A Word of Hope: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time | Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP
Coming to you from Rome, Italy, Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP, offers A Word of Hope for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, reflecting on the first reading from the Book of Exodus: "You shall not molest or oppress an alien... You shall not wrong any widow or orphan."
With debates about immigration and the care of the vulnerable at the top of everyone's mind, it's tempting to do one of two things with this reading—politicize it into a set of policies, or privatize it into a purely personal message. Fr. Dominic argues that both miss the point. God speaks through Moses to the whole people of Israel, and asks the Church today the same question: Will the alien, the orphan, the widow, and the poor—those with no one else to fall back on—find in us a place of safety and refuge? Or will they find us cold, insensitive, or exploitative?
If they find in us the rock and refuge we have found in God, that would indeed be a word of hope.
📖 THIS SUNDAY'S READINGS (Year A)
First Reading: Exodus 22:20–26
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:5c–10
Gospel: Matthew 22:34–40
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Greeting from Rome – A Word of Hope for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
0:12 Exodus 22: a reading that lands "on the nose"
0:19 Elections, immigration, and the foreigner in our midst
0:36 Two temptations, depending on how you lean politically
0:42 Temptation 1: politicizing the reading into policy
1:03 Temptation 2: privatizing it into personal transformation
1:22 Why both miss the point
1:34 A message to the whole people of Israel – and to the Church
1:51 Why the alien, orphan, widow, and the poor in debt?
2:08 People with no one to fall back on
2:20 God's question to his Church today
2:35 Will they find in us exploitation, indifference, or safety?
3:01 Transformed by the God we imitate
3:14 Closing: a word of hope
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