{"id":3602,"date":"2016-01-24T10:05:10","date_gmt":"2016-01-24T15:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=3602"},"modified":"2016-01-19T10:23:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T15:23:18","slug":"reflections-on-the-scriptural-readings-for-this-weekend-20160124","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=3602","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on the Scriptural Readings for This Weekend — 20160124"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"prodigalson\"<\/a>The two readings for this weekend are powerful in their message. Our Epistle is taken from Paul\u2019s second letter to the Corinthians. Paul asks his readers this very poignant question: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit<\/em> within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? <\/em>Paul then makes this statement: For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. <\/em><\/p>\n

Why did Paul write this to the Church he founded in Corinth? He wrote this because he had received word that members of the community were not living up to how he told them Jesus taught them to live, namely a moderate, virtuous<\/em> life. In fact his letter was rather pointed in condemning how many were living.<\/p>\n

Paul clearly connects the Jesus WAY with how one lives<\/em>. Think about it. What does it mean to you that YOU are the temple of God\u2019s Spirit? That very thought should cause a person to try and live a virtuous life.<\/p>\n

Our Gospel reading is, perhaps, one of the most moving of all of Jesus\u2019 parables. I suspect that there is no\u00a0\u00a0 one who, hearing this parable, isn\u2019t touched almost to tears. I believe that all of us have found, at some point in our early lives, ourselves \u201crehearsing\u201d something to say to our fathers after we have done something stupid. And I suspect all of us have experienced, or wished we could have experienced, the father\u2019s response to our rehearsed apology. It is so touching.<\/p>\n

And then again, I suspect that those who have siblings probably can relate to the older brother\u2019s response to the father\u2019s loving kindness and forgiveness. Too often sibling rivalry, especially during early childhood, causes one sibling to question if a parent is too lenient.<\/p>\n

So this parable seems to have the power to touch so many people for so many different reasons.<\/p>\n

I further think that this parable also challenges our ideas about God, who is seen in the person of the father in this parable. What kind of God is our God? If God is merciful, will humankind just take advantage of His love and choose not to lead a virtuous life? Is the threat of punishment the only stimulus that can cause people to lead virtuous lives?<\/p>\n

To me these readings present a powerful message and a different approach to religion. It is based on the premise that if we truly understand who we are in God\u2019s creation, we will freely choose to lead virtuous lives to bring the Father glory. Why do you choose to lead a virtuous life? Knowing of God\u2019s unconditional love, how do you choose to live?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The two readings for this weekend are powerful in their message. Our Epistle is taken from Paul\u2019s second letter to the Corinthians. Paul asks his readers this very poignant question: Do you not know that your body is a temple … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-liturgy-of-the-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3603,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602\/revisions\/3603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}