Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 28, 2013

Written by Fr. Fitz Thursday, 25 July 2013 15:35

Today's Readings:

in those days The Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave that I must go down....Gen.18:20

So WHAT WAS THEIR SIN?

Google this question and you will get diverse answers.

So the answers cover a wide spectrum: some of the answers:

...homosexual promiscuity

...simply homosexual acts

...the passage is really about violation of hospitality as the sin!

Since gay marriage is such a hot topic today, today's scripture is timely. I will publish an article in Today's American Catholic in September about a debate held here between a Catholic Bishop who held there never could be Catholic acceptance of Gay Marriage and a nun who thought the Spirit might change our position. In short, IF you accept today's reading as referring to PROMISCUITY OR INHOSPITALITY, THE SCRIPTURE WOULD NOT NEGATE GAY MARRIAGE; ON THE OTHER HAND IF YOU THINK THE SCRIPTURE  SIMPLY DECLARES ANY HOMOSEXUAL ACT AS SINFUL, THE DOOR IS CLOSED.

If you want to read more on the issue from various sides:Google: "What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?"

Today's Gospel:

Today the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray and he gives us his own prayer which we so often say; it rolls off our lips so easily; perpahs it is well to reflect a little on what it really means. One way might be to examine a more recent translation. I used this translation by Greg Pierce in my North American Prayer Book:

Our Father,

your ways and thoughts are far above ours.

May your name be celebrated

on earth as it is in heaven.

May your will be accomplished

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day what we need to sustain us.

And forgive us our sins and failings,

as we forgive the sins and failings of others.

Let us not be tempted

to become less than you ask of us.

And keep us from all that would lead us

to be harmed,

or to harm others.

For it is your plan,

and your power,

and your glory,

now,

and forever.

Amen

I do not suggest that this is necessarily a better translation,  only different, and maybe sometimes we need to look at words from  different angles to get a fresher look at their meaning. Would you not agree that the Our Father is an easy enouch prayer to say except for two lines?....."forgive us,as we forgive others"...? That is the hard part, is it not?

Finally, Jesus urges us to ask. But this asking must take place in the context of the primary prayer of the Our Father whch assures us that "God's ways and thoughts are far above ours," and that we always pray that God's will be done which is beyond our feeble human capacity to understand.

BREAKFAST QUESTION: Have I personally listened to a gay person tell their story?

PERSONAL REFLECTION: How well do I forgive others? Am I conscious when I pray the Our Father that I am asking over and over that God would forgive me in the same way that I forgive?