Our liturgy today picks up right where we left off last Sunday. It is still about making positive choices for the greater good, and that there is no room for the lukewarm. The prophet Amos continues preaching his gloom and doom, as he calls out the complacent. Paul urges Timothy to a life completely opposite that of Amos’ complacent ones, as an athlete competing for the faith to “Keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Luke's parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we see someone who is unwilling to do the right thing until he tries to save himself. By then it is too late for him.

When we listen to the scriptures at liturgy, there is kind of an unspoken idea that we will hear something amazing and uplifting, that will stir our hearts into flame and make us better Catholics, better Christians, better people, as we carry the Living Word of God in our lives. So how surprising is it when when we get a day like today, today when so much seems to run counter to our expectations? Amos warns us about cheating and taking away someone’s rights. In Paul's first letter to Timothy, he explains we must pray for everyone, no matter what we think of them, even if they are in a place of power and authority. And Jesus’ praise of the “children of this world” in today’s Gospel passage is really disconcerting!

If we were reflecting on all of today’s scriptures and wanted to come up with one intimate name for God, perhaps it would be “God of Second Chances.” Over and over we see examples of God offering just that. In Exodus, the Lord is frustrated by the behavior of the people, and Moses, speaking very boldly, has to talk God into calming down and recalling the covenant with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Israel. Psalm 51, “The Miserere,” is the great psalm of repentance and cleansing.

Wisdom asks us “Who can know God's counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends?” If we put this in contemporary language, we might say “You haven't got a clue!” There are times when none of us knows what is going on. Life is beyond our understanding. We seek loved ones, mentors, friends, spiritual directors, and therapists to help us comprehend. This is a common theme through all of today’s scriptures.

If you look up the origins of the word “humility,” you will find that it is related to humus, dirt or earth. Gardeners and farmers know that it is a particularly rich kind of soil, composed by the decay of leaves and other organic material that has fallen on it. Too often we misunderstand it to mean not accepting compliments, relentlessly putting ourselves down, failing to accept our gifts in a positive way. None of this carries with it the meaning of being grounded in reality. Both our limits and our abilities, our grace and even our sin fall upon our lives to enrich us. In their different ways, Sirach and Jesus tell us to accept our lives, to be aware of who we are. Rather than presuming we deserve a higher-up place at the table, we ought to wait to be called to our rightful place, to be blessed with the joy of the righteous.

The term “fair-weather friend” might need a technological-era updating. Perhaps “short attention span friend” would work. In our world of multiple communication platforms, it somehow has become increasingly easy to lose track of friends. We shouldn't be surprised when we reach out and they've moved on due to our indifference. The God who is love and whose covenant is one-hundred percent about relationship is depicted in the same way by Jesus today.

Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Assumption. Mary stands with the “great cloud of witnesses” described in Hebrews: those who kept their eyes firmly fixed on Jesus. We may not be thinking of Mary when we hear Jesus’ harsh words in today’s Gospel, but when she said “yes” to Gabriel, it carried the risk of the rejection and division that Jesus describes. As the early Christians surely knew, to hold Jesus as the sole leader and perfecter of faith meant that you would likely find yourself divided from those in your household who held other beliefs.

“Teach us to number our days aright.” Is there a more wise and prudent prayer for people of all ages than this verse from today’s responsorial psalm? As we savor the lovely but limited days of summer we are reminded that nothing lasts forever. In today's first reading, the master teacher (Qoheleth) asserts “All things are vanity!” while the Gospel of Luke describes the ease with which our possessions can possess us. The second reading makes the point as well: “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” We see the problem of wealth from both sides today —from the viewpoint of the wealthy person who inevitably has to leave his riches to someone else and from the perspective of the potential inheritor who is at odds with his brother over how to divide their inheritance. The problem is clear; the wisdom is also.

Have you ever watched a master chef at work or a professional musician or athlete and wondered “How do they do that? They make it look so easy.” We are naturally attracted to someone who excels at something, a person whose heart is obviously in their work, and we can’t help but wonder if we are capable of anything like that. This was likely true for the disciples as well. They had seen Jesus at prayer on many occasions (this is especially true in Luke's Gospel) and it was obvious that someone, somehow was shaping/transforming the life of their teacher. Abraham, too, gives us an example of a conversation with God that goes beyond the ordinary approach to divine petitioning. Meanwhile, Psalm 138 assures us that when we cry for help God will answer—for Christ has become our mediator and we are one with him in baptism.

Summer is in full swing and tent camping is often a memory-making part of it—sometimes just because of the difficulties of putting up the tent! In today’s first reading we see Abraham sitting at the entrance to his tent and welcoming three unexpected strangers. By the end of the story God's covenant with Abraham is renewed with the promise that Sarah will give birth to a son.

Love God. Love neighbor. This is our call, the sum of all it means to live as Christ’s holy people in the world. Moses told the people that the law —all that sums up this call to love God and neighbor—isn’t far off, something distant and hard to reach. It is in our hearts and minds, on our lips. We have only to live what has been instilled in us through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of God's love that dwells in us through Christ.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus sent the seventy-two out to prepare people’s hearts and minds for him. The disciples whom he sent were to rely on the hospitality of those whom they served, and above all, to proclaim the kingdom of God. When they returned, joyful that so many had been healed through Christ's power, Jesus told them that true joy is to know our names are written in heaven.