Readings for Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 James 3:1-10
The author begins this reading with a warning to those who lead and teach the faith that they will be held to a higher standard of faith and behavior. Further, the influence of such people on the body of Christ that is the Church, is great beyond proportion to the numbers of leaders so installed.
St. James continues to emphasize the impact teachers, good and bad can have on the community by focusing on the tongue (the spoken word) as a potential source of evil. It is also with the spoken word that we bless God so it is used for both good and evil.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 12:2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R. You will protect us, Lord.
Psalm 12 is a lament, in these strophes the link in made to the evil words from those who are far from God’s law. The Psalmist prays for God’s justice to be shown to the world.
Gospel Mark 9:2-13
The Gospel gives us the story of the Transfiguration as told by St. Mark. Present in all three of the synoptic Gospels, this event follows Jesus’ prediction of the passion and provides assurance of his divine nature. Shown as it is to the select disciples, it prepares them to understand the necessary connection between the passion and his rise to messianic glory.
The imagery of this event provides a recognizable reference to the greater mission of the Lord, as he comes to fulfill both the Prophets (personified in Elijah) and the Law (represented by Moses). The cloud that comes to rest over the disciples is reminiscent of the cloud that came to rest over the meeting tent in the Old Testament (Exodus 40:34-35) that signified the presence of Yahweh.
Reflection:
We are reminded by St. James today of the importance and impact made by those who teach the faith. It is so important that they be formed well and filled with Holy Spirit. Their impact upon the community of faith far out weighs their small numbers.
St. James focuses on authenticity of the teaching. He does so primarily because at this time in the history of Christianity, most of those professing faith in Jesus were Jewish and faith doctrine was not as well codified as it is today. It was easy for individuals to misinterpret the events surrounding Jesus. We see numerous examples of this in St. Paul’s letters as he speaks on a number of occasions to the various churches about false teachers.
The danger of the influences counter to the teaching of our Lord are as prevalent (if not more so) in today’s culture. There was a news headline in the BBC this past week that said “Darth Vader not to be charged in attack on Jedi Church”. I thought it was a joke until I read the story. Apparently, in Wales a group of about 30 people banded together and established a “church” based upon the principles espoused by the fictional Jedi Order in George Lucas’ “Star Wars” movies. Another individual who took issue with this sect dressed up like the arch villain of the series and attacked the founders, causing bruises and contusions. What was really worrisome was at the end of the article the BBC reported that in the last census 390,000 respondents listed “Jedi” as their religious preference.
It is scary that such incidents are found news-worthy in our modern society. There are much more dangerous and subtle influences at work than these. In the US the NEA (National Education Association) fights diligently to insure that any reference to God or religion be kept out of schools. Any mention of God is frowned upon and the claim is made that the children are taught an unbiased world view as a consequence. Anyone who teaches knows that their personal values color what they teach, no matter how esoteric. If God is not taught, no God, by default, is.
And if we think it stops at High School, you are invited to go see “Expelled” currently in theaters. Expelled is a documentary that talks about Intelligent Design (NOT Creationism) and how the very mention of that term is enough to get those who dare to use it in an academic context are harshly dealt with in those high circles. Ben Stein, the host and a religious Jew, likens the forbidden nature of the idea that God had a hand in creation to state sponsored thought control. He also demonstrated how the very theory, “Neo-Darwinism” , whose proponents are so threatened by the idea that God was the creative impetus behind the creation of all things, has lead directly to atheism (as freely admitted in the film by Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion”) and further to “Eugenics”.
Anyone not familiar with Eugenics should take time to look it up. It was, in its most violent form, practiced by the Nazis during World War II and in this country in the early 50s, where some 20,000 Americans considered to be mentally or physically deficient were sterilized by our government without consent.
False teachers are something we are once more warned against. Jesus uses the transfiguration to teach the disciples the nature of his being and what he came to do. This is a message we are called to transmit. We must not allow those who would suppress the One God to prevail. Our prayer today is that we be given the wisdom to see and understand false teachings and to authentically teach the Lord’s word through our words and actions.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “A Teacher and his Pupil” by Claude Lefebvre, c.1665
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 James 3:1-10
The author begins this reading with a warning to those who lead and teach the faith that they will be held to a higher standard of faith and behavior. Further, the influence of such people on the body of Christ that is the Church, is great beyond proportion to the numbers of leaders so installed.
St. James continues to emphasize the impact teachers, good and bad can have on the community by focusing on the tongue (the spoken word) as a potential source of evil. It is also with the spoken word that we bless God so it is used for both good and evil.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 12:2-3, 4-5, 7-8
R. You will protect us, Lord.
Psalm 12 is a lament, in these strophes the link in made to the evil words from those who are far from God’s law. The Psalmist prays for God’s justice to be shown to the world.
Gospel Mark 9:2-13
The Gospel gives us the story of the Transfiguration as told by St. Mark. Present in all three of the synoptic Gospels, this event follows Jesus’ prediction of the passion and provides assurance of his divine nature. Shown as it is to the select disciples, it prepares them to understand the necessary connection between the passion and his rise to messianic glory.
The imagery of this event provides a recognizable reference to the greater mission of the Lord, as he comes to fulfill both the Prophets (personified in Elijah) and the Law (represented by Moses). The cloud that comes to rest over the disciples is reminiscent of the cloud that came to rest over the meeting tent in the Old Testament (Exodus 40:34-35) that signified the presence of Yahweh.
Reflection:
We are reminded by St. James today of the importance and impact made by those who teach the faith. It is so important that they be formed well and filled with Holy Spirit. Their impact upon the community of faith far out weighs their small numbers.
St. James focuses on authenticity of the teaching. He does so primarily because at this time in the history of Christianity, most of those professing faith in Jesus were Jewish and faith doctrine was not as well codified as it is today. It was easy for individuals to misinterpret the events surrounding Jesus. We see numerous examples of this in St. Paul’s letters as he speaks on a number of occasions to the various churches about false teachers.
The danger of the influences counter to the teaching of our Lord are as prevalent (if not more so) in today’s culture. There was a news headline in the BBC this past week that said “Darth Vader not to be charged in attack on Jedi Church”. I thought it was a joke until I read the story. Apparently, in Wales a group of about 30 people banded together and established a “church” based upon the principles espoused by the fictional Jedi Order in George Lucas’ “Star Wars” movies. Another individual who took issue with this sect dressed up like the arch villain of the series and attacked the founders, causing bruises and contusions. What was really worrisome was at the end of the article the BBC reported that in the last census 390,000 respondents listed “Jedi” as their religious preference.
It is scary that such incidents are found news-worthy in our modern society. There are much more dangerous and subtle influences at work than these. In the US the NEA (National Education Association) fights diligently to insure that any reference to God or religion be kept out of schools. Any mention of God is frowned upon and the claim is made that the children are taught an unbiased world view as a consequence. Anyone who teaches knows that their personal values color what they teach, no matter how esoteric. If God is not taught, no God, by default, is.
And if we think it stops at High School, you are invited to go see “Expelled” currently in theaters. Expelled is a documentary that talks about Intelligent Design (NOT Creationism) and how the very mention of that term is enough to get those who dare to use it in an academic context are harshly dealt with in those high circles. Ben Stein, the host and a religious Jew, likens the forbidden nature of the idea that God had a hand in creation to state sponsored thought control. He also demonstrated how the very theory, “Neo-Darwinism” , whose proponents are so threatened by the idea that God was the creative impetus behind the creation of all things, has lead directly to atheism (as freely admitted in the film by Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion”) and further to “Eugenics”.
Anyone not familiar with Eugenics should take time to look it up. It was, in its most violent form, practiced by the Nazis during World War II and in this country in the early 50s, where some 20,000 Americans considered to be mentally or physically deficient were sterilized by our government without consent.
False teachers are something we are once more warned against. Jesus uses the transfiguration to teach the disciples the nature of his being and what he came to do. This is a message we are called to transmit. We must not allow those who would suppress the One God to prevail. Our prayer today is that we be given the wisdom to see and understand false teachings and to authentically teach the Lord’s word through our words and actions.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “A Teacher and his Pupil” by Claude Lefebvre, c.1665
No comments:
Post a Comment