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21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 24, 2025MASS REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Adults: How narrow is the door to eternal life?
Teens: What do you need to do to receive eternal life?
Children: What choices do you need to make to be with Jesus in heaven someday?
Focus
“…[T]here will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
One-Minute-Homily
> Many of us can remember a time when we lost out because we were unable or unwilling to recognize a new challenge or a new opportunity—opportunities in our personal or social relationships when we were unable or unwilling to change, to adjust or respond to a new and unexpected situation.
> In today’s Gospel, Jesus expresses his concern that many faithful Jewish leaders will fail to recognize or accept the Good News that he brings. They will be among the first called who will be the last to respond, because changing is sometimes as difficult as squeezing through a turn-style (or the narrow gate) with lots of baggage.
> For us, and the church, being good disciples means reading the “signs of the times,” and being both able and willing to respond to new challenges and opportunities to live and share the Gospel. We must be like wise parents or wise business people who realize that the “tried and true” must sometimes give way to the “new and unfamiliar.”
> The Eucharist is an invitation to unload some baggage and make room for the new and unexpected gift of God's very presence in our lives.
For Additional Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Moving, or going back to school, is sometimes hard; how can Jesus help us respond to these kinds of changes?
> Question for Youth: Growing up always involves recognizing new challenges and new opportunities; does faith help you embrace or avoid the new and unexpected?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Have we become so comfortable with the “tried and true” that we are unable to recognize or accept new challenges and opportunities?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings
• Read a reflection on Sunday’s readings
• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective(compiled by Dave Cushing)
THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN
THIS WEEKEND'S LAY MINISTERS
20th Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 17, 2025MASS REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Adults: Are you willing to take a stand for Jesus? How?
Teens: Would you stand up for your faith in front of others if it were being ridiculed? How?
Children: Do you talk about Jesus with your family and friends? Why or why not?Focus
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!... Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on…a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother….”
One-Minute-Homily
> Real or perceived hurts can split family members apart for years. These hurts resist quick or easy reconciliation because they strike to the very heart of a relationship and make a person feel unwanted, unappreciated, unloved or disrespected in some deeply personal way.
> Today’s Gospel reminds us that religion is sometimes the cause or excuse for these hurts; it was no doubt something the early Christian community experienced when some family members accepted Jesus as the Messiah and others did not.
> As disciples, we must read today’s passage in the context of the whole Gospel. God desires reconciliation and healing, not separation and hate. We must trust that God’s grace can in God’s own way and God’s own time heal the divisions caused by our sinfulness. Our challenge is to cooperate with that grace – a grace which seeks first mercy, not understanding.
> Jesus’ table fellowship with sinners is the model for Eucharist; it should remind us that God is at work healing the divisions which separate us from one another.
For Additional Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: What do you think Jesus would say if he could sit down with two people who hate each other?
> Question for Youth: Two strangers meet and fall in love; they are different people with different experiences and sometimes different values. Can you see how God’s grace unites them?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we aware of how our convictions can cause hurt and division? Do we seek separation or mercy?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings
• Read a reflection on Sunday’s readings
• Learn more about the cultural context of the Gospel
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective(compiled by Dave Cushing)
THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN
19th Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 10, 2025MASS REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Adults: Are you prepared for the coming of the Lord? Why or why not?
Teens: Are you ready to meet the Lord right now if he walked through the door? Why or why not?
Children: How would you feel if you met Jesus today? Why?
Flocknote Answer: True, there is a Catholic Mass each Sunday at 7:15 AM in the Farm Bureau Pioneer Hall at the Iowa State Fair! There will also be one this Friday morning at 7:30 AM in the Pioneer Hall for the Holy Day of Obligation of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Focus
Jesus said to his disciples: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants….”
One-Minute-Homily
> No one looks forward to a late-night phone call or knock on the door. It jars us awake from a peaceful sleep, and too often means unhappy news – a sudden death, an accident, a loved one in trouble of one kind or another.
> The parable in today’s Gospel is also about a late-night knock on the door, but in the way parables often contradict what we expect, this one is not about bad news. The master, upon returning home, prepares a feast and waits on the vigilant servants. This late-night wake-up call is a blessing!
> As disciples, we are not always sure where and when we will meet the master. Our experience contradicts what we expect. It is often at the most inconvenient time, under the most unlikely circumstances, and involving the most unlikeable people that he appears, awaking us from our slumber to impart an unexpected blessing to those who are vigilant.
> The Eucharist is always a celebration of the ways in which we have experienced the real presence of the Lord in unexpected times and places.
For Additional Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Can you think of a time when something good happened that was a complete surprise?
> Question for Youth: In the process of growing up, we encounter many new and unexpected situations; do you recognize the Lord’s unexpected presence in those situations?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we try to limit the Lord’s presence to expected times and places, or do we help others recognize his presence in unexpected times and places?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings
• Read a reflection on Sunday’s readings
• Learn more about the historical and cultural context of the Gospel
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel:
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective(compiled by Dave Cushing)
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 3, 2025MASS REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Adults: What have you done with your life?
Teens: How are you preparing now to lead a positive
life as an adult?
Children: What do you want to do when you grow up? What would Jesus think about that?
Focus
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do? … I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “…[Y]ou have so many good things stored up for many years; rest, eat, drink, be merry!’”
But God said to him,‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”
One-Minute-Homily
> Many Americans plan carefully and look forward to a comfortable retirement, anticipating that when the time comes they will be well served by an employer’s pension plan, personal investments, and Social Security. They are the lucky ones, who feel entitled to their old age security.
> The rich man in today’s Gospel no doubt felt entitled to a secure old age as well; his hard work and bountiful harvests ensured many years of comfort. But God questions his self-satisfaction: has he invested in the truly important things?
> This is a question for disciples at every stage in our lives: at what cost do we insure our security? Who suffers so we can be comfortable? At what point does God say to us, “You fools! You store up treasure for yourselves but are not rich in what matters”?
> The next time you gather for Eucharist, ask yourself this: can I be secure if the people around me are not? Can I be comfortable if others are suffering?
For Additional Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: Do you ever save up things for yourself instead of sharing them with others?
> Question for Youth: So much of growing up revolves around learning to be responsible; do you sense from the Gospel that this responsibility is not just for ourselves?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: At what cost do we insure our security as adults, families or faith communities? Who suffers so that we can be secure and comfortable?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings
• Read a reflection on Sunday’s readings
• Explore the cultural context of the Gospel
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective(compiled by Dave Cushing)
17th Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 27, 2025MASS REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Adults: Do I pray faithfully? In what way?
Teens: Do you consistently pray to God trustng him to answer your prayers in the best way at the best tme? Why or why not?
Children: Do you trust God to always answer your prayers? What if he doesn’t answer quickly? What if the answer isn’t what you want?
Focus
He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test....""And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
One-Minute-Homily
> A lot of things attract two people to each other, but what solidifies the relationship is the conviction that each desires the best for the other, and the trust that they can always depend on one another for love and support, no matter what.
> The very short and simple prayer which Jesus teaches his disciples -- and the examples of prayer in today’s Gospel -- show us that the fundamental characteristic of all prayer is precisely this conviction: that God desires the best for us, and we can depend on God’s love and support, no matter what.
> The medieval mystic Julian of Norwich is famous for having said “All will be well.” This doesn’t exactly mean that everything will be OK, but in the end it will all work out. We pray for lots of things, but every prayer arises out of our conviction that God desires the best for us and we can depend on God to bring us to a good end.
> The Eucharist is our most precious prayer; it is rooted in the same convictions of the Lord’s Prayer.
For Additional Discussion or Journaling
> Question for Children: What makes someone a really good friend?
> Question for Youth: How do you experience the two qualities of an enduring relationship: the conviction that your partner desires the best for you and can be trusted to always be there for you?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: How would someone know that we are people who believe God desires the best for us and will always be there for us and others, no matter what?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings
• Read a reflection on Sunday’s readings
• Explore the cultural context of the Gospel
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective(compiled by Dave Cushing)
