Not a stellar athlete? Neither am I, but I can still ride a bike, and I’ll be doing just that for Pedal the Cause, a nonprofit that raises money for cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and Children’s Hospital, both in St. Louis. I ride because my friend Larry died with cancer, and I have good friends who have or are battling that terrible disease. Some won’t make it, like Larry, but some will.

The major theme of last Sunday’s Gospel was Christians and wealth. Luke presented his teaching on this theme through a story about a crooked manager who got caught and fired. Following that story, Luke gathered sayings attributed to Jesus about the honest and dishonest use of wealth.

On this Sunday both Luke and the liturgy give us a break from the theme of Christians and wealth. This part of Luke’s Gospel is still under the framework of the “Journey to Jerusalem.”