Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time[1]
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jer 17:5-8
The Prophet Jeremiah is doing his level best, in this passage, to call the people back to faith in God. He rails against those who believe that good is accomplished through human effort alone and pronounces the doom of those who do not rely on God for strength.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Jeremiah’s influence on the Psalms is evident in this section of Psalm 1. We see his analogy of the righteous man being like a tree planted by a river; always deriving sustenance from the Lord.
Reading II 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20
In this reading, St. Paul challenges those (probably Sadducees) in Corinth who are denying that there is a resurrection on the last day. Rather than try to provide commentary on this selection, I’ll let our Holy Father, Pope John Paul the Great, do it for me. Here is a brief selection from his teaching on this passage from one of his General Audiences:
“It is difficult to sum up here and comment adequately on the stupendous and ample argumentation of the fifteenth chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians in all its details. It is significant that, while Christ replied to the Sadducees, who "say that there is no resurrection" (Lk 20:27), with the words reported by the synoptic Gospels, Paul, on his part, replied or rather engaged in polemics (in conformity with his temperament) with those who contested it.(1) In his (pre-paschal) answer, Christ did not refer to his own resurrection, but appealed to the fundamental reality of the Old Testament covenant, to the reality of the living God. The conviction of the possibility of the resurrection is based on this: the living God "is not God of the dead, but of the living" (Mk 12:27). Paul's post-paschal argumentation on the future resurrection referred above all to the reality and the truth of the resurrection of Christ. In fact, he defends this truth even as the foundation of the faith in its integrity: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.... But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead" (1 Cor 15:14, 20).”
Gospel Lk 6:17, 20-26
As a special treat we are given the Beatitudes from St. Luke’s Gospel. This part of the Sermon on the Plane (as opposed to St. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount) has an almost covenantal feel to it since we are given not just what the “Blessed” receive but the “Woe to” as well.
This introductory part of the sermon addresses the conditions his mostly gentile audience are facing (note this sermon is delivered in the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon where there would be a mix of Jews from Jerusalem and gentiles present.
Reflection:
The Beatitudes are, for many of us, like a comfortable pair of old shoes. We have heard them many times and, because they are so broad in their reach we always can find one of the “Blessed” passages that feels like it applies to us.
As was said in the commentary above, this selection has the feel of the New Covenant to it. Jesus says; Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those outcast because they are Christian. In a sense they have done what God has asked. Then come the “Woes”. Woe to those who are rich, filled, laughing, and those who follow false prophets. The formula for a covenant given in the Old Testament says that first God says what he will do then says what man needs to do in return. The formula ends with the consequences of not doing what is required.
In the reading today it’s turned around a bit because Jesus says “Blessed are the poor”, before he makes the assumption that they will be shown mercy on account of their belief in the Son of Man. The consequences piece is clear enough though.
We look at this passage in a more complex way today so that the comfortable old shoe might take on new meaning in our lives. It is not so much a comfort bur rather a focus for our lens of faith. Look at what the Lord has denounced; the rich (How many of us live below the poverty line in the richest country on earth?), the filled (How many of us are hungry?), the laughing (How many of us deserve the depression that comes from a hopeless situation based upon our economic circumstances?)
No, the comfortable shoe challenges us today, as disciples. We are to reach out to those who are truly in need so that the mercy the Lord promises those in need will be seen through us. We who are given so much are called to share in the spirit of Love with which this sermon was delivered all those years ago.
“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet.”
Pax
[1] After 04/07
Readings for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time[1]
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jer 17:5-8
The Prophet Jeremiah is doing his level best, in this passage, to call the people back to faith in God. He rails against those who believe that good is accomplished through human effort alone and pronounces the doom of those who do not rely on God for strength.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Jeremiah’s influence on the Psalms is evident in this section of Psalm 1. We see his analogy of the righteous man being like a tree planted by a river; always deriving sustenance from the Lord.
Reading II 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20
In this reading, St. Paul challenges those (probably Sadducees) in Corinth who are denying that there is a resurrection on the last day. Rather than try to provide commentary on this selection, I’ll let our Holy Father, Pope John Paul the Great, do it for me. Here is a brief selection from his teaching on this passage from one of his General Audiences:
“It is difficult to sum up here and comment adequately on the stupendous and ample argumentation of the fifteenth chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians in all its details. It is significant that, while Christ replied to the Sadducees, who "say that there is no resurrection" (Lk 20:27), with the words reported by the synoptic Gospels, Paul, on his part, replied or rather engaged in polemics (in conformity with his temperament) with those who contested it.(1) In his (pre-paschal) answer, Christ did not refer to his own resurrection, but appealed to the fundamental reality of the Old Testament covenant, to the reality of the living God. The conviction of the possibility of the resurrection is based on this: the living God "is not God of the dead, but of the living" (Mk 12:27). Paul's post-paschal argumentation on the future resurrection referred above all to the reality and the truth of the resurrection of Christ. In fact, he defends this truth even as the foundation of the faith in its integrity: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.... But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead" (1 Cor 15:14, 20).”
Gospel Lk 6:17, 20-26
As a special treat we are given the Beatitudes from St. Luke’s Gospel. This part of the Sermon on the Plane (as opposed to St. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount) has an almost covenantal feel to it since we are given not just what the “Blessed” receive but the “Woe to” as well.
This introductory part of the sermon addresses the conditions his mostly gentile audience are facing (note this sermon is delivered in the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon where there would be a mix of Jews from Jerusalem and gentiles present.
Reflection:
The Beatitudes are, for many of us, like a comfortable pair of old shoes. We have heard them many times and, because they are so broad in their reach we always can find one of the “Blessed” passages that feels like it applies to us.
As was said in the commentary above, this selection has the feel of the New Covenant to it. Jesus says; Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those outcast because they are Christian. In a sense they have done what God has asked. Then come the “Woes”. Woe to those who are rich, filled, laughing, and those who follow false prophets. The formula for a covenant given in the Old Testament says that first God says what he will do then says what man needs to do in return. The formula ends with the consequences of not doing what is required.
In the reading today it’s turned around a bit because Jesus says “Blessed are the poor”, before he makes the assumption that they will be shown mercy on account of their belief in the Son of Man. The consequences piece is clear enough though.
We look at this passage in a more complex way today so that the comfortable old shoe might take on new meaning in our lives. It is not so much a comfort bur rather a focus for our lens of faith. Look at what the Lord has denounced; the rich (How many of us live below the poverty line in the richest country on earth?), the filled (How many of us are hungry?), the laughing (How many of us deserve the depression that comes from a hopeless situation based upon our economic circumstances?)
No, the comfortable shoe challenges us today, as disciples. We are to reach out to those who are truly in need so that the mercy the Lord promises those in need will be seen through us. We who are given so much are called to share in the spirit of Love with which this sermon was delivered all those years ago.
“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet.”
Pax
[1] After 04/07
1 comment:
"What the Lord is saying is that our experience of God must come from within and that our acceptance of the Holy Scripture must be as a child but with the heart of an adult when it comes to acting on its precepts. We can examine it and understand its historical context, but recognize that God’s message is not in the literal words used but in the spirit of God’s Law. "
Well put. My fundamentalist friends take things so literally. Their explanation often turns away my non-Christian friends who look at the scripture in Genesis and say "you expect me to believe that?" My explanation to them is this: Moses, a mortal, did as best he could in writing these things down. But these are stories about God's work and interaction in early humanity. Moses words cannot do God's glory justice, but he nevertheless tried and did a good job I think. Consider this example: I take my project car home and take my 6-year old daughter for a ride and proceed to calibrate the shift feel in the transmission. I use a computer, and have a display in the car. She can see this and also the myriad of wires and electronics (which look like stereo equipment to her perhaps) in the trunk. I than ask her to write a story about what took place. Now she's going to get things correct like the car went bump and daddy typed into the computer and the next time the bump went away... but that's about all she's going to understand. She isn't on my "plane" of transmission calibration any more than I, or Moses could ever be on God's plane of creation. I am just so grateful to the good lord for the glimpse!
You remarked about the 1st story being the priestly story, what's the second called?
OK to post. my comments.
Regards,
Ron
________________________________
Ronald F. Lochocki Jr., P.E.
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