Readings for Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
From a historical perspective, King David has now defeated all his rivals and enemies. The civil war between his forces and those of Saul is over and the Philistines finally defeated. Now he assembles the people of Israel and brings the Ark of the Covenant to celebrate with the people the unity and peace to which God has lead them.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Psalm 24 is a song of thanksgiving and praise. This second section of the song praises God as the true King of the people who leads them to victory over their foes.
Gospel Mark 3:31-35
The first part of this reading from St. Mark’s Gospel is somewhat controversial in that many of the Protestant and Evangelical apologists take the term “and his brothers” to mean his familial or biological brothers. The Church teaches that Mary bore only one child – Jesus. Responding to this scripture, Catholic scripture scholars teach that “…in Semitic usage, the terms "brother," "sister" are applied not only to children of the same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers, and half-sisters; cf Genesis 14:16; 29:15; Leviticus 10:4.”
The Lord, in hearing of the arrival of his mother and relatives uses the announcement as a teaching moment telling those gathered that “…whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Reflection:
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
From a historical perspective, King David has now defeated all his rivals and enemies. The civil war between his forces and those of Saul is over and the Philistines finally defeated. Now he assembles the people of Israel and brings the Ark of the Covenant to celebrate with the people the unity and peace to which God has lead them.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Psalm 24 is a song of thanksgiving and praise. This second section of the song praises God as the true King of the people who leads them to victory over their foes.
Gospel Mark 3:31-35
The first part of this reading from St. Mark’s Gospel is somewhat controversial in that many of the Protestant and Evangelical apologists take the term “and his brothers” to mean his familial or biological brothers. The Church teaches that Mary bore only one child – Jesus. Responding to this scripture, Catholic scripture scholars teach that “…in Semitic usage, the terms "brother," "sister" are applied not only to children of the same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers, and half-sisters; cf Genesis 14:16; 29:15; Leviticus 10:4.”
The Lord, in hearing of the arrival of his mother and relatives uses the announcement as a teaching moment telling those gathered that “…whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Reflection:
“…whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
With these words the Lord, who has called us to follow him, pronounces our adoption as long as we follow the will of God. But that is the hard part isn’t it! Just exactly what is the will of God for us and how do we know if we are doing it?
Having given this some thought, we find that the question posed is one of the most difficult ones we will ever be forced to answer for ourselves. In another part of Holy Scripture Jesus is quoted as saying “No one can know the Father except the Son and to whomever the Son chooses to reveal Him.” So ultimately the only real way we can hope to understand if we are doing God’s will is if Jesus himself leads us. OK, so how do we know if we are truly following Jesus? There is a test for that as well. His greatest commandment provides the key.
Christ told the Scribes, when asked which of God’s Commandments is the greatest, that the first was “'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with al1 your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' “(Mark 12:29-31)
This is our litmus test. When we want to make sure that we are doing “God’s will” and not our own (even unconsciously or rationalized), we need to ask ourselves just two short questions. First, am I following the course of action that expresses God’s love for those involved? This is not an easy question in some cases because God does have rules and even though those rules were meant to be applied with mercy, they are none the less, straight forward. God’s Law, like any good parent’s rules, are meant to keep His children safe from harm. That means the basic law, the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments are applied without any varnish. Those laws have been interpreted and applied by the Teaching Magesterium of the Church so once we make sure that we’re petty sure God’s Law is satisfied with our actions, we make sure that we are also doing as Church Law requires. (Oh, and make sure that it is Church Law not a local tradition that is being applied.)
Having done this diligent reflection on our purpose and intent, insuring that it is for God’s benefit we do what we do, we must ask ourselves the second question, again with no rationalization or spin as they call it these days. Am I doing this out of love for those involved? Just so we are all on the same page, love does not always mean making the other person happy. Sometimes loving someone can be the most difficult thing for one person to do to another. Look at Christ’s example; he loved us to his death. His example is our benchmark. The old adage “WWJD” or “What would Jesus do?” is not enough. Better is; how would Jesus love?
If we prayerfully take the time to ask these two questions will we always be doing God’s will? Probably not – our human nature can trick us into believing that what we do is in accordance with God’s will, but in the darkest recesses of mind there is still selfishness, greed, envy, and all of the ignoble impulses that make up a human being. But, we will be doing better than those who do not ask those questions at all but give full reign to those human feelings.
Our prayer today is an obvious one. Today we pray that God gives us the strength and understanding to do His will. Our desire is to become what Jesus has offered when he said; “…whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” We depend on the Holy Spirit to guide as we attempt to do so.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Triumph of David” by Nicolas Poussin, 1627-30
Having given this some thought, we find that the question posed is one of the most difficult ones we will ever be forced to answer for ourselves. In another part of Holy Scripture Jesus is quoted as saying “No one can know the Father except the Son and to whomever the Son chooses to reveal Him.” So ultimately the only real way we can hope to understand if we are doing God’s will is if Jesus himself leads us. OK, so how do we know if we are truly following Jesus? There is a test for that as well. His greatest commandment provides the key.
Christ told the Scribes, when asked which of God’s Commandments is the greatest, that the first was “'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with al1 your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' “(Mark 12:29-31)
This is our litmus test. When we want to make sure that we are doing “God’s will” and not our own (even unconsciously or rationalized), we need to ask ourselves just two short questions. First, am I following the course of action that expresses God’s love for those involved? This is not an easy question in some cases because God does have rules and even though those rules were meant to be applied with mercy, they are none the less, straight forward. God’s Law, like any good parent’s rules, are meant to keep His children safe from harm. That means the basic law, the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments are applied without any varnish. Those laws have been interpreted and applied by the Teaching Magesterium of the Church so once we make sure that we’re petty sure God’s Law is satisfied with our actions, we make sure that we are also doing as Church Law requires. (Oh, and make sure that it is Church Law not a local tradition that is being applied.)
Having done this diligent reflection on our purpose and intent, insuring that it is for God’s benefit we do what we do, we must ask ourselves the second question, again with no rationalization or spin as they call it these days. Am I doing this out of love for those involved? Just so we are all on the same page, love does not always mean making the other person happy. Sometimes loving someone can be the most difficult thing for one person to do to another. Look at Christ’s example; he loved us to his death. His example is our benchmark. The old adage “WWJD” or “What would Jesus do?” is not enough. Better is; how would Jesus love?
If we prayerfully take the time to ask these two questions will we always be doing God’s will? Probably not – our human nature can trick us into believing that what we do is in accordance with God’s will, but in the darkest recesses of mind there is still selfishness, greed, envy, and all of the ignoble impulses that make up a human being. But, we will be doing better than those who do not ask those questions at all but give full reign to those human feelings.
Our prayer today is an obvious one. Today we pray that God gives us the strength and understanding to do His will. Our desire is to become what Jesus has offered when he said; “…whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” We depend on the Holy Spirit to guide as we attempt to do so.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Triumph of David” by Nicolas Poussin, 1627-30
2 comments:
Thank you for today's reflection Jim. Your explanation was something I've been asking the good Lord about for the last several days, namely for a litmus test. HWJL... instead of WWJD.
May the good Lord send his angels to protect you and our other church deacons, priests and bishops.
Yesterday's reflection told me what I need to do to clean-out my thorns... which like weeds require constant vigilance to keep the plot clear...
"Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. "
This is my struggle. To get to the point in my relationship with the good Lord where my soil is rich:
"And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’"
I suspect keeping one's soil rich requires one to love God and continually ask HWJL?
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