Readings for Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
Brothers and sisters:
As your fellow workers, we appeal to you
not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
We cause no one to stumble in anything,
in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves
as ministers of God, through much endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech,
in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;
through glory and dishonor, insult and praise.
We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged;
as dying and behold we live;
as chastised and yet not put to death;
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
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Commentary on 2 Cor 6:1-10
St. Paul’s main message in this passage is to encourage those of the faith to remain steadfast as he and his companions have done. He describes nine different trials they have encountered (“afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts") and provides a litany of seven contrasting negative external perceptions with positive internal spiritual realities.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 2b, 3ab, 3cd-4
R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 98:1, 2b, 3ab, 3cd-4
With Psalm 98, we sing a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s saving presence. In this passage,we have the sense of St. Paul’s confidence in the face of resistance.
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Gospel: Matthew 5:38-42
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 5:38-42
In this passage, Mosaic Law is contrasted with the Christian ethic. Jesus quotes from the Law of Moses the rule that was intended to limit the extent of retaliation extracted by individuals who had been wronged. The Lord rejects physical retaliation completely (“…turn the other one to him as well.”) He goes further with four additional examples saying that the Christian is not to resist litigation but to offer more than is asked, offer more service than what is asked, loan to others who wish to borrow. With these examples the Lord shows how it must be between those who follow him to the Kingdom of God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We marvel at the ancient wisdom passed down to us as Jesus re-interprets the Law of Moses. So many times he tells us that the only way to have communion with him and his Father is to love him first and then to love others who are also his adopted children. It all comes together in very consistent way.
If we love another, not just for something they can give us, but for what we can share, then we must forgive them when they violate that mutual covenant of love. If we do not, if we hold on to the hurt, the betrayal, or the insult, we are not hurting the other person nearly as much as we are hurting ourselves. There is a direct relationship between the depth of love and trust we have shared and the amount of forgiveness we must be willing to extend to the other person. There is also a direct correlation between the amount of love and trust with which the other person was held and the difficulty we find in extending that forgiveness.
But the Lord knows; he tells us that we must forgive. When we hold onto those hurts we do intense harm to ourselves. If we cannot let it go, we will not be able to accept the peace of Christ. We have placed a huge barrier between ourselves and the Lord, who is love itself. In many cases we must hold this injury up to the light of Christ and ask ourselves what it is that is causing us such pain. Is it that the person has truly sought to hurt us? Or is it perhaps that they are merely inconsiderate, they did not realize the depth of the betrayal we perceived.
Regardless of reasons, our God commands that we forgive. He commands that we offer up our hurts, betrayals and insults to him who was betrayed by his closest friend, insulted by the people he came to save, and murdered for the love he bore.
Pax
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
Brothers and sisters:
As your fellow workers, we appeal to you
not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
We cause no one to stumble in anything,
in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves
as ministers of God, through much endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech,
in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;
through glory and dishonor, insult and praise.
We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged;
as dying and behold we live;
as chastised and yet not put to death;
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 2 Cor 6:1-10
St. Paul’s main message in this passage is to encourage those of the faith to remain steadfast as he and his companions have done. He describes nine different trials they have encountered (“afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts") and provides a litany of seven contrasting negative external perceptions with positive internal spiritual realities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 2b, 3ab, 3cd-4
R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 98:1, 2b, 3ab, 3cd-4
With Psalm 98, we sing a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s saving presence. In this passage,we have the sense of St. Paul’s confidence in the face of resistance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 5:38-42
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 5:38-42
In this passage, Mosaic Law is contrasted with the Christian ethic. Jesus quotes from the Law of Moses the rule that was intended to limit the extent of retaliation extracted by individuals who had been wronged. The Lord rejects physical retaliation completely (“…turn the other one to him as well.”) He goes further with four additional examples saying that the Christian is not to resist litigation but to offer more than is asked, offer more service than what is asked, loan to others who wish to borrow. With these examples the Lord shows how it must be between those who follow him to the Kingdom of God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We marvel at the ancient wisdom passed down to us as Jesus re-interprets the Law of Moses. So many times he tells us that the only way to have communion with him and his Father is to love him first and then to love others who are also his adopted children. It all comes together in very consistent way.
If we love another, not just for something they can give us, but for what we can share, then we must forgive them when they violate that mutual covenant of love. If we do not, if we hold on to the hurt, the betrayal, or the insult, we are not hurting the other person nearly as much as we are hurting ourselves. There is a direct relationship between the depth of love and trust we have shared and the amount of forgiveness we must be willing to extend to the other person. There is also a direct correlation between the amount of love and trust with which the other person was held and the difficulty we find in extending that forgiveness.
But the Lord knows; he tells us that we must forgive. When we hold onto those hurts we do intense harm to ourselves. If we cannot let it go, we will not be able to accept the peace of Christ. We have placed a huge barrier between ourselves and the Lord, who is love itself. In many cases we must hold this injury up to the light of Christ and ask ourselves what it is that is causing us such pain. Is it that the person has truly sought to hurt us? Or is it perhaps that they are merely inconsiderate, they did not realize the depth of the betrayal we perceived.
Regardless of reasons, our God commands that we forgive. He commands that we offer up our hurts, betrayals and insults to him who was betrayed by his closest friend, insulted by the people he came to save, and murdered for the love he bore.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Kiss of Judas” by an UNKNOWN Italian Master, 1300-50
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
2 comments:
This is beautiful! I am currently taking a class in Educational Technology and am thinking about the possibilities of using a blog to have middle school students reflect on scripture readings. Is there anything out there that you know of for young people where they could read each other's reflections and have a conversation?
Saladbar,
You could set up a free accout at Blogger.com, post the readings (0r borrow my blog with comments) and then let them use the comment facility to post their own reflections.
Pax,
Dcn. Jim
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