Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 11:1-13)
The overriding theme is the compassion and loving-kindness of the Father. If human beings, prone to sin as they are, know how to care for their children, how much more can we expect from the God who is holy and who bestows the Holy Spirit on receptive souls?
Do I trust in the fatherly love of God, or does failed human love cloud my vision?
In what sense do those who ask always receive?
We pray for those who struggle to believe in the goodness of God.
We pray for those who promote false images of God.
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 12:13-21)
God reminds us that the gospel is the ultimate answer to the human search for wisdom. Rejection of it is rejection of the true path to God and to life. Fulness of life comes not from possessions but from the discovery of the trustworthy God of the poor. This is of enormous relevance to the world of today, both developed and developing, in which desperate poverty is so often found alongside extraordinary wastefulness and extravagance.
Do I allow the craving for more to control my life or my decisions?
In what sense do those who ask always receive?
We pray for those who are trapped by their own addictions and desires.
We pray for the gift of true freedom.
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 12:32-48)
The theme of constant readiness is developed by reference to the watches of the night. The lateness of the hour underlines the sacrifice required in staying alert. Christians have already experienced the saving death and resurrection of the Lord. Now we await his return.
Would it be accurate to say that I have my lamp lit to go out and meet the Lord?
Am I prepared to persevere in the life of faith with joy and hope?
We pray for courage for Christians who struggle with their faith.
We pray for the coming of the Lord.