Catching Up On Two Weeks

10/15/2014

Sunday Oct. 12th

Here is the link to the Sunday Readings for Sunday, October 12th 2014.
The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Question #1: Please answer this in the comment section below.
What do you make of the King's encounter with the person not dressed with the wedding garment? Why does the King throw him out? Does this reaction make sense to you or not?

Sunday Oct. 19th

Here is the link to the Sunday Readings for Sunday, October 19th 2014.
The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Question #2: Please answer this in the comment section below.
How do you reconcile the saying "I am the Lord your God, there is no other" of the First Reading with what Jesus replies when asked if it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar? (You can take a look at the Sunday Bulletin for some more insight).

5 Comments

Karen M.

10/16/2014 09:42:35 am

Question #1
Invitations come with expectations. If you are invited to a party, wedding, dinner, etc. you are expected to show the host respect and to appreciate that you have been graciously included, which was not done by the guest. God is graciously and lovingly extending an invitation to us. In accepting that invitation we must be respectful of God and what God requires of us. To be worthy of God’s invitation and participation in His celebration, we should approach Him respectfully and ask for His mercy.

Question #2
We live in a nation of laws made by the lawmakers we elect. These are meant to maintain a safe and orderly society. As citizens we are expected to respect law and order. God expects and requires that our loyalty is first to Him as our Father and Creator (as opposed to, for example, a statesman). We can be good participants in our world, but God’s law is the never changing law that we must obey.

Jay

10/17/2014 01:47:21 am

I don't know if we covered this yet, but the situation in Question #1 also reminds me of the church group that came together to pray for rain, but only one little girl thought to bring an umbrella. Somewhere in our belief we fall short of actually really believing that God's Relationship with us will be all that it will be. And this is most noticeable when God invites, God shows up, and we aren't all there.
Question #2 is a bit trickier in deciding what is Caesar's and what is God's. It depends on the relationship between the church and state. When they are both for the same thing (a clear evil) then there isn't much of a problem. If they are indifferent to each other than they don't encounter problems either. But when they are in conflict with each other, that is when it gets tricky. We'd like to think we follow God first, but it isn't that simple usually.

Jeff

10/18/2014 10:16:49 pm

Question #1
I think that what Jesus is saying is that It's not enough to just "show up" and be expected to be welcomed with open arms. There are expectations on what it means to be worthy of God's invitation. God is willing to welcome us, regardless of our past and background ("The servants went out into the streets
and gathered all they found, bad and good alike"), however we are then expected to show reverence to God and love to our neighbors.

Question #2
My interpretation is that Jesus is saying that there's a difference between what it means to pay homage to God versus paying man. Money is a concept created by man and God is not concerned with what one man pays to another man. To pay homage to God is to recognize is actions and to realize that all would not be possible without Him.

Jay

10/19/2014 12:59:48 am

Your comments are succinct and on track. There is obviously much more that could be said, questioned, and further developed, but (as is true for Catholics or many other disciplines) sometimes it is better to say what is enough to be said.

Jim

10/25/2014 10:17:50 pm

Question #1: I think there was an expectation for those who were invited to show, and when they did not, the King invites everyone and anyone. But even among this group, there are expectations: it is not enough to show up, but instead guests are judged worthy. The person not dressed appropriately is questioned, and when he has no reason for his lack of conformity, he is cast out by the King. I believe the lesson Jesus instills here is two-fold: the invitation into the Kingdom of Heaven should not be taken for granted, and just because the invitation is open does not equate to automatic admittance. We will be judged before being allowed in.

question #2: This one was tough. I believe the lesson here is that despite whatever man-made laws, government, and loyalties we create among ourselves, we are required first and foremost to be loyal to God through Christ first, obeying his laws and teachings over all others (which are created by man). If I'm way off here please let me know.

Author

A place for observations, mostly about the intersection of Religion & Everyday Life

RCIA Files

bible_exercise.pdf
File Size:	1781 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Parts of the Mass
File Size:	28 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

First Rite(s)
File Size:	591 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File