Readings and Themes for the Week of August 01, 2010

Readings for Faith Sharing
Week of August 01, 2010,
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23

All things are vanity!

Psalm 90

"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

Reading II Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

In Christ, you have died.

In Christ, you have been raised up.

Gospel Luke 12:13-21

Avoid greed in all its forms.

THEME:

Faith helps us set Godly priorities.

The message for today’s scripture readings is quite simple, keep your eyes fixed on Christ Jesus rather than on the possessions of this world. Let us allow this challenging word of God to penetrate and change our hearts. For this kind of change, we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit who is present in this holy place.

Questions of the week

Question for Children:

What is the most important thing in your life?

Question for Youth:

It is easy to get self-centered and greedy.

What do you have in your life that is unnecessary?

In your life, what keeps you close to God?

What distracts you from your relationship with God?

Question for Adults:

What wisdom do you pull out of this reading to help you set priorities in your life?

Bulletin Bites
"Take care to guard against all greed."

Greed is a very insidious and seductive emotion. It is at the root of all sin. It was a factor in the sin of the first man and woman in the Garden. They were not content to be grateful for all God had given them. They wanted to BE God.

George Carlin had a comedy routine about stuff. He said that we get stuff and then we need a house to put our stuff. Then we get more stuff. So we need a bigger house for our stuff. We go on vacation and take some of our stuff. But we buy stuff we don’t need and come home with more stuff. Our lives are filled with stuff. And we get very attached to our stuff. Our attachment to our stuff stems from our erroneous belief that we are the source of all of our stuff and that we acquired it out of our own effort and ingenuity. When we acknowledge God as the source of all that we are and all that we have and all that we ever will be, we even enjoy the stuff we have and share it with others without being obsessed about getting and keeping more than we really need to enjoy life.