Saturday of the Third Week of Lent &
Saint Patrick, Bishop
Biographical Information about St. Patrick[1]
Readings for Saturday of the Third Week of Lent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Hos 6:1-6
Once again in Hosea, the people of Israel are portrayed as the faithless harlot. Repenting past sins she thinks to return to God who will raise them up to salvation after three days in the tomb. The image prefigures the messiah. The prophet continues with the voice of God recognizing their faithlessness he calls for authentic love, not empty sacrifices.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab
R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
The psalm response is taken from the end of the Hosea reading we just received. The psalm itself is a lament, asking God for compassion as a consequence of the Baptismal bath ("Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”) It then echoes the need for the spirit of authentic worship, not empty sacrifices.
Gospel Lk 18:9-14
The Gospel story is the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Tax Collector). Here we find Jesus addressing those who think of themselves as closer to God and therefore better than those who are not so scrupulous in their worship.
Jesus points out that the Pharisee who focuses on the letter of the law misses the point of the God’s desire for authentic worship, while the humility and authenticity of the Tax Collector will be “justified”. It’s easier to hear in the Jerusalem Bible version where it says; “This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not.”
Reflection:
It is ironic to have these readings on the day the U.S. celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. The readings, starting with Hosea, moving through Psalm 51 and concluding with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican from St. Luke’s Gospel have one focal theme: The Lord wants authentic faith, not just faith for show.
St. Patrick, whose piety so clearly met the standard of God’s desire for authentic worship is celebrated by a day of “the wear’en of the green.”, Green Beer, and nationalistic parades devoted to a geographic entity and ethnic pride. It is almost as if God thought he would punctuate his wish with such a blatant example of misdirected excess. (Almost as ironically, in Ireland, the day is celebrated as a predominantly religious holiday.)
To those of us who try to hear the word and see the example of St. Patrick, we get a very clear picture. What we do for the sake of our faith must be done for God and God alone. It should not be done for others to see. We should not be tempted to pride or vanity because we have been given the gift of religious freedom and the luxury of time to be able to follow the discipline of faith.
Saint Patrick, Bishop
Biographical Information about St. Patrick[1]
Readings for Saturday of the Third Week of Lent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible at Universalis
Commentary:
Reading 1 Hos 6:1-6
Once again in Hosea, the people of Israel are portrayed as the faithless harlot. Repenting past sins she thinks to return to God who will raise them up to salvation after three days in the tomb. The image prefigures the messiah. The prophet continues with the voice of God recognizing their faithlessness he calls for authentic love, not empty sacrifices.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab
R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
The psalm response is taken from the end of the Hosea reading we just received. The psalm itself is a lament, asking God for compassion as a consequence of the Baptismal bath ("Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”) It then echoes the need for the spirit of authentic worship, not empty sacrifices.
Gospel Lk 18:9-14
The Gospel story is the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Tax Collector). Here we find Jesus addressing those who think of themselves as closer to God and therefore better than those who are not so scrupulous in their worship.
Jesus points out that the Pharisee who focuses on the letter of the law misses the point of the God’s desire for authentic worship, while the humility and authenticity of the Tax Collector will be “justified”. It’s easier to hear in the Jerusalem Bible version where it says; “This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not.”
Reflection:
It is ironic to have these readings on the day the U.S. celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. The readings, starting with Hosea, moving through Psalm 51 and concluding with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican from St. Luke’s Gospel have one focal theme: The Lord wants authentic faith, not just faith for show.
St. Patrick, whose piety so clearly met the standard of God’s desire for authentic worship is celebrated by a day of “the wear’en of the green.”, Green Beer, and nationalistic parades devoted to a geographic entity and ethnic pride. It is almost as if God thought he would punctuate his wish with such a blatant example of misdirected excess. (Almost as ironically, in Ireland, the day is celebrated as a predominantly religious holiday.)
To those of us who try to hear the word and see the example of St. Patrick, we get a very clear picture. What we do for the sake of our faith must be done for God and God alone. It should not be done for others to see. We should not be tempted to pride or vanity because we have been given the gift of religious freedom and the luxury of time to be able to follow the discipline of faith.
Our worship must be for the greater glory of God and with a clear recognition that it is with the utmost humility that we should approach the Lord of the Universe. We who claim to know Him best through our prayer and devotion should be the most awed by his beneficence, not believing we have some special insight and privilege to God’s favor.
Although it is not one of today’s readings, our prayer today must be the Kenotic Hymn from Paul’s letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:5-11)
Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Pax
[1] The image presented today is “Saint Patrick” by Irish Artist Michael O'Neill McGrath, O.S.F.S.
[2] After 04/07
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