The Challenge of the Gospel - Cycle C:

The Challenge of the Gospel message is to so love God and neighbor that we are able to change the less desirable aspects of ourselves and the world in which we live into the ideal that God had in mind when He created the earth and all that dwells therein. We are meant to pattern our lives after that of Jesus and, by bringing God's love to the world, to transform it into His Kingdom. We are to rise above the mundane concerns that so often preoccupy us and to place our trust in Him Who has promised to be with us in our struggle till the end of time. That memorable line from the movie The African Queen put the matter quite succinctly, if not entirely truly, in the words: "Human nature was what we were put on earth to rise above." And therein lies much of the challenge of the Gospels: to resist the temptation to do evil and to employ all our energies in doing good, to take up our cross each day and follow Jesus. Each Sunday one or another aspect of that challenge is placed before us in these brief reflections on the Gospels for Cycle A of the liturgical readings. Book jacket.

Fr. Joe Slattery, a native of Dublin, Ireland, was ordained for the diocese of Richmond, Virginia in June, 1966. He received his Ph.D. in religious studies from the Catholic University in Washington, DC in 1980 After spending several years in parish and adult education work he was named Director of Ministry to Priests for the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference while lecturing part-time at St. John Vianney National Seminary in Pretoria (1997-2002). He is presently on leave from the Richmond diocese to teach courses in biblical and pastoral studies at St. Charles Lwanga National Seminary in Windhoek, Namibia

First Sunday of Advent

The season of Advent invites us to reorient the direction of our lives

1

(3)

Second Sunday of Advent

We're never alone when we respond to the challenge to grow spiritually

4

(3)

Immaculate Conception

She never lost faith

7

(2)

Third Sunday of Advent

We're all called to experience God

9

(3)

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Have we been on ``auto pilot'' where our faith is concerned?

12

(3)

Christmas: Midnight Mass

Christmas is a celebration of our unity with God, with one another and with the earth

15

(2)

Holy Family

Aging is a process of healing and transformation

17

(3)

January 1: World Day of Prayer for Peace

War is no longer an adequate means for solving disagreements between nations

20

(2)

Epiphany

We're all invited to follow the star, but it may lead us in a different direction from what we expect

22

(2)

Baptism of the Lord

Celebrating the Lord's baptism should inspire us to identify the work of the Spirit in our own lives

24

(2)

Second Sunday of the Year

Is the water of our lives being changed into wine?

26

(2)

Third Sunday of the Year

We too are being invited to leave Babylon behind and journey towards the Promised Land

28

(2)

Fourth Sunday of the Year

Do we listen to the preacher, shake his hand, and then continue with business as usual?

30

(3)

Fifth Sunday of the Year

Are we still clinging to the illusion that we can call ourselves disciples, and hold onto everything?

33

(2)

Sixth Sunday of the Year

The Sermon on the Mount is a prescription for a revolutionary change of attitude

35

(3)

Seventh Sunday of the Year

The Sermon on the Mount should generate a crisis in anyone who claims to be a genuine follower of Jesus

38

(3)

First Sunday of Lent

Jesus rejected the temptation to show himself off to the world in a stunning display of power

41

(3)

Second Sunday of Lent

Our Christian discipleship must be a kind of exodus too

44

(2)

Third Sunday of Lent

We're not ready to look for God. We're looking at our watch instead

46

(2)

Fourth Sunday of Lent

All three of these characters -- the father, the lost son, and the elder son -- may be found at times in ourselves

48

(3)

Fifth Sunday of Lent

A window is being opened on a new vision of things

51

(2)

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

The Cross invites us to be lifted up so that we can see with the same vision that Jesus had

53

(3)

Easter Sunday

To celebrate Easter is to acknowledge the pattern of Christian life for ourselves, namely, suffering, dying and rising

56

(2)

Second Sunday of Easter

The challenge for many of us is to believe that we actually are a new creation

58

(3)

Third Sunday of Easter

At the darkest moments of our lives, when we've fished all night and caught nothing, the Lord is waiting for us at the shore with blessings, hospitality and healing for our wounds

61

(2)

Fourth Sunday of Easter

We must drop the sentimentality and reclaim the true Gospel image of the Good Shepherd

63

(3)

Fifth Sunday of Easter

For many people, the actual project for which they are willing to make sacrifices is self-development

66

(2)

Sixth Sunday of Easter

We must all move forward together in a spirit of respectful dialogue

68

(2)

Ascension of the Lord (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

Is my Christian service more an expression of my own needs than a matter of principle?

70

(3)

Pentecost

At Pentecost, Jesus' resurrection takes place symbolically again through the birthing of a new community into life

73

(3)

The Most Holy Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity is an expression of the many faces of God

76

(3)

The Body and Blood of Christ

``Consumer religion'' undermines the Church's task of providing spiritual nourishment

79

(3)

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is the disciplined heart that will speak gracious words

82

(2)

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The story of the centurion challenges us to open our eyes to what God may be doing in our ``secular'' world

84

(3)

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Compassion, rather than separateness, was to be the fundamental criterion of religious behavior for Jesus' disciples

87

(2)

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Are we conscious of compassion as a powerfully motivating force in our lives?

89

(2)

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The sufferings of our daily lives can open us up to a profound mystery -- a mystery that leads to new life

91

(2)

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We must live in the present, and be inner-directed, to be ready to respond to the Gospel

93

(2)

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first part of the Mass is a nourishing feast of God's word

95

(3)

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The story of the Good Samaritan is a powerful attack on racial, nationalistic and religious prejudices

98

(2)

Assumption of Mary

Mary's feasts symbolize and express in a certain way the vocation of all Christians

100

(2)

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

What Martha experienced is a pattern or model of the usual process of spiritual growth for most of us

102

(3)

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Biblical images invite us to get acquainted and involved with God

105

(2)

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Are we fools by the standards of the Gospel?

107

(3)

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Faith is much more than a mental conviction that God exists

110

(3)

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Conflict and opposition can play an important role in our spiritual growth

113

(2)

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

God's will for the human race is unity

115

(3)

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this parable, Jesus is trying to move us beyond self-centeredness

118

(2)

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Gospel concerns not only a person's relationship with God and neighbor; it also has implications for the kind of society we should be building

120

(3)

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The old man who loves us to the point of foolishness is none other than God our Father

123

(2)

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Are we children of the light, or are we children of this world?

125

(2)

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus chose to associate his teaching about hell with a particular kind of sin

127

(2)

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

On my faith-journey, God will share in my joys, and God will suffer with me too

129

(2)

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We need to thank God for the totality of our life -- its pains as well as its joys, its failures as well as its successes

131

(3)

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

If faith is to survive in the modern world, it will have to be based on the experience of God

134

(3)

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The tax collector was a genuine human being; the Pharisee was not

137

(2)

All Saints

These people have learnt the mystery of the Cross

139

(2)

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

From Jesus' point of view, the tax collector was not unclean at all

141

(2)

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Defining moments in life reveal what kind of a person I really am

143

(3)

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The battle between sin and grace continues, both in our world and within ourselves

146

(3)

Christ the King

The Church is going through a death experience, that it might rise again to become something new

149

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The Challenge of the Gospel - Cycle C: Reflections on the Sunday Gospels

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials