Alpha & Our Great Journey

Welcome to Alpha & Our Great Journey. Our weekly post offers prayer resources, a glimpse of the upcoming Sunday Gospel with short commentary, discussion/reflection questions and suggestions for living the Gospel. Also included is a preview of the weekly Alpha session.

This week our theme is “Humility” based on Luke 18:9-14/ Lucas 18:9-14

We hope you can join us on the Alpha Retreat on November 1. Click HERE.

Next week, we return to our regularly scheduled Journey session times, please click HERE. Also we will return to having our meals together in the Social Hall.

Opening Prayer:

God of life and love, in every time and place you call people to serve. No one is too young or too old to respond to your call. Show us how to share the Good News with others in our words and actions, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Using the Bible, invite a family member to read the Gospel aloud.

Things to talk about:

Think of a person you know who is humble. Describe this person and share why you like him/her. How does this person inspire you?
In this Gospel, one person is proud, and the other is humble. Which one is Jesus lifting up as an example of prayer? Explain your answer.
Why is the tax collector (rather than the Pharisee) the more unlikely person to be an example of prayer?

Things to do:

When the tax collector prayed, he acknowledged his sin and asked God for mercy. At what point during Mass do we do the same?
Please remember to pray for our Priests as we Celebrate Priesthood Sunday this weekend, October 25-26, Read more…
November 1, we will celebrate All Saints’ Day. Saints often come from humble beginnings or give up great wealth to follow God and trust that he will provide. Pick your favorite saint, do some research and find out how they lived humbly before God and how you can do the same. Ask him or her to pray for you this week and help you to live humbly.

Closing Prayer

Lord, please show me how to love people like You have loved me. When I’m selfish, make me humble. Make me eager to serve the people I meet. Transform my heart, so I’ll treat everyone with humility. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Name those who need our prayers. Close with the Sign of the Cross.

Catholic Insights

When Jesus told this parable, his listeners would have had some preconceived ideas about how the Pharisee and the tax collector would act.

There’s nothing wrong with being proud of accomplishments, or of others when they do something amazing. But, when we become boastful and prideful and look down on others and are overly critical, we are losing humility.

Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in humility before God. Jesus again surprises his listeners by showing the tax collector as the example of faith, rather than the Pharisee. He offers the humility of the tax collector as a model for prayer. The parable reminds us that when we pray, we must remember our need for God in our lives.

This week in Alpha we explore “What about the Church?” God works through the church to extend love to the whole world. We pray with humility to ask God how we can serve in the Church.

Resources adapted from 52Sundays.com, Celebrating the Lectionary, At Home with the Word, Celebrating Families, Sunday Connection

Alpha Week 8: What about the Church?

The church is the family of God. It’s people, not a building. It’s a movement of hope and love. We are invited to live out our faith in community with other believers. God works through the church to extend love to the whole world. The final session of Alpha looks at church, community and what’s next. This isn’t the end, Alpha is just the start.

“You can do what I cannot do, I can do what you cannot do; together we can do great things.”~ St. Theresa of Calcutta

Adults: What’s been your experience of Church? Why do people go to Church? What’s next for you?

Teens: What has been your experience of church? What are some misunderstandings that young people have about the Church?

Kids: The Church is the Body of Christ, the people. Why is going to Church important? Ask about their Church design and Body of Christ art project. Lord, we thank you for the gift of your church.

Adults, download the Alpha app for access to the videos and more, https://alpha-course.app.link/go?corse=us, or scan the QR below. Check with your table host or course leader for your Course ID.

October 26, 2025 – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time