Year C, Ordinary 30, 2019 – Endurance

More Than Hearing

Welcome back to the podcast! We’re so close to the end of the Year C cycle!! We’ve been batting around the thought to go back to the format we used for the first three years of the show’s existence. We’ve been both pleased and challenged this year to present illustrations and special effects for only two intelligences per podcast. We’ve also noticed that the other six intelligences have been creeping onto the stage where we’re focusing on only two, and think we may have to simply open the door and let them back in. What is your preference? Leave us a comment below.

To see what we did with all the intelligences three years ago, follow this link to Year C, Ordinary 30, 2016. We have illustrations and special effects for the Timothy, Luke, and Joel passages.

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Smarts of the Week [01:58]

Today, we are shining the spotlight on SELF and PEOPLE smart. Follow this link to read an essay by Sharon Ely Pearson, at Building Faith for some information about these and the other six intelligences.

SELF – [02:25]Download

PEOPLE – [03:25]Download

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Sirach 35:12-17 – [05:42]

Sirach is not a book I’ve spent much time in, so I went looking for some information. According to the commentary linked below, the book was written almost 200 years before Jesus was born. Hellenization was everywhere, and faithful Jews were working hard to keep their identity; Sirach is written to remind the people who and whose they were. Verse 17 gives a great reason to endure in the faith – God will not ignore supplications from the vulnerable.

For SELF smart, David thinks this passage would be a good way for people to examine their motivations for giving. How does God’s giving match ours?If anyone thinks they are going to be able to even out accounts with God, they are sadly mistaken, but in a “reverse loan shark” kind of way. Check out the worksheet for some other ideas people may have about why they give to God. The PEOPLE smart illustrations and special effects are similar – the discussion happens in small groups as opposed to time for self reflection.

• SELF smart – [07:30]
• PEOPLE smart – [10:23 (commentary) / 11:52]
  • commentary from A Lectionary Resource for Catholics
  • commentary from Biblewise

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Psalm 84:1-7 – [14:25]

For PEOPLE smart, stick to small discussion groups and talk about the places where people were happy to be in God’s house. Is God’s house the sanctuary? Is is ever the sanctuary? Again, the SELF smart exercises are similar. Finding God’s dwelling place also reveals the source of strength and courage needed to endure.

• PEOPLE smart – [15:26]
• SELF smart – [17:58]

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2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 – [19:48]

Using Paul’s history, encourage people to think about how they might support others who endure imprisonment in SELF smart. Amnesty International works to make sure people will be treated humanely and given fair trials. They have also provided ways for individuals to connect with the imprisoned to remind them they are not forgotten. For PEOPLE smart, allow small groups to share times when they have “finished a race”. How long did it take and were they ever tempted to quit? What gave them the strength to keep going?

• SELF smart – [21:08]
  • Amnesty International works to assure that imprisoned people have received fair due process and humane treatment.
  • One of their responses is letter writing campaigns.
• PEOPLE smart – [24:17]

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Luke 18:9-14 – [26:57]

Both SELF and PEOPLE smart examine narcissism – how the Pharisee may be expressing it, and how we recognize it in others and ourselves. For PEOPLE smart, you might use the Readers’ Theater script we wrote three years ago. For SELF smart, we have some questions to ponder including how do our own attitudes about “others” endure parables as barbed as this one?

Luke 18:9-14 Readers’ TheatreDownload

• PEOPLE smart – [27:50]
  • Communal narcissism
• SELF smart – [32:45]
  • Here are some tvtropes on the subject of self-aggrandizement
    • It’s All About Me
    • Lack of Empathy
    • Narcissist
    • Break the Haughty

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Photo by Lucas Pezeta from Pexels. Used by permission.

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