Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Setting priorities

Reading I: Numbers 11:25–29 (sharing the gift of prophecy)
Reading II: James 5:1–6 (saving the right focus)
Gospel: Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48 (sharing our possessions)

Key Passage: Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. (James 5:4)

Adult: What are the three most important values motivating your daily decisions?
Child: Could a poor person who is wise be richer in a way than a foolish person who has many things? Why?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

True wisdom

Reading I: Wisdom 2:1, 17–20 (the wicked speak)
Reading II: James 3:16—4:3 (true wisdom and worldly desires)
Gospel: Mark 9:30–37 (second teaching of the paschal event and words against ambition and envy)

Key Passage: He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

Adult: What evidence do you see in the world around you that many do not accept Jesus’ teaching on power and ambition?
Child: Why is it wrong to feel envy for what belongs to another?
(from Pastoral Planning.com)

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Faith and works

Reading I: Isaiah 50:4–9 (salvation through the Lord’s servant)
Reading II: James 2:14–18 (faith and good works)
Gospel: Mark 8:27–35 (first teaching of the paschal event and the doctrine of the cross)

Key Passage: Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. (James 2:17–18)

Adult: Why should faith always lead to good works?
Child: What good works can you do to show your faith in Jesus?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Rich in faith
Reading I Isaiah 35:4–7 (Israel’s deliverance)
Reading II James 2:1–5 (against favoritism)
Gospel Mark 7:31–37 (healing of a deaf-mute)

Key Passage Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5)

Adult: When has your faith in Jesus enabled you to speak out on an issue of importance?
Child: What does your belief in Jesus mean to you?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Doers of the word

Reading I: Deuteronomy 4:1–2, 6–8 (advantages of fidelity)
Reading II: James 1:17–18, 21–22, 27 (response to God’s gift)
Gospel: Mark 7:1–8, 14–15, 21–23 (Jesus and the Pharisees)

Key Passage: Welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. (James 1:21–22)

Adult: Which words of Jesus provide the most inspiration for the Christian work that you do?
Child: How do you welcome the words of Jesus into your heart?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time , Year B

Christian marriage

Reading I: Joshua 24:1–2, 15–17, 18 (reminder of the divine goodness)
Reading II: Ephesians 5:21–32 (Christian wives and husbands)
Gospel: John 6:60–69 (effect of the bread of life discourse)

Key Passage: This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:32–33)

Adult: In what way has the example of Christian marriage (your own or that of another couple) helped you understand the relationship between Christ and his church?
Child: What can you do for your family to show them Jesus’ love and care?
(from PastoralPlanning.com)

The Psalms

I can’t talk about prayer without talking a little bit about the Psalms. Yes prayer and Psalms go together like chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers. Psalms are part of the Bible and are discussed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). They are the prayers of the people of Israel, most of which are attributed to being written by King David.

The Psalms express how the people of Israel encountered God. The Psalms as prayer shows us how the Israelites communicate with their creator and they express a wide range of emotions, from joy to anger to fear… Today we can use the Psalms, in the same way. Our world today may seem completely different than when the Psalms were written, but if we take the time to read the Psalms we will find that they are pertinent to today’s world as well.

There are Psalms of lament, the people of Israel crying out to God in an unadulterated and direct manner or complaining about anything and everything that is wrong with their lives. They then go on to express their trust in God, petition Him for help, praise Him and give their words of promise to follow Him in all ways.

The Psalms of Thanksgiving are the peoples way of acknowledging how that their laments were answered, particularly recovery from an illness. In that day sickness was seen as a punishment for not following God’s Commandments and then the recovery was seen as God’s love for the person afflicted. If recovery was not granted it was assumed that the person was not a friend of God.

Finally, there are Hymns. They were considered to be a call to worship and often indicated that the premise of the Palms was to be praise and this was introduced as to what the praise if for.

The Hebrew alphabet played a role in some of the Psalms when some of them were formed in the way of an acrostic poem. These are poems where each line or section of the poem begins with the successive letter of the alphabet, which in the case of the Psalms would be the Hebrew alphabet, so in our looking at them we wouldn’t necessarily see that pattern.

The CCC tells us that “…the psalms were gradually collected into the five books of the Psalter (or “Praises”), the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament.” It goes on to explain to us that the prayer of the Psalms recalls the events in the lives of the Hebrew people, the promise God made, what may happen in the future even to the end of time. Christ as a Hebrew prayed the Psalms and the Psalms were fulfilled in Him. They are seen as a spontaneous and simplistic prayer showing the desire for God throughout.

So, perhaps it is time to step back and take a second look at the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament and really let the meaning sink in to help us in today’s world.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church: October 2010, USCCB, Libreria Editrice Vaticana; Collegeville Bible Handbook: 1997, Liturgical Press, Collegville MN)