Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome)
 
Proper readings for the Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major

Additional information about the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major
 
Or
 
(Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
 
On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed. [1]  Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends: # 28. The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

“St John Reproaching Herod”
by Mattia Preti,1662-66

 
Readings for Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary:[4]
 
Reading 1: Leviticus 25:1, 8-17
 
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
“Seven weeks of years shall you count–seven times seven years–
so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years.
Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, let the trumpet resound;
on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo
throughout your land.
This fiftieth year you shall make sacred
by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants.
It shall be a jubilee for you,
when every one of you shall return to his own property,
every one to his own family estate.
In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee,
you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth
or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines.
Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you,
you may not eat of its produce,
except as taken directly from the field.
 
“In this year of jubilee, then,
every one of you shall return to his own property.
Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor
or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly.
On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee
shall you purchase the land from your neighbor;
and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops,
shall he sell it to you.
When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more;
when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less.
For it is really the number of crops that he sells you.
Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God.
I, the LORD, am your God.”
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Commentary on Lv 25:1, 8-17
 
The establishment of the jubilee (taken from the Hebrew word yobel or “ram's horn” blown in response to the instruction) was important for preserving economic equilibrium among the Israelites. The rule was that land had to be returned to its original owner in the jubilee year.  According to later prophets who denounced those who did not abide by this law, the people did not follow this law very well.  The whole concept was that the land was a divine gift, and those to whom it was given were to hold it in trust for the Lord.  Featured prominently is the use of seven, the “perfect number,” in Hebrew numerology.
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 7-8
 
R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you!
 
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
 
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
 
The earth has yielded its fruits;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
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Commentary on Ps 67:2-3, 5, 7-8
 
This psalm is a song of thanksgiving. These strophes request a blessing, that through the Lord’s graciousness the nation might be an example of faith others will follow. Psalm 67 recalls the gift of creation in its thankfulness for the harvest, the fruits of God’s bounty. The land given to the people was a divine gift that provided sustenance and home.
 
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Gospel: Matthew 14:1-12
 
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
 
Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.
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Commentary on Mt 14:1-12
 
In this passage, recalling the manner of the death of John the Baptist, Herod unwittingly predicts Jesus' future glory as he assumes that the Lord is John the Baptist, raised from the dead. His guilt over the murder of John weighs heavily on him.
 
In St. Matthew’s flashback of the murder of John the Baptist, we note that there is a much more detailed explanation than that found in the Gospel of St. Mark (Mark 6:14ff). We also see that, according to St. Matthew, the murder of St. John was the intent of Herod from the beginning, where St. Mark’s Gospel infers it was Herodias that manipulated him into the act. Matthew portrays this event as what has been called a satanic eucharist, an exhibition of hedonism and lust diametrically opposed to the selfless love of John the Baptist and Jesus.
 
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Reflection:
 
The evil one does not need much of an opening to find ways to tilt those who are ambivalent about the faith.  Look at today’s Gospel.  King Herod was not inclined to harm John the Baptist.  He was worried about him, yes.  He thought John might stir up the people in revolt against him because of his reputation as holy man and prophet.  That is why John was arrested. 
 
Tradition also holds that John was critical of Herod for entering into an adulterous relationship with Herodias who had first married her uncle Herod II, had given birth to Salome her daughter, then married another uncle Herod Antipas (the Herod in our Gospel story).  It was Herodias that really wanted John killed.  She was shamed by his call to repentance, and her sin was an open door for the evil one who used the occasion of the birthday of Herod Antipas to have Salome tempt Herod into offering her anything she wanted, publicly.
 
In this way, John the Baptist, who had from the beginning prefigured Christ, first announcing his coming as the Messiah, then providing some of his first disciples (remember, Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, was one of John’s disciples first), now precedes him in death.  As we hear later in the Gospel story, this event greatly affected the Lord.  The evil one could not get directly to Jesus, but he found a way to hurt him nonetheless. 
 
Following this story, we see how “the worm turns,” twisting the will of weak and sinful people to do his will. It is a lesson for us.  It was not the evil intent of Herod to murder John; he was tricked into the act.  Was he culpable? Absolutely.  Was he the tool of the evil one? Again, absolutely.  It has been so from the time when Eve was deceived in the Garden and brought Adam with her into sin.
 
This lesson reminds us that we must constantly be on our guard.  It is easy for those whose guilt is allowed to fester to be twisted and turned into tools to use against us.  How simple it seems for that evil, which injured even the Lord of life, to injure him again because of his love for us.
 
Pax

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[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is indicated in the calendar by ‘BVM.’ The readings and prayers may be selected from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
[2] The picture is “St John Reproaching Herod” by Mattia Preti,1662-66.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.