31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C:  November 3, 2013

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: In her commentary on this text, Pamela Cooper-White asks, “What if we, like Habakkuk, would just station ourselves at a ‘watchpost’… and demand God clear a way for us, send us a glimpse of healing or wholeness for ourselves and the world?” (Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4, p 246)  Living in this way means allowing our vision to be shaped by our hope for reality sustaining us in the midst of the reality where we currently find ourselves. In My Side of the Car, Sadie maintains a vision of a sunny day, despite the darkness and flooding that is happening on her dad’s side of the car. She is holding out hope that she and her dad will finally make it to the zoo. Use this text and story to help your community explore the ways they watch for and hold onto hope in the midst of darkness.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Hunter’s Best Friend at School by Laura Malone Elliott

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment: In this text, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are encouraging the Thessalonian community to live lives worthy of God’s call “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in [them], and [they] in him…” When discussing this text with children, you might explore the way mentors, leaders, or friends encourage and help us to be our best self. This is the advice Hunter’s mom gives him when his best friend Stripe starts misbehaving at school. When Hunter returns to school the next day he lives in a way that sets an example for Stripe and soon Stripe hs become his best self. Wonder together with the children of your church about what people help them to be their best selves, namely the people God is calling us to be.

Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10

Wings by Christopher Myers

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment: In this text Zacchaeus is an outcast who is changed by his experience of grace. Zacchaeus is an outcast because of his occupation as a tax collector, considered sinful by the religious authorities.  For Zacchaeus, Jesus see him as a disciple, causing him to transform his way of life, making that vision true. In life there are a number of reasons people may considered outcasts by their social circles. Ikarus Jackson is an outcast because of his wings. The behavior of others towards him affects the way he feels about himself. Eventually the narrator of the book tells Ikarus “what someone should have said long ago:   ‘Your flying is beautiful.’” When he hears this, Ikarus soars. This text and story help us to understand that no matter the reason for ones ostracism, to experience acceptance means being truly seen as the people God created us to be.

The Lectionary Links this week are written by regular contributor Noell Rathbun-Cook.

Lectionary Links: Sunday, November 3, 2013 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.