27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C:  October 2, 2016

First Reading: Lamentations 1:1-6

Gary and Ray by Sarah Adams

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment: Walter C. Bouzard encourages worshipers to hear this text as a call to empathy: “By empathetically weeping with those who hurt… we may come to love them.” (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1734) This process is experienced in Adams’s story. Gary is a lonely gorilla who has no friends or family and lives in fear of being hunted. When Ray notices Gary’s unhappiness, he comes to say hello, and a deep friendship blossoms among the two. Encourage the members of your community to share in the lament of those suffering within and beyond the walls of your church, crying out to God on our own behalf and on behalf of others.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Firebird by Misty Copeland

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment: Meditations on this passage from the Taizé community focus on the awakening of the gifts within us. “When we look at ourselves, it can happen that we only see what we lack. That leads to discouragement. When someone looks at us with trust, it can transform us. That is how Timothy discovered his vocation.” (http://www.taize.fr/en_article167.html?date=2003-08-01) In Firebird, a young girl believes she will never be a ballerina like Misty Copeland. Copeland’s words to the girl and Paul’s words to Timothy are meant as encouragement to awaken the gifts within them. Reflecting on this text and story, invite your community to share the names of people who have helped awaken their own vocational gifts.

Gospel Reading: Luke 17:5-10

Little Pig Joins the Band by David Hyde Costello

(Written for ages 5-9)

Comment:In a culture that claims bigger is better and everyone needs more, it’s hard to imagine faith the size of a mustard seed being enough. Looking around it might seem everyone around us has bigger faith and we might find ourselves questioning if there’s a place in the Church for us. At first it seems like there is no place for Little Pig in the family band, but soon readers discover that even folks who are little can be leaders. When we listen to Jesus’ words and Costello’s story, we are reminded that what we have and who we are is enough. As we celebrate communion around the world today may we be reminded that there is room for us all: so come, you who have much faith and you who have little…

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

Lectionary Links (RCL): October 2, 2016 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.