Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings for Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1: Wisdom 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Wis 7:7-11

This selection from the Book of Wisdom is part of Solomon’s Speech. Here he recalls that he “prayed” for Wisdom (see also 1 Kings 3:6-9 and 2 Chronicles 1:8-10) , and it was given a great prize valued above his riches. Wisdom, prays Solomon, is cherished in analogy as a beautiful woman who brings him riches beyond any other.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on

Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

The psalm in its entirety is a communal lament. The strophes in this selection reflect on the mortality of humanity and the brevity of human life. (It is also an example of the human understanding that God’s immortal view of time is not like ours.) The selection concludes with the petition that the Lord will strengthen their own efforts (prosper the works of our hands – cause the crops to have a good yield and their goods to fetch fair return).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: Hebrews 4:12-13

Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Heb 4:12-13

The author of Hebrews addresses the “living” word of God, the Logos. It is, says the author, unambiguous striking at the heart of faith, directing all and judging all by its statues. All creation is within its jurisdiction all will be placed against that same bar of justice on the last day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel
Longer Form: Mark 10:17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother."
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
"How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then who can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God."
Peter began to say to him,
"We have given up everything and followed you."
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 10:17-30

The story of the rich young man presented today in St. Mark’s Gospel is an ideal teaching moment for Christ. After he has heard that the young man has carefully followed Mosaic Law (summarized in the Decalogue the Lord mentions), Jesus tells the young man he has only one more step to take. Selling all he has and giving the proceeds to the poor is too much for the rich young man who leaves downcast.

Jesus uses this example to emphasize first that love of God must come first and before possessions, before the accumulation of wealth. Those listening were also down hearted and say “Then who can be saved?”

Jesus then makes his second point. No one earns salvation from God! Only the Lord alone can grant it and nothing is impossible for Him. “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”

Following the exchange with the rich young man and the rest of the crowd, St. Peter brings up the fact that the disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus. The Lord responds telling them they will receive a reward “a hundred times more” and “eternal life”. The last statement “But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first” is thought to have been added to reconcile the fact that some called first outlived some early Christians.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or
Shorter Form: Mark 10:17-27

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother."
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
"How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then who can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 10:17-27

The story of the rich young man presented today in St. Mark’s Gospel is an ideal teaching moment for Christ. After he has heard that the young man has carefully followed Mosaic Law (summarized in the Decalogue the Lord mentions), Jesus tells the young man he has only one more step to take. Selling all he has and giving the proceeds to the poor is too much for the rich young man who leaves downcast.

Jesus uses this example to emphasize first that love of God must come first and before possessions, before the accumulation of wealth. Those listening were also down hearted and say “Then who can be saved?”

Jesus then makes his second point. No one earns salvation from God! Only the Lord alone can grant it and nothing is impossible for Him. “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:

Today we find empathy for the Protestant reformers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Technology (the printing press) handed them the sacred texts of the Bible en mass and the common person had unbridled access to them for the very first time. What a treasure was placed into the hands of ordinary men. They must have felt like Solomon in the Book of Wisdom (which, quite ironically, they later determined should not be included in their canon of the Bible).

The Church sees both the blessing and curse (using covenantal language) of this period. The blessing was that great emphasis was placed by the Protestants in understanding the sacred scripture which yielded many great academic inroads into the study of the texts. The curse was that in many ways it was like giving a child all the candy they wanted with no discipline or authority to tell it when and where to stop.

When the protestant reformers told the world that each person has the “right” to read and interpret sacred scripture as they see fit, (thinking they only denied the Holy See’s Apostolic authority, much like a child saying to an adult ; “You can’t tell me how much candy to eat. You’re not my parent.”) they opened the flood gates of shattered unity. The reason there are so many “Christian” denominations and some who were once Christian but have fallen even further from the Christ such as the Mormons and Jehova’s Witnesses is because there was no unified authority to correct them at a critical point. No one was there to tell them that by focusing on a single concept found in that inestimable treasure that is the Logos, they had thrown away something foundational to our understanding of God.

The lesson we learn from this historical tragedy (indeed St. Paul, if he were here would no doubt cry out in pain over such a schismatic event) is that there must be a single authority a steward of Wisdom to guide (not tell us what to think), to encourage, and to chide. It is far to easy to be like the young man in the Gospel who believes he has followed all the requirements of the faith only to discover that the very thing he prizes most stands between him and the Lord he wants to follow. It is a great temptation to say that because our loving God is one of inclusion not exclusion that we can do whatever we want in the name of that inclusion, even when the authority of the Church is firm in its denial of those actions or beliefs.

Today we hear of the great love our faith has for the Wisdom of God embodied in the Logos – the Living Word of God. We hold it up to be loved and cherished and rededicate ourselves to the principles of faith there contained. We continue to pray for the unification of all Christians and humbly ask God to keep us faithful to all He hands down through the supreme teaching authority of the Magisterium of the Church.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Allegory of Wisdom” Orazio Samacchini, 1550’s
[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.