Adult Faith Formation & Initiation

“For everything there is a price.”  This idea is so ancient and so well known that there’s no one person to whom this quote or idea can be attributed.  It’s practically built into our human nature and human condition.  Put another way, there’s always trade-offs to be made when we have to make decisions.  We can’t have our cake and eat it too and those who think otherwise are fooling themselves.  There’s no such thing as a “free ride.”  When we elect to follow Christ there is a cost.  Our readings this week remind us that following the way of Jesus is not going to be easy: The Word for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 9:13-18b Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17 Philemon 1:9-10, 12-17 Luke 14:25-33 Our first reading comes from the book of Wisdom, a work that dates back to some 50 years before Christ.  Given its date and origins, we can consider this to be a contemporary work for Jesus and his Apostles.  Like last week’s first reading from Sirach (dating about 200 years before Christ)

Humility.  As Christians we are taught that we should be humble before God, not only recognizing God’s greatness but also recognizing that none of us is any better than the other.  This is a difficult concept for us, however, because our human nature seems to push us toward exceptionalism.  Our society has developed a cult of celebrity by putting people up on a pedestal as we do with certain athletes or actors while at the same time fighting to get on that pedestal ourselves.  But our readings this week suggests a different path: The Word for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11 Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a Luke 14:1, 7-14 Our first reading comes from the book of Sirach.  Though this book is not included in the Jewish and Protestant canons, Catholics have included it as inspired.  The work dates back to the second century before Jesus and is attributed to Yeshua ben Sira, a notable sage who lived in Jerusalem.  Like most wisdom literature in t

Judgment Day.  Christian teaching tells us that at the end of our lives, or at the end of days, we will be called to account for everything we’ve done (or not done) in this life.  This has led to some very powerful sermons (particularly from our Protestant brothers and sisters) on the need to repent and follow the Lord.  While we Catholics tend to shy away from this kind of fire-and-brimstone preaching (seeking instead to focus on God’s ever-present mercy), the truth remains that not everyone is going to be welcomed into paradise: The Word for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time Isaiah 66:18-21 Psalm 117:1, 2 Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 Luke 13:22-30 Our first reading comes from the final chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah.  The reading itself seems pleasant enough, a story of bringing the nations together under the Lord.  What we miss, however, is the larger context from which this passage comes, which is from Isaiah’s “Final Judgment” discourse.  Note that the passage says, “I will sen

The battle between good and evil is real, yet today’s society has, to a certain extent, marginalized evil in a way that makes it seem it doesn’t really exist.  Yes, there are those events that are truly horrendous and though we may recognize them as evil, even for those we’ve grown somewhat complacent (yet another mass shooting, yet another high profile person charged with sexual misconduct).  Our numbness to these larger events has also dulled our judgements to lesser evils, those that can lead one in the wrong direction.  Our readings this week try to stir things up to point us in the right direction: The Word for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18 Hebrews 12:1-4 Luke 12:49-53 Our first reading is from the book of the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah, as we may remember, is that great prophet who foresaw and witnessed the beginning of the end for Jerusalem.  Our passage this Sunday takes place shortly before the fall.  King Zedekiah, the last king

Faithful servants.  This is what we are called to be as Christians, but do we fully understand what this means?  Our readings for this 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time explores both what it means to be faithful, and what it means to be a servant: The Word for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 18:6-9 Psalm 33, 1, 12, 18-19, 20-22 Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or 11:1-2, 8-12 Luke 12:32-48 or 12:35-40 Our first reading is a short passage from the book of Wisdom.  As always when we read from the book of Wisdom, it’s helpful to remember that for Jesus and the Apostles, this was a contemporary work, having been written only some 50 years before Christ.  It was also popular because it comes from a people who were being persecuted – the Jews of Alexandria in the final throws of the Seleucid Empire – expressing feelings that the Jews of Jerusalem likely felt under the Romans.  In our short passage this week we are reminded of the Exodus story, how those who trusted in the Lord celebrated the Passover