; 26 for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.

The focus is on not oppressing the poor.

1st reading: Exodus 22,20-26

Do not oppress 20 "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once

aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. 21 You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. 22 If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. 23 My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.

Be kind and charitable 24 "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my

people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. 25 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; 26 for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.

A simple outline!

1st reading: Exodus 22,20-26 Do not oppress 20 "You shall not molest or oppress an

alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. 21 You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. 22 If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. 23 My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.

Be kind and charitable 24 "If you lend money to one of your

poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. 25 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; 26 for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.

Commentary The first reading contains a lot of

commandments (mitzvot in Hebrew). There are 613 commandments in the

Torah. Vv.20-23 can be summed up as:

Do not oppress The aliens (foreigners, powerless,

strangers) The widow or orphan (fatherless,

without defender) The punishment is severe:

My wrath I will kill you with the sword I will make your wives widows and

children orphans. Vv.24-26 exhort us to be kind and

considerate. Not acting like an extortionist Not demanding interest on a loan Will return the borrowed cloak

(protection) before sundown. The cry of the poor is powerful: God will listen to them. In his compassion,

he will take heed.

Reflections on the 1st reading

We are a covenanted people. We have rights and privileges, as well as, obligations

and responsibilities. As God’s people, we are governed by his laws. His laws enjoin us to love the poor. His laws prohibit us to be oppressive to the poor. God listens to the prayer of the oppressed, the poor,

the widows, the orphans and the strangers. Do not take advantage of the ignorant and the

powerless.

Resp. Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.

2 I love you, O LORD, my strength,3 O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

3 My God, my rock of refuge,my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!4 Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,and I am safe from my enemies.

47 The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!Extolled be God my savior.51 You who gave great victories to your kingand showed kindness to your anointed.

Resp. Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51

R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.

2 I love you, O LORD, my strength,3 O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.

3 My God, my rock of refuge,my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!4 Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,and I am safe from my enemies.

47 The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!Extolled be God my savior.51 You who gave great victories to your kingand showed kindness to your anointed.

Commentary The psalm exclaims God as his

protector. In v.2, the psalmist expresses his

love for God. He recognizes God as the source of his strength.

In v.3, the psalmist considers God as his protection, his refuge and his salvation.

In v.4, the psalmist praises God for his safety.

V.47 affirms that God is alive and his protector, as in v.3

In v.51, the psalmist attributes to God the king’s victory over his enemies.

The psalmist considers Israel’s king as God’s anointed.

Reflections on the Psalm

God protects his people. He is their impregnable fortress. Do you take refuge in the Lord, when you are

in danger? Or, do you want to prove yourself by

endangering yourself? God wills our well-being and safety. He fights our own battles, when our enemies

are too strong for us.

2nd reading: 1 Thessalonians 1,5c-10

5c You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit, 7 so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and (in) Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from (the) dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

The focus is on the good deeds of the Christians in Thessalonica.

2nd reading: 1 Thessalonians 1,5c-10

Thessalonians as good imitators 5c You know what sort of people we were (among) you for your

sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit, 7 so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Their preaching and their faith spread throughout the place 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only

in Macedonia and (in) Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

People speak well about them 9 For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of

reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from (the) dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

A simple outline!

2nd reading: 1 Thessalonians 1,5c-10Thessalonians as good imitators 5c You know what sort of people we

were (among) you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit, 7 so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Their preaching and their faith spread throughout the place

8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and (in) Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

People speak well about them 9 For they themselves openly

declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from (the) dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

Commentary The converts have become like Paul

and his companions. They, too, received the word of God with affliction and with joy. V.5c.

As a result, they have become a model community throughout the land of the Greeks (North – Macedonia, South – Achaia). V.7

The whole country has taken notice of the word of the Lord due to their preaching and their faith in God. V.8

They have made a good impression. People say good things about them.

V.9 How well they received Paul and the

other missionaries How they have been converted to

the true God and to his Son.

Reflections on the 2nd reading

We, as a community (parish), can become like the Thessalonians.

We can gain prestige by showing interest in the word of God and in enduring afflictions that come along with it.

It is not true that evil things are worth the news.

Like the case of the Thessalonians, people can also talk well about us, when we welcome with warmth our missionaries and the word of God.

Maps ©1976,1978 UBS. Used with permission by Philippine Bible Society.

Gospel reading: Matthew 22,34-40

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them (a scholar of the law) tested him by asking, 36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 37 He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

The focus is on the greatest commandment.

Gospel reading: Matthew 22,34-40 34 When the Pharisees heard

that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them (a scholar of the law) tested him by asking, 36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 37 He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Commentary In v.34, the Pharisees (have no

love) come next to test Jesus. In vv.35-36, one of them asks:

What is the greatest commandment?

In v.37, Jesus quotes the OT. V.38 affirms the first and the

greatest commandment: Love of God with everything that you have.

In v.39, Jesus gives the second greatest commandment: Love of neighbor, as yourself.

In v.40, love is the foundation of everything else in the Old Testament.

Reflections on the gospel reading

Love is the name of the game. Love has both vertical and horizontal

dimensions. The vertical dimension points to loving God. The horizontal dimension points to loving

one’s fellow men and women. Both dimensions form the cross of our life. This is the desired cross that we carry on our

shoulders. We suffer because we love God and we love

our brethren.

Tying the 3 readings and the Psalm

The first reading talks about loving the poor. The psalm celebrates the loving God as

protector and savior. The second reading talks about loving the

word of God and spreading it through life. The gospel reading talks about the greatest

commandment of love.

How to develop your homily / sharing

Are you a loving person? We are all challenged, by our readings, to be a loving

people. In the first reading, God demands that we show love

to the poor, the alien, the stranger (foreigner). God threatens those who are oppressive to them. God threatens those who do not return what they

have borrowed from the poor, like their means of protection (mantle) and livelihood (tool).

The gospel reading picks up the Old Testament commandment on loving God and neighbor.

Jesus quotes the “Shema” of Deut 6,4-6. “Hear, O Israel, hear…” recited by the Jews twice a day.

Jesus wants that we love God full blast, 100%, not half-hearted.

He demands a total, animated, energetic and power-filled love.

Our love must have a big impact. When you love the poor and other people and God, don’t

withhold anything. (Huwag silang tipirin).

In the second reading, Paul affirms the love of the Thessalonians for Paul and the word of God they taught.

The loving response of the community was infectious. It spread throughout the land of Greece.

Our love must be outstanding and noticeable. To have a big impact on other people, our

love must be shown communally. We must build a community of love.

In the parishes where we belong, we must examine ourselves if, first of all, we have love.

Do our parish leaders (PPC) have love for their members and the people?

Do the parishioners love their own parish? Are they proud of it?

If they love, they must love their catechists, priests and missionaries and the word of God they proclaim.

In many parishes, the parishioners do not give an impression that they love their priests and the missionaries.

Without love, it is impossible to establish a relationship with God and others.

Without love, we cannot serve the church. Without love, we cannot accomplish anything: we

cannot defend the poor and the oppressed. Without love, we can easily turn into an oppressor,

victimizing the weak. Without love, there is no salvation.

The eucharist is the sacrament of love. Reception of the eucharist is a sign that we

love God and we take responsibility for our neighbor.

The eucharist is only for those who love.

Our Context of Sin and Grace Loveless Without affection or sympathy Inconsiderate Molester Frigid, dry, stale Oppressive Anti-poor Anti-social Extortionist Usurer Borrowing without returning Godless Too independent

Full of enthusiasm Exciting life Defender of the poor Justice and Peace Movements With feelings, very human Affectionate, loving persons Understanding Considerate, helpful Knows oneself Passionate

Suggested Songs

Paano Namin Masasabi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVN-MThZQDs

Yesteryears’ Curse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlKeY-Ikk2U