2/19/2019
Luke 6:27‐36 – Sermon on the Plain •
Story of the guy who had difficulty hearing…
"But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” •
Let us pray…
Announcements • “Stewardship: Becoming Sons & Daughters of God” a. Lenten Retreat b. Saturday, March 16, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. in Marian Hall, includes child care and lunch. c. Please see the fliers on your table and take it with you.
• Centering Prayer a.
This prayer invites us to “center” ourselves in God by focusing on our breath with a word for God. b. Jay will briefly describe this prayer and then we will do it. c. Tuesdays, 10 a.m. or 5:30 p.m., Trinity Chapel, starting March 12 in Lent and the Easter Season. d. See the fliers on your tables and take it with you.
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St. Catherine of Siena Parish – 2019 Lenten Retreat
Stewardship
Becoming Sons & Daughters of God
• Saturday, March 16, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm, in Marian Hall, with lunch (suggested donation of $5) and child care. • Jay Landry (Diocesan Stewardship Council) will lead two prayerful sessions on biblical stewardship: 1) The Encounter of Jesus & the Rich Young Man 2) The Encounter of Jesus & Zacchaeus. • Two Stewardship Talks: Marci McCarthy, St. Basil Parishioner, Diocesan Stewardship Council, Economist Fr. Ken Schmidt, Pastor of St. Catherine of Siena • Please bring a bible, a friend, and a hungry heart with you. • Please RSVP to Jay at
[email protected] or 269-978-2331 by Thursday, March 14 and earlier if you need child care. Early RSVPs are appreciated.
Centering Prayer
Amidst the crazy schedules of life, do you long for quiet time in prayer? Whether you are new to Centering Prayer or not, please join us for the practice of contemplative prayer, where in each session, Jay Landry will describe Centering Prayer and we will practice it. In Centering Prayer, we allow the mystery that is God to gently embrace us, so that we rest in God, which allows us to live into our True Self. Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. or 5:30 p.m.
Starting Tuesday, March 12.
The sessions will last about 40 minutes or less. You do not have to attend every session to attend some of them.
Trinity Chapel at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church (1150 W Centre, Portage, MI, 49024)
2/19/2019
The Great Banquet at Levi’s House Luke 5:27‐32
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."
Lectio & Visio Divina with Luke 5:27‐32 • Jay will read it once and repeat words and phrases. • We will read it again and I will invite you to share what strikes you about this. (I need a reader for this one). • We will watch the scenes from “Jesus of Nazareth” that lead up to this and I will ask you what strikes you about this. (Scenes 37‐39, 2:05.15 – 2:21.14). • How do you interpret this in terms of “love your enemy”?
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2/19/2019
The Sermon on the Plain – Luke’s Sermon on the Mount •
Let’s read Luke 6:12‐35.
• Jesus – Teaches as a prophet a. where he takes the values of society and culture and reverses them, saying, “This is how God sees things and how we should see things.” b. This is Divine Reversal in Luke’s Gospel. • How do we love our enemies? One of the first things that we can do is pray for them, pray that God will bless them. • Do we hear this preached, taught, or encouraged? Why or why not? •
What can happen in an encounter with Jesus or at a meal with Jesus present: a. b. c. d. e.
Forgiveness Reconciliation Bonding ‐ Becoming One Hope that I can be changed by God, Growth in Faith Growth in confidence that I can do something that God asks of me through God’s grace that I cannot do on my own power – like love my enemy.
Jesus’ Approach of Inspiring People to Change •
The way that Jesus communicates his love to people is by bonding with them through a meal or an encounter where he communicates to them that they are loved and forgiven and that inspires them to change….not, change your life and behavior and then I will love you.
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Let’s read the handout on Meals & Encounters with Jesus in Luke.
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Anytime Jesus encounters people or eats with them in Luke, I invite us to look for transformation through the encounter.
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A result of transformation is gratitude or thankfulness, which inspires them and us to follow Jesus.
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Thus, these encounters and meals with Jesus carry deep overtones of Eucharist, because people are usually overwhelmed with love for Jesus for his first loving us, which transforms us and sends us to be his followers, including loving our enemies.
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Meals in the Gospel of Luke - From Eugene Laverdiere, Dining in the Kingdom of God In Galilee 1. A Great Banquet at the House of Levi – 5:27-39 2. Dining at the House of Simon the Pharisee – 7:36-50 3. Breaking of Bread with Thousands in Bethsaida – 9:10-17 On the Journey from Galilee to Jerusalem 4. Hospitality at the Home of Martha & Mary – 10:38-42 5. Dining at Noon at the Home of a Pharisee – 11:37-54 6. A Sabbath Dinner at the Home of A Leading Pharisee – 14:1-24 7. Hospitality at the Home of Zacchaeus – 19:1-10 Jerusalem 8. Preparing the Passover – 22:7-13 9. The Passover – Last Supper – 22:14-38 The Death & Resurrection of Jesus 10. Breaking of Bread at Emmaus – 24:13-35 11. Dining with the Community in Jerusalem – 24:36-53 •
A meal is not so much about food as it is about people. In all meals, it is the guest list, not the menu, that matters.
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Blessings and prayers, liturgical and non-liturgical, have to do with the people who have come together to share the meal. That is what we hear in the words of Jesus, and that is what we hear from the participant who exclaimed, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15).
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The family meal is certainly a manifestation of the church community. The family meal is celebrated in the domestic church, the home. Like all prayer, it is eucharistic where even the most ordinary of meals reach their highest expression in self-offering and communion.
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Every Christian meal reveals aspects of the Kingdom of God where Guests are welcome People share with one another We encounter Jesus Christ The most broken of people can find new life and hope – transformation We all sin and can find conversion and new life - transformation Broken covenants can be renewed - transformation Reconciliation can happen - transformation
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The Eucharist reveals all of these aspects of the Kingdom of God as well as its universality. All, including the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, the excluded and all of us – sinners are invited to the table of the Lord.
Encounters With Jesus in Luke Note 1: We focus on encounters with Jesus and we pray with passages in Luke to encounter Jesus, so that in this encounter, we might experience his love, forgiveness, hope, and be transformed and see anew, so that we can follow him anew. This is the journey of salvation. Note 2: These are not all the encounters with Jesus in Luke nor all that he taught. They are, however, what we might be able to cover. We will try to cover the liturgical ones when we get to them at Mass. Galilee • 3:15-22 John the Baptist & Jesus’ Baptism • 4:1-14 The Temptations • 4:16-30 Jesus’ Announces His Mission in the Nazareth Synagogue • 4:31-44 Jesus Preaches & Heals • 5:1-11 Call of the First Disciples • 5:12-16 Healing of a Leper • 5:17-26 Healing of a Paralytic Who Enters through Roof • 5:27-32 Call of Levi • 6:1-11 Debates about the Sabbath • 6:12-16 Calling of Apostles • 6:20-26 Jesus Teaches – The Sermon the Plain - the Beatitudes & Woes • 6:27-36 The Sermon on the Plain – Jesus Preaches the Love of Enemies • 7:1-10 Healing of A Centurion’s Slave • 7:11-17 Raising of the Widow’s Son • 7:18-23 Messengers from John the Baptist: Are you the One to Come? • 8:1-3 Galilean Women who follow Jesus and provide for him • 9:1-6 Mission of the Twelve • 9:28-36 The Transfiguration of Jesus Journeying from Galilee to Jerusalem • 9:51-56 Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem • 10:25-37 The Greatest Commandment – Parable of the Good Samaritan • 11:1-4 The Lord’s Prayer • 12:22-34 Jesus Teaches – The Sermon on the Plain • 15:11-32 Parable of the Lost Sons • 17:11-19 Cleansing of the Ten Lepers • 18:9-14 Parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector • 18:18-23 The Rich Official Jerusalem • 19:28-44 Entry into & Lament for Jerusalem • 19:45-48 Cleansing of the Temple • 20:20-26 Paying Taxes to Caesar • 21:1-4 The Poor Widow’s Stewardship • 22:39-46 The Agony in the Garden • 22:47-71 The Betrayal, Arrest, & Condemnation of Jesus • 23:1-25 Jesus before Pilate & Herod • 23:33-49 The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus • 23:50-56 The Burial of Jesus • 24:1-53 The Resurrection of Jesus
2/19/2019
Disciples Testimony •
In each session, we will hear from a disciple of Jesus about what it means for them to follow Jesus today.
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Today, we hear from folks about prayer and a prayer life.
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The only way that I know that we can begin to love our enemies is through a daily prayer life.
• Morning – Deb Wezensky • Evening – Margaret Kovach
Disciples Testimony • •
Video on Servant of God, Dorothy Day: http://offers.giveusthisday.org/blessed‐among‐us‐videos?utm_campaign=2018%20‐%20TD%20‐%20BAU%20videos&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz‐8e4nRoMGu_uq‐5vUAQRfCC3yfeRgQv9UtoW‐ o_6D0QUUOhrAwIRZ2D9_T4QhuiXEVAyOvPTlDDe_EezDDzACdzgbtTd5zI2TT_g2mJkgDI7Z7AoGg&_hsmi=68763480&utm_content=68758461&utm_source=hs_email&hsCtaTracking=63b22b1f‐f8fe‐4396‐b4b9‐ 57e7cc9d29d1%7Caa0c4e83‐fd54‐49bf‐8a64‐bca84b83ff3c
a. Co‐Founder of the Catholic Worker: newspaper, houses of hospitality, nonviolent protests including going to jail often. b. Someone said of her, “She lived as if the Gospel were true.” c. Vibrant life of prayer: Daily Mass, Rosary, Psalms, Liturgy of the Hours. She believed that prayer formed the Christian. d. Embraced Gospel Nonviolence, because Jesus commanded it. e. Embraced Catholic Social Teachings f. Dorothy Day & Mother Teresa handout
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Closing Prayer
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