Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30 | Pentecost 22 (Cycle C)
Sunday between October 23 and October 30 inclusive
The primary theme of the texts designated for next Sunday is expressed most elegantly in a verse just beyond the end of the Sirach 35:12-17 selected reading, in Sirach 35:21ab, “The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds, and it will not rest until it reaches its goal” (NRSV).
Psalm 84:1-7
This psalm is a beautiful expression of appreciation to the Lord for the dwelling place of the Lord in the temple in Jerusalem. The pilgrim who is able to be in the temple for only brief periods of time considers those who can be there at all times to pray and meditate there to be especially blessed. Even the sparrow (the most common and ordinary of all of the birds) finds a home there, and the swallow builds a nest high above the altar, where it is safe from cats and people and other predators.
Psalm 65
The Lord is praised in this psalm in Zion as “O God of our salvation!” Salvation here is defined as forgiveness of sins, control of nature, a bountiful harvest, and the opportunity to worship God in prayer and meditation in the temple in Jerusalem. Therefore, the people of God and all of the earth shall shout for joy.
Joel 2:23-32
The land, which had usually been productive, had been thoroughly devastated by drought and by hordes of locusts, grasshoppers that jump from place to place in every direction, devouring all vegetation, so that nothing can survive. These invaders may refer to a multitude of insects that sweep down from the north that often arrive during a drought. More likely, the “northerner” whom the Lord will remove from the land (v. 20) is a cryptic reference to the successive waves of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian invaders who came from the north and ravished the land, like grasshoppers do in nature.
The Joel traditions proclaim that the Lord who has punished the people of Israel will now heal the land and its people. The Lord who sent the army of ravishers will now provide bountifully food and the spirit of revelation to the sons and daughters of the people. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (v. 32).
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
In spite of the horrendous sins of the people and the punishments that they deserve, the prophet and people call unceasingly to the Lord for help, for they believe that only the Lord can bring relief from the prolonged drought that threatens the survival of the people.
Sirach 35:12-17
It is possible that the inspired Lukan writer was familiar with the wisdom material in this text from Ecclesiasticus, the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach. There are no direct quotations of this text in the Third Gospel, but the text may have been a resource in the development of some of the material in Luke, including the Luke 18:9-14 parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple, especially what is written in Sirach 35:21ab about the prayer of the one who is humble. It is a valuable text also for us.
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
The Apostle Paul is presented, or presents himself, in this text as about to be sacrificed. This and the reference to his having been rescued from the mouth of the lion at the time of his first defense are indications that the life of Paul was threatened and eventually taken by the oppressive advocates of Roman Civil Religion whom Paul publicly and repeatedly opposed by proclaiming that Jesus the Risen Christ, not Caesar, is “Lord.”
It is said here that Paul humbly credited the Lord with providing the strength to proclaim the message that Jesus is Lord, not only with Paul’s words but also with Paul’s actions.
Luke 18:9-14
It is important for us to recognize that the tax collector in this parable was praised not because he was a tax collector but because he was humble as he prayed and admitted that as a horrible sinner he needed the grace of God. The Pharisee was said not to have been fully justified, not because he was a Pharisee but because in the parable he exalted himself. Fasting, tithing, and good ethical behavior are not rejected in this parable; neither is sinful behavior condoned.
