Year A - Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Sirach 27 - 30

Psalm 102

Roman 14, 7 - 9

Matthew 18, 21 - 35

 

To go further 

Details 

- This short comic strip sums up the Gospel very well.

- First page : The rabbit sees a scratch on "his ride". He's very angry (above the page, there is a clenched fist). He's all the more annoyed as he doesn't seem to be responsible for it (his wife is discretely walking away).

- Second page : he's asking God whether he should forgive up to seven times (he's counting on his fingers). Seven scratches would be the equivalent of a strike with a rake.

- Third page : the hands (of God) answer "no no, not seven times, but ..." and they show a scrapheap where we can only just about recognise the colour of the car, the rims and the steering wheel. 

Questions 

- From that perspective, the story is perfectly preposterous. As it is, gentlemen, a scratch on your car is no less than a total affront, how could we consider forgiving that much ? And yet ...

- In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, under n° 982, we can read " There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin.

- This is very good news for me if I believe that I have done something unforgiveable, because God may still forgive me (provided that I truly regret)

- This is very bad news for me when I support the death penalty or when I want to sentence someone, believing it woud be better to get rid of him because he's wicked. By doing this, I'm not offering him any chance to change. What's more, I'm taking God's place.

Year A - Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Ezekiel 33, 7 -9

Psalm 94

Romans 13, 8 - 10

Matthew 18, 15 - 20

To go further 

Details 

- We can immediately see the conflict between the contradictory requests. The holiday-maker is asking for sun and the farmer is asking for rain. Each of their requests is legitimate. The rabbits seem to be revendicating. They're not looking at each other. That's what we call "Each man for himself". How will God manage with that ?

- To those who want an answer, sorry, you won't find it here ... 

Questions 

- What's important to note here is the action of asking for something "together". The different modes of presence of Christ are as follows (Quote from Catechism of the Catholic Church n°1373) :

* in His Word

* in his Church's prayer : "where two or three are gathered in my name",

* in the poor, the sick, the imprisoned,

* in the sacraments of which he is the author,

* in the sacrifice of the Mass,

* and in the person of the minister (the Pope, the bishop, the priest, the deacon)

* most especially in the Eucharistic species (which means the hosts which have been conscred by a pope, a bishop or a priest). We call consacred host the "Real Presence" because Jesus is really present in it.

- Am I aware of all these modes of presence of Christ ?

- If Christ is present in a poor, in the priest who's celebrating, and in the Bible, I can't choose my preference, but look for God anywhere he makes himself present.

- Here is the meaning of the picture. If I go to mass every day and then spit upon the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, I look like this open battle between the snail and the lizard.

Year A - Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Jeremiah 20, 7 - 9

Psalm 62

Romans 12, 1 - 2

Matthew 16, 21 - 27

 

To go further 

Details 

-The prophet Jeremiah, animated by the Word of God, in incapble to blow off the candles on a birthday cake (dragons have the same problem by the way ...)

- His position is stretched forward, ears and body. He's resting on his hands. The hand of God, in the Bible, means the action, the relationship, the expression. The hand of God expresses the movement of the soul (the joy, the distress, the oath, the blessing, the prayer, the adoration). Here, the prophet is resting on all of that.

- The green rabbit, on the left, is surprised by the result.

- As for the yellow one, he's dubious. 

Questions 

- God's ways and men's ways are not the same. If the birthday rite is to blow out candles (by the way, what meaning does it really hold ? Who has the answer ?) the christening rite is to receive and transmit the fire. 

- Who has already tried to put on hold an inner fire coming from God ? On which occasion ? Did I succeed ? Yes ? No ? Why ?

Year A - Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Isaiah 22, 19 - 23
Psalm 137
Romans 11, 33 - 36
Matthew 16, 13 - 20 

To go further 

Details 

- The white hand belongs to God who is planting.

- The pegs are in fact rabbits who are wearing yellow helmets with a red cross on them (the cross is a mark so that they are easily seen and planted). Once the rabbit is planted, there's no more cross on his helmet ; his mission is accomplished. 

-The soil is grey, like stone.

- The legs of the rabbit on the right are ready to enter the soil, a bit like a doweling (impossible to take it out once it's planted). 

- The look in the eyes of  the rabbit on the right is resolute. He's ready.

- The succession of yellow helmets will make clear marks. 

Questions 

- Jesus set Peter in the rock, like his Church.

- What about me, do I trust the Church and its teachings ? Do I take some and leave some ? If so, doesn't that mean that I situate myself above Jesus himself ? 

- Can I receive Jesus without going through his Church ?

Year A - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Isaiah 56, 1. 6 - 7

Psalm 66

Romans 11, 13 ... 32

Matthew 15, 21 ... 28

To go further

Details 

- In today's Gospel, we can easily imagine that the disciples are annoyed by this woman. Nowadays, we would call that harassment and we would press charges ... 

- The fingers of the rabbit in the right are clenched, so are his ears. His left ear says it's had enough. His right ear is pointing towards the one who's bothering him. He's not even looking at the woman anymore, his eyes are looking up to the sky, as if he was talking to God.

Questions 

- When we've exhausted all that we could do, without success, this annoys us. Sometimes, it is at that moment (and only at that moment, alas) that we shout towards God. We're even ready to do anything (or almost) to get rid of what's annoying us. 

- What about me, how do I understand this word for the week to come ?