10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Prayer
Loving Father,
Through Your Son, our Divine Physician, we are reconciled to You and brought to wholeness of mind, body, and spirit. Help us to celebrate your healing and forgiving love in our lives, especially through the Sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation. Amen.
Commentary
1st Reading: 1 Kings 17:17-24
Over the next 6 weeks, we will consider the theme of “Healing and Forgiveness,” paying particular attention to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick.
Our First Reading, on first face, is about a miraculous resuscitation. However, this story of the healing of the widow’s son has an even greater purpose. The widow is from Zarephath of Sidon; a district where the pagan Baal is worshiped. When Elijah the Prophet arises, God uses this opportunity for worshippers of the god Baal to change their allegiance to the Lord of the Israelites.
Here, we begin to see the purpose of God’s healing. Elijah wasn’t sent to just heal a widow’s son, but to show the power of God’s love and forgiveness which extends beyond the nation of Israel.
It is from this angle that our Church celebrates the necessary connection between the Sacraments of Anointing and Reconciliation.
Question:
What does the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick mean to you?
2nd Reading: Galatians 1:11-19
There is a oneness in our Church that can never be divided. The Sacraments of Healing and Forgiveness demand that we stay on a mission toward communion with God and the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
The genius of St. Paul was in his ability to stretch the early Church to accept the Gentile converts into the One Faith of Christ while not dismissing the Jewish Christians who preferred to follow the Laws of Moses. Consulting with Peter in Jerusalem was his attempt to maintain a course toward Communion for Jews and Gentiles.
Many of St. Paul’s letters — although strict and direct — were intended to proclaim Christ who brings to perfection the Mosaic laws. All laws are summed up in Christ. For Paul, any laws, precepts, sins, or community infighting that would draw others away from Christ and the Church would not be tolerated. His desire for healing and reconciliation within the Body of Christ was Paul’s response to a mission toward communion.
Question:
Are you a divisive person, or do you try to bring about healing when arguments ensue?
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17
Our Gospel is similar to the 1st Reading about the raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath. In many ways, the story is identical — apart from the one doing the healing and the place in which the resuscitation takes place.
Two additional elements in this Gospel passage cannot be overlooked. The first is Jesus’ emotions for the widow who has lost her only son. The second is the bold act of touching the coffin. Jesus knows this is contrary to Mosaic Law.
These elements show us the magnificence of God’s Kingdom which opens up for us life, healing, and reconciliation. God, through Jesus, is moved with pity for those who have nothing left.
Pope Francis once asked, “Tell me … do you look into the eyes of the man or woman to whom you give alms?” We could add, “Do we reach out and touch those who are in need of compassion?” This should be our response to God’s Kingdom.
Question:
How do you respond to the needs of the poor and the bereaved?
This Week’s Task
As we participate in this six-week series on the Sacraments of Healing and Forgiveness, take time to examine your conscience and pay a visit to your church for confession.
The beauty of Reconciliation begins with God who desires that all of us live in communion with Him.
If you haven’t been to Reconciliation in a while, seize this opportunity over the next six weeks to celebrate this life-giving Sacrament.
Group Prayer
The group prays together the Act of Contrition:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because of Your just
punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all- good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.
Amen.
The prayer continues with Psalm 30
Psalm
Response: I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
O LORD, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Conclude with an Our Father