Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Thirtieth Ordinary Sunday

Images

Loving God

Loving people

Points to note

This is a lovely reading, which forms the crux of our Christian living.  There is, however, a danger in not preparing well enough as the session could be very unfocussed.

There is little that is doctrinal in this passage.  There is no complicated plot or allegory to unravel.  All in all, there is little to explain.  We ought to move on rather quickly to the practical aspects of loving.  For this instance, we concentrate on loving God and the image of him as the head of the family.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,

to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain to the children that Jesus had just had to fend off attempts by the Jews to trap him.  Remember the trap of the Pharisees last week with the coin?  Saducees are a group of powerful Jews during Jesus’ times who do not believe in certain things like angels and the resurrection.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with your spirit.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew

All:   Glory to you O Lord

 (Mt 22: 23-40)

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Saducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, “Which is the greatest of the commandment of the Law?”  Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second resembles it: you must love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Discussion

Explain the setting: one by one, over the past few weeks, we had different groups of people coming to Jesus trying to trap him.  This week it is the turn of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were people who were very strict about following the precepts and rituals of the Mosaic Law, as contained in the first five books of the Old Testament.  They believe that salvation comes from strictly following the Law to the letter.  So, from the Ten commandments, they expanded them to 637 commandments. 

For instance, from the simple commandment to keep the Sabbath Holy, the Pharisees defined it that one should do no work on the Sabbath.  Then to the question what constitute work, they came up with 39 prohibited categories.  One of these categories is to carry something from one domain to another.  So, what happens when someone’s cow fall into the ditch?  Wouldn’t common sense dictate that they pull it out?  But that would contravene the Law.  Which is why Jesus asked this very question in Lk 14:5 and Mt 12:11.  Which is why Pharisees disliked him.

So the trap set was like this: with 637 commandments, you can expect people to have very differing views as to which one is the favourite.  So, ask Jesus to state which of the 637 is his favourite and watch him get bogged down with everyone disagreeing with him and trying to advance their own favourite.

Jesus, however, turned the tables on them by appealing to the more basic commandment, from which all these 637 spring: the commandment to Love.  In Christianity, the injunction to love and mercy overrides everything else.  It is just due to our human inadequacies that we are not always able to find an answer to love constantly in this complex modern human society.  Love and mercy, while considered a virtue in most other religions, is obligatory in Christianity.

Do people like Pharisees still exist today – people who think applying the letter of the law is the key to salvation?  Yes, of course.  Modern Orthodox Jews have reinterpreted the commandments in the light of modern technology.  For instance, another of the 39 prohibited categories for the Sabbath includes lighting and extinguishing fires.  Now, how does a modern car start?  Spark plugs and an internal combustion engine – they involve constant lighting and extinguishing fires.  So, driving cars is prohibited for orthodox Jews on their Sabbath.  Would you like to live like this?

The Islamic religion is also based on strict reading of the Quran.  And some interpretation is more conservative than others.  For instance, Muslims also have a story in the hadiths of an adulterous woman being brought to the Prophet for him to decide what to do with her.  But unlike Jesus who forgave her, the Prophet instead ordered her to be stoned to death as that is what was stipulated in the Law.

Even Christians are not immune, with some fundamentalist Christians taking a very literalist view of what the scriptures says.  For instance, there are churches that deny blood transfusions because of their reading of Old Testament passages.

So, in carrying out our religious duties, we must always remember that the injunction to love comes before anything else.  Which is why Pope Francis has constantly highlighted the need for mercy in pastoral duty rather than a blind adherence to the letter of the laws of the Church. The Laws were made for us to help us love more.  If the Laws to not enable us to love, do the Laws need to be relooked into?

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Twenty-ninth Ordinary Sunday

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Things that should be given to God

Points to note

This is a simple and well-known story but there seems to be a dearth of materials in the story to make a good discussion.  It is recommended that we concentrate on idea that we are citizens of two societies and that we contribute to both.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

You will shine in the world like bright stars

because you are offering it the word of life.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain that Pharisees are Jews who believes that the only way to heaven is to follow strictly all laws to the point that laws can even be more important than love.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with your spirit.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew

All:   Glory to you O Lord

 (Mt 22: 15-21)

The Pharisees went to discuss between them how to trap Jesus in what he said.  And they sent their disciples to him, together with the Herodians, to say, “Master, we know that you are an honest man and teach the way of God in an honest way, and that you are not afraid of anyone, because a man’s rank means nothing to you.  Tell us your opinion, then.  Are we allowed to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”  But Jesus was aware of their intentions and replied, “You hypocrites!  Why do you set this trap for me?  Let me see the money you pay the tax with.”  They handed him a coin and he said, “Whose head is this on the coin?  Whose name?”  “Caesar’s,” they replied.  He then said to them, “Very well, give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar - and to God what belongs to God.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Discussion

Do we not belong to two families?  God’s family and our family at home.  Discuss the similarities of the two families: each has a head, all members know each other, etc.  Concentrate on the fact that each member has obligations to each other in the families.  Discuss the kind of work we do for each other in each of the families. 

Explain that we also belong to two societies: the human society and the divine.  Each has its own set of rules: the laws of society and the laws of the Bible.  Discuss the obligations of each set of laws.

Who is the head of the government?  Who is the head of the Church.  The king/prime minister/president and God.  Do we owe anything to them?  To answer this, what are the symbols of government?  A dollar note.  Actually, it can be any symbol, but try to lead them to a symbol with a picture of the king/queen/president on it, e.g., in a government office, a picture of the king/queen/president on the wall or a stamp with the king’s/queen’s/president’s picture on it.  Eventually, lead them back to the dollar note. 

Discuss the symbol of the Church: the crucifix.  What God asks of us is in that symbol: for us to do things for him out of love.  Discuss what else that is on the crucifix that God requires from us.

Take a look at the crucifix and see what is it on top. It is a square with the letters "INRI" on it, representing the proclamation that Pontus Pilate put on the cross to state the crime Jesus was supposed to have committed: "Iesu Nazarene Rex Idumea" which means "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews". Discuss what type of king that Jesus was. Washe the type of king that we have around?  As a Christian anointed as priest, prophet and king, our kingly role is carried out as a service to others.

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Twenty-eighth Ordinary Sunday

Images

Preparing for a celebration

Points to note

There are actually two parables in this Sunday’s reading, although treated as one in the reading.  You may wish to concentrate on one or the other.  Both parables are in the nature of allegories. 

The first parable is akin to that of last Sunday and it may be an idea to revisit the leaflet (cf. Sunday 27).  Many of the points raised there apply again this week.  Role-playing would also be useful here.  In introducing the first parable, it is advisable to refer to what was done last Sunday to refresh the memory.  This would reinforce the idea in the children’s minds that the readings for the Sundays are part of an integral plan.

The second parable introduces a new concept of being ready, which has not been touched on in the last few Sundays.  Please refer to the adult’s leaflet for the details of this reading.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

The Word was made flesh and lived among us;

to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Go through with them again the nature of a parable and what allegories are.  Ask them to watch out for the persons the characters in the parable represent.  Remind the children of the reading last week.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with your spirit.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew

All:   Glory to you O Lord

 (Mt 22:1-14)

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding.  He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come.  Next he sent some more servants.  ‘Tell those who have been invited’, he said, ‘that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready.  Come to the wedding.’  But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants and killed them.  The king was furious.  He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town.  Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready; but those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the cross-roads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.’  So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing wedding clothes, and said to him, ‘How did you get in here, my friend, without wedding clothes?’  And the man was silent.  Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark.’  For many are called, but few are chosen.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Discussion

Has anybody helped prepare for a wedding?  Was there a lot of preparation to do?  Get the children to discuss whose wedding they helped prepare and what they personally did in the wedding preparations.  Discuss what else others did to prepare.  If no one in the group has helped in a wedding, replace with another celebration:  birthday party, etc.

How many of us have attended a wedding feast?  Do we dress up well for the wedding?  Discuss how the host would feel if we turn up for the feast in shabby clothes or clothes that we wear at home.  And this is after all the hard work that they have put into preparing the wedding feast.

The mass we have at Church every Sunday is also a feast and there is much preparation to do.  Has anyone helped in preparing for a mass?  Discuss the preparations needed for a mass: the priest has to pray, and prepare his homily and the prayers; the lectors have to rehearse their readings and pray over them; the choir will practise the hymns; the other ministers need to know what is expected of them and pray; the sacristan gets the church and the altar ready; the altar has to be decorated with flowers, etc..

Jesus invites us to be with him in Paradise.  Paradise is usually described as a big banquet.  Have you made any preparation for this feast?  Going by the same thread as the earlier discussions, the children will be looking at how the host prepares for this banquet.  Eventually, bring the discussion round to our preparation to attend the banquet.  Ask how upset they would be if guests turn up at the wedding or birthday party dressed as they would at home.  Similarly with God if we do not prepare ourselves to attend the banquet in Paradise.  How do we prepare ourselves for the banquet in Paradise?  By loving, praying, caring, etc.  Spend some time to discuss this.

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Twenty-seventh Ordinary Sunday

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God love us

Points to note

This is very vivid parable and is very much an allegory.  In fact, Matthew has amended Mark’s version to fit it more into the history of Israel.  Details can be found in the adults leaflet.  Role-playing should work very well with this reading and it would be quite fun, too. 

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

I call you my friend, says the Lord,

because I have made known to you

everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Gospel

(optional) Have a missal at hand and read the first reading informally as an introduction (Is 5:1-7).  Explain that this is a love ballad about God’s love for us.  Read it slowly as a piece of poetry and paint a picture of God’s love lavished on his vineyard.  This imagery is very important to depict God’s sadness at the actions of the tenants in the Gospel reading.

Before the Gospel reading, explain to the children what is an allegory: it is a story where each character and action represent something or someone.  Tell the children that this parable is an allegory very much like the one we had last week and you would like them to identify whom the characters in the parable represent.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with your spirit.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew

All:   Glory to you O Lord

 (Mt 21: 33-43)

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, “Listen to another parable.  There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  Then he leased it to tenants and went abroad.  When harvest time came, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his rent.  But the tenants seized the servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third.  Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number.  And they did the same thing to them in the same way.  Finally he sent his son to them.  ‘They will respect my son’ he said.  But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.  Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.’  So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”  They answered, “He will bring those wicked people to a wicked end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the rent to him when the season arrives.”  Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

       It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone.

       This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see?

I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord

Discussion

So, who were the various people in the story?  The owner represents God; the tenants, the chief priests and the elders of the people; the servants, the prophets; and the son, Jesus who was killed outside the walls of Jerusalem.  Who is the vineyard?  Be prepared to explain why a thing here is used to represent people.  Go back to the first reading, if necessary.  The vineyard represents Israel, which God has entrusted to the priests to take care.  The grapes from the harvest represent the love and worship that the people were due to give to God.

Read the reading again and interpret it as you go along with the events of the history of Israel.  At the end of it all, the children should understand that we are the object of God’s love and God does get very sad and upset if those he has assigned to watch over us do not do their job properly.

Context from the first reading

This parable is more an allegory.  The first reading for this Sunday gives a description of the vineyard.  Here, it represents the Chosen people.  The owner represents God; the tenants, the chief priests and the elders of the people; the servants, the prophets; and the son, Jesus who was killed outside the walls of Jerusalem.

Mt expanded on Mk’s conclusion to emphasise the eschatological aspects of the parable.

An interesting feature of the parable is that under Jewish law, three successive failures by the owner to claim his share of the harvest gives the tenants a case for claiming the vineyard as their own.  The case would be strengthened in practice, but not in law, if there is no heir to the property.  Hence the three attempts at murder.

The song of the vineyard Is 5:1-7     Let me sing to my friend the song of his love for his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted choice vines in it. In the middle, he built a tower, he dug a press there too. He expected it to yield grapes, but sour grapes were all that it gave. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I ask you to judge between my vineyard and me. What could I have done for my vineyard that I have not done? I expected it to yield grapes. Why did it yield sour grapes instead? Very well, I will tell you what I am going to do with my vineyard: I will take away its hedge for it to be grazed on, I will knock down its wall for it to be trampled on. I will lay it waste, unpruned and undug; overgrown by the briar and the thorn. I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it. Yes, the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah, that chosen plant. He expected justice, but found bloodshed.