Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

“Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant”
by Benjamin West, 1800

 
Readings for Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38
 
Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.
On the first day of the first month of the second year
the Dwelling was erected.
It was Moses who erected the Dwelling.
He placed its pedestals, set up its boards, put in its bars,
and set up its columns.
He spread the tent over the Dwelling
and put the covering on top of the tent,
as the LORD had commanded him.
He took the commandments and put them in the ark;
he placed poles alongside the ark and set the propitiatory upon it.
He brought the ark into the Dwelling and hung the curtain veil,
thus screening off the ark of the commandments,
as the LORD had commanded him.
 
Then the cloud covered the meeting tent,
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Moses could not enter the meeting tent,
because the cloud settled down upon it
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling,
the children of Israel would set out on their journey.
But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;
only when it lifted did they go forward.
In the daytime the cloud of the LORD was seen over the Dwelling;
whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud
by the whole house of Israel
in all the stages of their journey.
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Commentary on Ex 40:16-21, 34-38
 
The conclusion of the Book of Exodus gives the details of the establishment of the meeting tent referred to earlier in the story of the journey of the Children of Israel. The Ark of the Commandments is placed in the tent, and the image of God's presence in the form of a cloud is established.  This image will be used again in Numbers 9:15ff. The people will follow the will of God as symbolized by the cloud over the tent; they are guided on the path God has chosen for them.
 
"The Fathers also saw this cloud as a figure of Christ: 'He is the pillar who, keeping himself upright and strong, cures our infirmity.  By night he sheds light, by day he becomes opaque, so that those who do not see are enabled to see and those who see become blind' (St. Isidore of Seville, Quaestiones in Exodum, 18, 1)" [4]
 
CCC: Ex 40:36-38 697
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11
 
R.(2) How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
 
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young–
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
 
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
 
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
 
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
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Commentary on Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11
 
Psalm 84 gives thanks for the courts of the temple in Jerusalem. It supports the story of the establishment of the “meeting tent” (Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38). The praise given to the temple may also be applied to the less permanent symbol of God’s guiding presence. It also recalls Jeremiah’s oracle that the temple would not be a refuge for the wicked, and that the great gift of his presence in the temple was for the faithful.
 
Those who find a home in God's temple are blessed. They find strength flowing from the Lord, sustaining them. The timelessness of heaven is reflected in the service of God's house, his dwelling place.
 
CCC: Ps 84:3 1770
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Gospel: Matthew 13:47-53
 
Jesus said to the disciples:
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
 
"Do you understand all these things?"
They answered, "Yes."
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old."
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
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Commentary on Mt 13:47-53
 
Jesus concludes his discourse about the kingdom of heaven with a final parable about the fisherman’s net. He then makes reference to the disciples’ (and their successors') role as “Christian scribes” or teachers of the kingdom of God. In his description, he refers to the “new and the old” being brought out. This reference is to the new teaching from Jesus and the old from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
 
CCC: Mt 13:50 1034; Mt 13:52 1117
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Reflection:
 
The sacred history recorded in Exodus depicts a people seeking to follow God’s will for them.  Exodus explicitly states that “Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.” 
 
Indeed, the Bible is filled with stories of people seeking to do God’s will, sometimes succeeding, and sometimes failing.  The parable of the Fisherman’s Net is laid in our hands today.  It gathers up all of the examples of earlier generations struggling to follow the will of God and tells us that the challenge of discerning that will and helping others to do so is ours as well.
 
The Lord reminds us, by his very existence among us, of how precious we are to him.  We quote St. Peter Chrysologus here, whose feast we recently celebrated, who said of the incarnation of Christ:
 
“Why then man, are you so worthless in your own eyes and yet so precious to God? Why render yourself such dishonor when you are honored by him?  Why do you ask how you were created and do not seek to know why you were made?”
– St. Peter Chrysologus from a homily on the incarnation of Christ
 
All of us are precious in the eyes of Christ whose love for us cascades from the altar of his sacrifice.  All of us were given life and purpose by him who loves and supports us with his Holy Spirit.  We are asked to be the net as well as the catch in this parable.
 
Today our prayer is that we are constantly vigilant, and prepared to be what the great lover of souls has called us to be.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant” by Benjamin West, 1800.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] 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.
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 409.